The men&rsquo;s 4x100m final was Jamaica's to lose, and they managed to avoid that fate with a 37.77 clocking and an authoritative anchor leg from Yohan "The Beast" Blake. Blake's closing 100m was clocked in 9.07 with a running start.The start of the race was delayed when France&rsquo;s first-leg runner withdrew with an injury, but once underway it was all Jamaica. Nesta Carter led off and passed to Nickel Ashmeade, who had a visible lead when he exchanged with Julian Forte.Blake had a clear lead of several meters when he broke out into the homestretch with the baton. Jamaica's handoffs, while often messy, were secure and covered by the raw speed of their athletes.The many Jamaican fans who turned out for the IAAF World Relays congregated near the top of the second curve, singing and dancing, through the awards ceremony.Trinidad and Tobago came in second with a 38.04 clocking, powered largely by Richard Thompson's last-leg heroics; Thompson pulled the men in red past Dwain Chambers of Great Britain. Brazil (fourth) and Japan (fifth) were credited with identical 38.40 clockings.Ukraine got a ray of light in the B final, running a 38.53 national record to hold off a strong challenge from Cuba (38.60). Australia failed to complete the second exchange and Netherlands the third; with Barbados not starting, the eight-lane race had five teams finish.Earlier in the evening, Great Britain won the first heat in 37.93, with Trinidad and Tobago second in 38.09, gaining ground but not quite closing the gap. Japan, third in 38.34, qualified by time.Jamaica won the second heat handily with a 9.01 closing 100m from Andrew Fisher, running 37.71; Brazil took second in 38.10. France was a non-automatic qualifier with their 38.33. Germany took the third heat in 38.62 with Canada the second in 38.70. The Bahamas and the USA were both disqualified for passing out of the zone.Parker Morse for the IAAF

The men’s 4x100m final was Jamaica's to lose, and they managed to avoid that fate with a 37.77 clocking and an authoritative anchor leg from Yohan "The Beast" Blake. Blake's closing 100m was clocked in 9.07 with a running start.

Report: men’s 4x100m – Bahamas 2014

The US women captured the fifth and last women's relay final at the inaugural IAAF World Relays when they won the 4x200m in 1:29.45. It marked the fourth victory for the USA, who won all the women's relays except the 4x1500m.Great Britain took second in a 1:29.61 Commonwealth record, and Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce-anchored quartet came in third in a 1:30.04 national record.Shalonda Solomon led off the US team and Tawanna Meadows took the second leg. Switzerland's strong start tied them with Great Britain for the lead at the end of the first lap, but the tremendous four-turn staggers required to run two laps entirely in lanes made that distinction almost meaningless. Almost, because it showed the British were on a tear.At the end of the third leg, Britain had a marginal lead thanks to third-leg runner Bianca Williams. With the stagger half unwound, USA&rsquo;s Bianca Knight could see better how the other teams were doing, and she got the stick to Kimberlyn Duncan well before Fraser-Pryce had the chance to get underway.By the time the Pocket Rocket reached the homestretch, not just Duncan but Great Britain's Asha Philip were well away.The Bahamas continued the streak of national records (the USA, who own the world record, didn't set one) with a 1:31.31 in fourth, and Switzerland's 1:31.75 made a fourth record in fifth place. Nigeria made it five out of seven finishing teams, with a 1:33.71 national record in seventh. France was sixth in 1:32.23.Parker Morse for the IAAF

The US women captured the fifth and last women's relay final at the inaugural IAAF World Relays when they won the 4x200m in 1:29.45. It marked the fourth victory for the USA, who won all the women's relays except the 4x1500m.

Report: women’s 4x200m – Bahamas 2014

LaShawn Merritt may have won the 4x400m relay for the USA, but he had to beat 17,004 Bahamians to do it. The USA barely led through the entire race, and Merritt had to come from third place to deliver the 2:57.25 victory.LaToy Williams started The Bahamas this time, but was deep in fifth at the handoff. Trinidad and Tobago took the lead, with David Verburg getting the stick to Tony McQuay for the USA, and McQuay was able to win the break on the backstretch.Meanwhile, Demetrius Pinder moved The Bahamas up to third, and fought past Trinidad and Tobago on the second turn to move into second. Both islands got in front on the homestretch, which meant Bahamas' Olympic hero Chris Brown got the baton in the lead for the third leg.Brown would not be headed and the USA's Christian Taylor couldn't get around Trinidad and Tobago; Brown's split was a scorching 44.20.Taylor then got to hand off to LaShawn Merritt, however, and Brown had Michael Mathieu and 17,000 screaming countrymen. Merritt moved into second on the backstretch, waited around the second bend, and moved out to take on Mathieu on the homestretch. It wasn't until the final 10 meters that the hopes of the capacity crowd were dashed and Merritt moved into the lead for good.Trinidad and Tobago earned a national record in third, with 2:58.34. Jamaica suffered a dropped baton at the first exchange but battled back to finish eighth in 3:10.23.It was a duel to the last lap for Belgium and Japan in the B final, with Kevin Borlee finally putting Belgium in front for a 3:02.97 victory; his brother Dylan and twin Jonathan had the first two legs. Japan's mark was 3:03.24.Parker Morse for the IAAF

