Elaine Thompson-Herah made a golden return to the global stage, anchoring Jamaica to the women’s 4x100m title at the Debswana World Athletics Relays Gaborone 26 on Sunday (3).

Continuing her comeback after injury, the five-time Olympic champion teamed up with Briana Williams, Jodean Williams and Lavanya Williams to clock 42.00 – Thompson-Herah easing up as she reached the finish line ahead of Canada and Spain.

The Canadian quartet – including two members of the nation’s mixed 4x100m team that finished runner-up just 20 minutes earlier: Marie-Éloïse Leclair and Audrey Leduc – stormed to a national record of 42.17 for another second-place finish, while Spain chased them over the finish line to complete the podium in 42.31.

Briana Williams started off for Jamaica, handing the baton to Jodean Williams. The second changeover wasn’t quite as smooth but Lavanya Williams got to Thompson-Herah in second place, just behind Canada.

Sadé McCreath, Leduc and Leclair set things up well for their anchor runner Donna Ntambue, who stormed away in the lead for Canada. But Thompson-Herah was fast in pursuit and she overpowered her rival down the home straight, securing a second 4x100m victory for Jamaica in Gaborone after the nation’s mixed success.

The Canadian quartet improved on their national record of 42.38 set in the heats of the World Championships in Tokyo to finish just ahead of Spain.

There was a fight for fourth place – Italy, China and Germany all clocking 42.61, separated by just 0.007.

"I'm grateful that I crossed the line healthy," said Thompson-Herah after racing in her first major international event since the 2023 World Championships. "Coming down the home straight, I felt like my leg was heavy – like a hamstring – but I knew that I had to bring the team home because we were looking forward to that.

"We came here in high spirits and I'm satisfied to walk away with the gold. I came here hungry for more and it worked out perfectly."

France and Nigeria enjoyed huge celebrations after the first women’s 4x100m heat of the additional round earlier in the session. Their quartets respectively clocked 42.92 and 42.94 to secure the top two spots and, as a result, qualify for the World Athletics Championships Beijing 27. Hungary set a national record of 43.32 in third.

Australia won the second heat in 42.88 to join the list of Beijing-qualified teams along with Great Britain and NI, whose disqualification on day one put paid to their hopes of defending their World Relays title. They rebounded by running 42.90 for the runner-up spot, Success Eduan chasing down Australia’s Georgia Harris and Switzerland’s Céline Bürgi, who anchored her team to third place in 42.92, narrowly missing out on automatic qualification for the World Championships.

Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Result: 1 Jamaica 42.00, 2 Canada 42.17 NR, 3 Spain 42.31, 4 Italy 42.61 5 China 42.61, 6 Germany 42.61, 7 Poland 43.23, Portugal DQ