From WorldTrack.org
With Usain Bolt's magically fast 100-metre dash performance at the Jamaica International Invitational in Kingston, World record holder in the event, Asafa Powell, believes the country stands a great chance of breaking USA's 4x100m relay world record.
Powell, at 9.74-seconds and Bolt (9.76), are the two fastest men ever to run the dash and the record holder who won a bronze medal at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan, last year, believes the sixteen-year-old record of 37.40, set at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, could be in danger.
"The world record can go for sure with two guys running 9.7 and we (Jamaica) have other athletes out there capable of running sub-10," Powell told the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday.
"So we have a great chance of breaking the world record."
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Are they serious? - Shouldn’t Jamaica focus on winning a gold medal? Do they realize 37.40 is a very-very tough standard. With all of the great sprinters the U.S. has and we have not been able to touch that time in over 15 years even with relays consisting of Justin Gatlin, Shawn Crawford, Maurice Greene, and Tim Montgomery who were all sub 9.9x sprinters?
In the 1992 Barcelona World Championship Mike Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell, Carl Lewis ran 37.40; this time was equaled the next year by Jon Drummond, Andre Cason, Dennis Mitchell, and Leroy Burrell. - These guys weren’t just quick, but had run relay together for nearly a decade.
I know Bolt and Powell are super fast, but to attack the 4x1 world record, you can't have a soft underbelly. You need to have 4 of the top sprinters in the world, who are on top of their game at the same time and have nearly perfect hand offs under incredible pressure. I expect Jamaica to be very formidable and even possibly beating the U.S., but you need win first before you start talking about world records.
Lets be serious!