Athletics, Jacobs and his teammates immediately challenge Lyles’ USA! The 4×100 heat at the World Relays: opponents and lanes

Italy wants to show off at the World Relays, the World Relay Championships which will be held in Nassau (Bahamas) on the weekend of 4-5 May. Spotlight on Men’s 4x100m, capable of winning the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the silver at the last World Championships. The Italian quartet will take to the track during the Italian night (Sunday 5 May, 2.27 am) to take part in the first heat.

The rules are very simple: the top two classified will qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympicswhile the other six teams will have a repechage available the following day in which the remaining twenty-four contenders will compete for the last six five-ring tickets. Marcell Jacobs and his companions were placed in lane 7: they have the second world time of the last year, but the average rankings of the athletes have also been counted and so the Azzurri will have to run on the outside.

The USA will show up with all the underdogs: the battleship led by Noah Lyles (World Champion of 100, 200 and 4×100) definitely seems to have an edge and will aim to dominate in lane 4. With good probability Italy will have to watch out for Ghana (5) and Brazil (6)without underestimating the Bahamas (1) and Liberia (8), while South Korea (2) and the Czech Republic (3) inspire less fear.