BOLT TO COMPETE AT IAAF / BTC WORLD RELAYS, BAHAMAS 2015

The world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, will compete at the IAAF / BTC World Relays, Bahamas 2015, the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) announced on Tuesday (7).

The second edition of this innovative and exciting competition takes place in Nassau, The Bahamas on the weekend of 2-3 May.

The JAAA met on Tuesday to decide the national team for the competition and selected the multiple world and Olympic champion, and world record holder, to compete on both days in Nassau.

“I’m happy to be part of the Jamaican team for the IAAF / BTC World Relays in the Bahamas. I am fit, healthy and ready to run,” commented Bolt.

“I hear the meet was a lot of fun last year and there was a great atmosphere. Jamaica has a long and successful tradition in relays and when we put on the national colours we always do our best to make the country proud,” he added.

Usian Bolt leading team home in the 4x100m at the London Diamond League
photo credit Hilts uk
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hilts_uk/9384631902/in/photolist-fihG7j-cPD4TJ-apGEPP-d891vh-d877Nu-ooKEg6-fic8QE-oifS91-cQ3mC9-oigD24-oifSzm-d9bqYC-ficdfL-fhWWAR-oiggSw-oztZn8-ozxGHG-ozu31p-cQ3gPQ-cQ3d3y-fjV8sd-fjF4hP-oi4CdM-oi5dKk-oig9te-cPZ9Y3-d9brdw-oighSh-fhF3Jq-cQASyb-cQASkL-cQASNY-cQATa7-cQATkm-fhE5YN-cTEXy1-fjF7sF-ficdyQ-fhWWoa

JAAA General Secretary Garth Gayle commented, “We were extremely pleased that Usain was available for selection and that the world’s fastest man will be running for Jamaica. We can expect some sprint magic on the track in the Bahamas on 2nd and 3rd May.”

The full Jamaican team list for the competition will be announced shortly.

The IAAF / BTC World Relays is the newest addition to the IAAF’s global competition programme, and will see more than 600 athletes from around the world compete in five relay disciplines: 4x100m, 4x200m, 4x400m, 4x800m and the distance medley relay for both men and women.

At the IAAF World Relays in 2014, three world records were set and more could fall this year.

The IAAF World Relays is the biggest sporting event to be held in The Bahamas in 2015 and it will serve as a qualifying competition for the 2016 Olympic Games.

IAAF

50 DAYS TO GO – IAAF WORLD RELAYS, NASSAU 2015

There are just 50 days to go until the second edition of the IAAF World Relays, which will again be held in the idyllic and picturesque setting of the capital city of The Bahamas, Nassau.

The IAAF World Relays, Nassau 2015 will be held on the weekend of 2-3 May.

After the spectacular success of the inaugural IAAF World Relays at the same venue, the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium – an event which was lauded throughout the athletics world as an exciting innovation to the international athletics calendar – preliminary entries suggest that there will be a sizeable increase in athletes and teams heading to the Caribbean in just over a month’s time.

There were 276 men who competed in Nassau in 2014 and IAAF Member Federations have entered 342 names this time around.

The number of women will certainly top 200: 194 women participated last year and this time around the preliminary entry is 268.

The IAAF World Relays is the newest addition to the IAAF’s global competition programme, and will see around 600 athletes from around the world compete in five relay disciplines: 4x100m, 4x200m, 4x400m, 4x800m and the distance medley relay.

At the IAAF World Relays in 2014, three world records were set and more could fall this time around.

The IAAF World Relays is the biggest sporting event to be held in The Bahamas in 2015 and it will serve as a qualifying competition for the 2016 Olympic Games.

The IAAF website also has a dedicated section covering the IAAF World Relays.

IAAF

2014 IAAF World Relays in Bahamas – Global TV coverage and sold-out stadium!

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The first ever IAAF World Relays will play out to a worldwide TV audience and a sold out stadium this coming weekend (Sat 24 / Sun 25 May) in the Bahamas.

The inaugural edition of the IAAF World Relays, which takes place in Nassau’s Thomas A. Robinson Stadium, has attracted teams from more than 40 nations comprising more than 500 athletes who form the best relay quartets on the planet, including the USA, Jamaica, Kenya and Russia.

The innovative two-day competition will see men and women compete in the 4x100m, 4x200m, 4x400m, 4x800m and 4x1500m in front of sell-out crowds.

A total prize purse of USD $1.4 million is on offer, and the top eight teams in the 4x100m and 4x400m will automatically qualify for the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing.

Fans worldwide can feel some of the Caribbean magic which awaits Nassau this weekend thanks to extensive broadcasting coverage of this new event.

LIVE TV coverage will include Pan-Europe on Eurosport, Pan-Asia on multiple Fox Sports and Star Sports channels, in the USA on Universal Sports, in Brazil on SporTV2, Pan-Middle East on Abu Dhabi Sports Channel 5, and Pan Sub-Saharan Africa on Supersport Channels.

