Departing Kenyan team out to better World Relays record

Head Coach George Macharia emphasised Kenya will witness unprecedented success as the World Relays team prepared for it’s departure to Nassau on Wednesday afternoon.

The Bahamian capital will host the third edition of the IAAF World Relays on Saturday with the two-day event set to conclude on Sunday and Macharia has maintained his team is in the right shape to deliver.

Macharia exuded confidence his group of 30 athletes will post a better performance than in 2015 where they gathered 15 points and finished seventh overall due to poor baton techniques, unlike in the inaugural edition where they finished third with 35.

“We started our training very well and everybody responded to the camp call in time and we immediately went to the technical work of relay exchange. The team has been very disciplined and the coordination between themselves has been remarkable.

“The Athletics Kenya (AK) and the government have been very supportive therefore as we go to represent the nation our desire is to fly the Kenyan flag high,” Macharia told Citizen Digital at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

The team delayed its travel for technical reasons and while their time of departure remains unclear, Team Manager Billy Kosgey assured they will  jet off latest midnight.

With their connection flight from Dubai to Bahamas unable to accommodate the entire travelling contingent, they opted to hang on for the next in order to avoid splitting the squad.

A total prize purse of US$1.26 million will be paid by the IAAF for the men’s and women’s races at the global competition.

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 US$50,000 bonus by world governing body IAAF.

The World Relays have already witnessed five world record-breaking performances.

At the inaugural edition in 2014, a Jamaican quartet clocked 1:18.63 to take down the men’s world 4x200m record while Kenyan teams shattered the standards in both the men’s and women’s 4x1500m.

In 2015, USA teams stamped their authority on the distance medley event by breaking the records in both the men’s and women’s races. All five records still stand.

The current ratified world records for the disciplines on the 2017 programme are:

Men

4x100m: Jamaica 36.84, 11 August 2012, London

4x200m: Jamaica 1:18.63, 24 May 2014, Nassau

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

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

* The payment of prize money is dependent upon the athletes clearing the usual anti-doping procedures.

-More to follow…