Richard Thompson anchors Americas to victory in the 4x100m at the IAAF Continental Cup, Marrakech 2014 (© Getty Images)
The Americas were the men’s sprint relay quartet to beat and they illustrated as much with their solid performance to cap the day one action at Marrakech’s Grand Stade.
Roughly even with Africa after lead-off legs by Kim Collins and Nigeria’s Mark Jelks, US champion Mike Rodgers began to pull away midway through the second leg to hand Nesta Carter a solid lead.
Running comfortable on the curve, the Jamaican added several metres to it before anchor Richard Thompson, perhaps making up for the personal disappointment of a last-place finish in the 100m earlier, ran impressively down the straight to seal the win in 37.97, the fastest ever time by a 4x100m relay quartet on African soil and more than half a second clear of Europe’s anchor Christophe Lemaitre to collect 15 points.
The Frenchman stopped the clock in 38.62 in second, with Africa third in 39.10. Asia-Pacific brought up the rear in 39.50.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