There will also be a mixture of live, highlights and delayed coverage being delivered by Official IAAF Broadcaster TBS in Japan and many other broadcasters across the globe.

For more details of the event go to http://www.iaaf.org

$1.4 million in prize money up for grabs in Nassau – IAAF World Relays

A total prize purse of USD $1.4million will be paid by the IAAF for the men’s and women’s races at the inaugural IAAF World Relays in Nassau, The Bahamas, on 24-25 May.

Team prize money for each race (all amounts are in US$)

1st – 50,000

2nd – 30,000

3rd – 20,000

4th – 12,000

5th – 10,000

6th – 8000

7th – 6000

8th – 4000

World record bonus

Any team who breaks a world record in Nassau will be awarded a USD $50,000 bonus by the IAAF.

The current ratified world records are:

Men

4x100m: Jamaica 36.84, 11 August 2012, London

4x200m: United States 1:18.68, 17 April 1994, Walnut

4x400m: United States 2:54.29, 22 August 1993, Stuttgart

4x800m: Kenya 7:02.43, 25 August 2006, Brussels

4x1500m: Kenya 14:36.23, 4 September 2009, Brussels

Women

4x100m: United States 40.82, 10 August 2012, London

4x200m: United States 1:27.46, 29 April 2000, Philadelphia

4x400m: USSR 3:15.17, 1 October 1988, Seoul

4x800m: USSR 7:50.17, 5 August 1984, Moscow

4x1500m: Kenya 17:05.72*, 26 April 2014, Nairobi

NOTE: The payment of all prize money is dependent upon athletes undergoing and clearing the usual anti-doping procedures.

Timetable

Saturday 24 May (times are local; GMT -4 hours):

17:30 Men’s 4x200m heats

17:49 Women’s 4x100m heats

18:14 Men’s 4x800m final

18:38 Women’s 4x400m heats

19:12 Men’s 4x400m heats

19:43 Women’s 4x1500m final

20:15 Men’s 4x200m final

20:33 Women’s 4x100m final B

20:42 Women’s 4x100m final

Sunday 25 May

17:30 Women’s 4x200m heats

17:49 Men’s 4x100m heats

18:14 Women’s 4x400m final B

18:26 Women’s 4x400m final

18:46 Men’s 4x1500m final

19:17 Women’s 4x800m final

19:41 Men’s 4x400m final B

19:52 Men’s 4x400m final

20:11 Women’s 4x200m final

20:28 Men’s 4x100m final B

20:37 Men’s 4x100m final

*subject to the usual ratification procedures

IAAF WORLD RELAYS – JUST ONE MONTH TO GO!

The excitement is starting to mount with exactly one month to go until the first gun goes at the inaugural IAAF World Relays, which will be held in Nassau, The Bahamas, on 24-25 May 2014.

Although most of the expected teams have yet to make their final squad selections, it is already known that the sport’s superpowers with a baton, like Kenya, Jamaica, the USA and many European nations, will be sending their strongest men and women’s teams to contest the five disciplines on the programme of this innovative event.

Into the bargain, the host nation with its own fantastic relay tradition, is out to ensure that some medals remain in The Bahamas.

There are two big incentives for nations to send their best squads to contest the 10 events which will be staged in the newly-built 15,000-seater Thomas A Robinson Stadium, with both men and women competing in the 4x100m, 4x200m, 4x400m, 4x800m and 4x1500m.

The top eight teams in both the men’s and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m will automatically qualify for the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015.

In addition, the top eight teams in each event will be awarded prize money with the gold medallists taking home no less than USD $50,000. In the event that a team breaks a World record in Nassau, an additional bonus of USD $50,000 will also be awarded.

Preliminary entries suggest that more than 700 athletes from 48 IAAF Member Federations will take part in Nassau.

Whetting the appetite for the forthcoming relay extravaganza, 2014 has already seen the US men set a World indoor 4x400m record and a quartet of Kenyan women running a 4x1500m faster than ever before.

Into the bargain, regardless who is in their team, Jamaican sprinters have collectively said that they will be targeting the World record in the men’s 4x200m in Nassau.

More than 700 athletes set to compete at inaugural IAAF World Relays

Close to 800 athletes are expected to compete at the first edition of the IAAF World Relays, which will be held on 24-25 May in Nassau, the capital of The Bahamas.

Preliminary entry figures indicate that 48 member federations will take part in Nassau. Initial entries of 762 athletes – 440 men and 322 women – have been received by the IAAF as 90 men’s teams and 64 women’s teams will be spread across the five events.

The 4x100m, 4x200m, 4x400m, 4x800m and 4x1500m will all be contested at the inaugural World Relays.

The top eight teams in both the men’s and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m will automatically qualify for the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing.

In addition, the top eight teams in each event will be awarded prize money with the gold medallists taking home no less than USD $50,000. In the event that a team breaks a world record in Nassau, an additional bonus of USD $50,000 will be awarded.