LaShawn Merritt may have won the 4x400m relay for the USA, but he had to beat 17,004 Bahamians to do it. The USA barely led through the entire race, and Merritt had to come from third place to deliver the 2:57.25 victory.

Report: men’s 4x400m – Bahamas 2014

It was a wire-to-wire victory for the USA in the women's 4x800m final, and their 8:01.58 clocking gave them the inaugural event record, a national record, and a symbolic victory over the previously dominant country in middle-distance running.World indoor champion Chanelle Price gave the USA a lead of more than 10 metres on the first leg, jumping out in front and holding the lead through the exchange to Geena Lara. Price's split was 2:01.00.Though Australia's Zoe Buckman and Kenya's Sylivia Chesebe closed the gap on Lara on the second leg, it was Mexico which came up to make the second exchange just behind the USA. Cristina Guevara moved up strongly to almost pull even with Lara, who gave the baton to world junior champion Ajee Wilson at 4:03.80.Wilson was lined up against 2007 world champion Janeth Jepkosgei, but she too was unable to close the gap on the USA, as Wilson split 1:59.10 to hand off to world bronze medallist Brenda Martinez at 6:02.90.Martinez scorched the first lap of her leg, wanting to give Kenya's Eunice Sum &ndash; the gold medallist ahead of Martinez in Moscow &ndash; no chance to close in. She reached the bell at 7:00.30, her 57.4 the fastest one-lap split of the day, then held on for the 8:01.58 finish.Kenya too ran a national record of 8:04.28. Russia, in third, ran 8:08.19. Australia (fourth, 8:13.26), Jamaica (fifth, 8:17.22), France (sixth, 8:17.54) and Mexico (eighth, 8:24.45) all established national records.Parker Morse for the IAAF

It was a wire-to-wire victory for the USA in the women's 4x800m final, and their 8:01.58 clocking gave them the inaugural event record, a national record, and a symbolic victory over the previously dominant country in middle-distance running.

Report: women’s 4x800m – Bahamas 2014

The first victory of Sunday's program went to the USA as they won the 4x400m title after a loss to Russia at the 2013 IAAF World Championships.DeeDee Trotter brought the USA in through the first leg in front (50.7) and handing off to Sanya Richards-Ross should have been enough to build a big lead then. But Jamaica had lined up Novlene Williams-Mills to neutralize Richards-Ross, and she closed the gap on the backstretch and made a race of it, handing off to Anastasia Le-Roy with a slim lead. Jamaica's time at that exchange was 1:40.9, and Williams-Mills' split of 49.7 (unofficially) was the fastest of the race.Natasha Hastings put the USA back in front immediately on the backstretch of the third leg. Le-Roy held on behind her until the home stretch, where Hastings' pace finally became too much for her. Hastings delivered the stick to Joanna Atkins with 10 metres of space, and Atkins finally put the race away for the USA with a 50.63 split. The USA took the victory in 3:21.73.Behind, Nigeria, who had been stalking Jamaica all along, closed on Shericka Jackson but weren't able to pull alongside. Jamaica held on to second in 3:23.26, with Nigeria at 3:23.41. Nigeria's team was Folasade Abugan, Regina George, Omolara Omotoso, and Patience Okon George.Australia won the B final in 3:31.01, but only after duelling the entire last leg with Canada (third, 3:32.58) and holding off a late challenge from Bahamas (second, 3:31.71). The Australians didn't lead the whole race, but were in front when it counted: at every single exchange.Parker Morse for the IAAF

The first victory of Sunday's program went to the USA as they won the 4x400m title after a loss to Russia at the 2013 IAAF World Championships.

