The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

A NEW addition to the IAAF/BTC World Relays lineup, the seldom seen distance medley relay, looks to infuse some added excitement to the second edition of the meet.

The distance medley will replace the 4 x 1,500 metre relay when the meet kicks off at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium May 2-3. Team members will run 1,200m, 400m, 800m and 1,600m legs in that order. The total distance run is 4,000 metres or nearly 2.5 miles.

The race has recently come into the international spotlight when the United States men’s team set a new world indoor record at the Armory Track Invitational in New York in January.

The team of Matthew Centrowitz Jr in 2:49.47s (1,200m), Mike Berry in 46.40s (400), Erik Sowinski in 1:47.60s (800m) and Pat Casey in 3:56.48s (1,600m) set the new mark in a time of 9:19.93s.

As for the records contested at this year’s meet, the field will be chasing the marks set by Kenya and the US. In 2006, Kenya set the men’s outdoor world record in a time of 9:15.56s.

The Kenyan team of Elkanah Angwenyi in 2:50.80s (1,200m), Thomas Musembi in 45.80s (400m), Alfred Yego in 1:46.20s (800m) and Alex Kipchirchir in 3:52.80 (1,600m) set the nine-year-old mark at the 2006 Penn Relays.

On the women’s side, a team from Villanova University also set the world record mark at the Penn Relays. Kathy Franey in 3:20.90s (1,200m), Michelle Bennett in 52.90s (400m), Celeste Halliday in 2:04.70s (800m) and Vicki Huber in 4:29.90s (1,600m) set the time of 10:48.38s back in 1988.

In 2014, Team Kenya walked away from the two-day competition with a pair of new world records and wins in three of the four middle distance relays contested over the two-day meet.

The seldom seen 4 x 800m and 4 x 1,500m events took centre stage as the backdrop of junkanoo music inspired the athletes in their race against the clock.

Forty-three countries took part in the 2014 IAAF World Relays  and only 13 made it onto the medal podium.

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 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The top eight teams in both the men’s and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m will automatically qualify for Rio.

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 $50,000 will also be awarded.