The first eight teams in each relay event at the Debswana World Athletics Relays Gaborone 26 have secured their places for the World Athletics Championships Beijing 27 following the opening day of competition on Saturday (2).
Across the women’s and men’s 4x100m, women’s and men’s 4x400m, mixed 4x100m and mixed 4x400m, the top two teams in each heat, plus the next two fastest teams in each event, qualified for Beijing and advanced to Sunday’s finals in Gaborone.
The remaining teams return for an additional qualifying round on Sunday, where four teams – the top two in each heat – will secure the final automatic qualification places available for the 2027 World Championships.
The finals, meanwhile, will decide prize money and preferential lane seeding positions for the World Championships.
The mixed relay events in Gaborone also serve as the main qualification route for the World Athletics Ultimate Championship Budapest 26. The top six teams in each of the mixed 4x100m and mixed 4x400m finals on Sunday will automatically qualify for Budapest.
The competition got off to a stunning start with Canada breaking the world record in the mixed 4x100m. Moments later, Jamaica bettered the mark with 39.99. Olympic champions Canada were fastest overall in the men’s 4x100m (37.57) while Jamaica were the standouts in the women’s event (41.96).
Great Britain & NI posted the fastest times in the mixed 4x400m (3:09.69) and women’s 4x400m (3:21.28), while Australia smashed the Oceanian record to lead the qualifiers in the men’s event (2:57.30).
Teams qualified for WCH Beijing 27 and competing in the finals on Sunday:
Women’s 4x100m: Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Jamaica, Poland, Portugal, Spain
Men’s 4x100m: Australia, Botswana, Canada, Germany, Great Britain & NI, Netherlands, South Africa, United States
Women’s 4x400m: Canada, Czechia, Germany, Great Britain & NI, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain
Men’s 4x400m: Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Netherlands, Portugal, Qatar, South Africa, Zimbabwe
Mixed 4x100m: Canada, Germany, Great Britain & NI, Jamaica, Netherlands, Nigeria, Spain, United States
Mixed 4x400m: Australia, Great Britain & NI, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Poland, Spain, United States