Report: women’s 4x400m – Bahamas 2014

Kenya established a world record of 14:22.22* in the men's 4x1500m final, as Collins Cheboi, Silas Kiplagat, James Magut and Asbel Kiprop turned back challenges from Ethiopia and the USA before simply striding away from everyone else in history.The quartet lowered the record by 14 seconds; not quite the precipitous drop seen in the women's race on Saturday but still a tremendous race. The Kenyans will take home an additional USD $50,000 world record bonus on top of their USD $50,000 first-place prize money.It was the US team which handed off first, with Patrick Casey in the lead at the first exchange. The Kenyans &ndash; whose Cheboi had allowed Ethiopia's Mekonnen Gebremedhin to lead pretty much the entire first leg &ndash; did not allow this to stand, and Kiplagat set a more ambitious pace (3:32) on the second leg. He finally broke USA's David Torrence with 100m left in the leg.With Magut now in charge, it was back to concentrating on the record, and the remaining question was whether Ethiopia could catch the USA, or indeed hold off a tough Australian quartet.The last leg was up to world champion Kiprop, without a whole lot of doubt at that point that the record was going down. Kiprop was even a little startled to see Magut coming up to the third exchange and was barely ready to take the baton, but the bobble hardly mattered. Once he got going, Kiprop took the bell at 13:26.00 and closed in 56.22 to set the world record. Unchallenged, it wasn't even the quickest lap of the record. (Kiplagat's first full lap of 53.50 took that honour.)After slipping back behind the Australians briefly, the Ethiopians did come up to make it a race for second, with national record-holder Aman Wote closing on the USA's Leonel Manzano to make a race for second. USA established a national record of 14:40.80 to hold on to second.The Ethiopians also ran a national record, 14:41.22. Australia made it a full set of four records in 14:46.04, and Qatar, seventh in 15:10.77, also established a national record.Parker Morse for the IAAF*subject to usual ratification procedures

Kenya established a world record of 14:22.22* in the men's 4x1500m final, as Collins Cheboi, Silas Kiplagat, James Magut and Asbel Kiprop turned back challenges from Ethiopia and the USA before simply striding away from everyone else in history.

Report: men’s 4x1500m – Bahamas 2014

The results of the women’s 4x1500m and men’s 4x200m both bear the capital letters ‘WR’ beside the name of the winners but beyond that, the two world records* put up in Saturday night's action at the inaugural IAAF World Relays have little in common.The first mark, the women's 4x1500m, was widely regarded as the most likely to fall; a near certainty if not an absolute one. Kenyan teams had lowered the mark twice in trials races at altitude in Nairobi last month, but the times now seem hardly worth ratifying; the last one was a 17:05.72 on 26 April.To beat that mark would require an average time faster than 4:17 for each leg, and the squad Kenya eventually brought to the line – Mercy Cherono, Faith Kipyegon, Irene Jelagat and Hellen Obiri – had average personal bests faster than four minutes. Obiri had just run a national record of 8:20.68 over 3000m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Doha to become the sixth fastest runner ever over the distance, with Cherono just behind in 8:21.14; those two marks together would be well under the previous record. So the question, realistically, was not whether the Kenyan quartet would lower the record, but by how much.By contrast, the men's 4x200m record was set 20 years ago at the 1994 Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, California, by a Santa Monica Track Club squad that included of Leroy Burrell, Mike Marsh, and IAAF Athlete of the 20th Century Carl Lewis, collectively with more world and Olympic medals between them than many countries see in a century. (The fourth leg, Floyd Heard, had sub-20 200m credentials but fewer medals.)At 1:18.68, besting the record would require an average split of 19.67 or better, a time the likes of which few athletes have ever run, and while both the Jamaican and US squads claimed to be chasing the record, nobody really knew if the difference between block starts from a standstill and running relay passes would make them fast enough to challenge the record.In the end the surprise of the 4x1500m was not that Kenya lowered the record, nor that their mark of 16:33.58 took a staggering 32 seconds off the previous time, but that the US squad of Heather Kampf, Kate Mackey, Kate Grace and Brenda Martinez beat the old record as well, albeit coming home more than 20 seconds adrift of the runaway winners. US women also inside old recordThe US effort of 16:55.33 was particularly notable after Mackey, looking back to get the baton from Kampf, ran headlong into Australia's slowing Zoe Buckman, who had completed her pass to Bridey Delaney after staying close to Cherono through the first leg. Both Mackey and Buckman wound up on the track, but Mackey retained the baton and got back up, which was enough. Australia, too, ran an Oceanian record of 17:08.65, the fifth-fastest recognised mark ever, behind two each from Kenya and the USA.&nbsp;The winning Kenyans, while clearly pleased and despite the effervescent Cherono dancing on the sidelines, showed less emotion the Jamaican men, who were in the air instantly when their time flashed up, before Blake could even slow down. Word in the tribune, unofficially, was that Blake had split 19.0 for his anchor leg, justifying his own speculation at Friday's pre-event press conference. "If I can run 19.2 from a block start," postulated Blake, "Imagine what I could do from a running start."With the whole race run in lanes, the four-turn stagger didn't unwind fully until halfway through Blake's anchor leg. Running in lane three, the Jamaicans had their competition laid out in front of them for the whole race, watching not only the fireworks of the second-place St Kitts and Nevis team out in lane eight – second leg Lestrod Roland, who took the baton halfway around the bend due to the extreme stagger, actually swung his left arm over his head as though to ask the rest of the field to get in the race – but also had rivals USA in lane six.Both teams added a US$50,000 world record bonus to the $50,000 first-place prize.The final difference between these world records may be their approachability. Both Jamaica and the USA might be able to put together faster squads for the men's 4x200m – adding a healthy Usain Bolt to the existing Jamaican quartet, for example, and practicing the notoriously tricky exchanges – but it's not a given that both teams would have the available personnel to attempt the record again in the near future.However, the women's 4x1500m mark even now is only a few seconds faster than the combined 3000m marks of Obiri and Cherono.Should Kenya choose to chase the mark again, and if the same record bonus is on the line again, then there's no reason they should not reduce it further and by several seconds. A time of between 16:20 and 16:30 would seem to pose little problem to the combined talent of the Kenyan quartet on display in Nassau. The biggest obstacle to a Kenyan team lowering the record again, in fact, would be competition from an Ethiopian entry, who were sadly absent from the IAAF World Relays on this occasion, missing the opportunity for what could have been a spectacular duel with their Rift Valley rivals.Parker Morse for the IAAF*subject to the usual ratification procedures

The results of the women’s 4x1500m and men’s 4x200m both bear the capital letters ‘WR’ beside the name of the winners but beyond that, the two world records* put up in Saturday night's action at the inaugural IAAF World Relays have little in common.

World records at the IAAF World Relays are worlds apart

The inaugural IAAF World Relays gets under way on Saturday (24) in Nassau, The Bahamas, and you can follow all the action on the IAAF website.The IAAF website will bring you <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-relays/iaaf-world-relays-5409/timetable/byday" target="_blank">live results</a>, <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-relays/iaaf-world-relays-5409/team-standings" target="_blank">team standings</a>, and up-to-the-minute updates on our live blog and <a href="http://twitter.com/iaaforg" target="_blank">IAAF twitter account</a>.Or if you’re on the go, you can download the IAAF app (available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/IAAF-IAAF-org/dp/B00ECCJL66/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1393595528&sr=8-2&keywords=iaaf" target="_blank">Amazon appstore</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.iaaf.applications.IAAF&hl=en" target="_blank">Google Play</a> or the <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/it/app/iaaf.org/id681225974?l=en&mt=8" target="_blank">App Store</a>) to keep updated on all the results from Nassau.The IAAF will also for the first time in its history stream one of its events via the following platforms:In Europe, the stream is available via <a href="http://bit.ly/iaaflive" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/iaaflive</a> and on the Eurovision Sports Live App (<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/eurovision-sports-live/id833505517?mt=8" target="_blank">iOS</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.edgesuite.eurovision.livemanager" target="_blank">Android</a>).Furthermore, the IAAF, in partnership with Dentsu, who are the IAAF’s broadcasting partner for the rest of the world, will provide a stream on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/IAAFMagazine" target="_blank">‘IAAF Magazine’ YouTube channel</a>.In addition, there will also be a <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/multimedia/360" target="_blank">360° high-definition video feed</a>, which allows the viewer to directly control what they want to view. Following our <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-relays/iaaf-world-relays-5409/news/preview" target="_blank">event-by-event previews</a>, there will also be reports for every event and a <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-relays/iaaf-world-relays-5409/multimedia" target="_blank">host of images</a> added to the site.If you can’t follow the action on TV, you can listen to the <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/radio/broadcast-schedule/iaaf-world-relays-5409" target="_blank">IAAF Radio</a> throughout the competition.SPIKES – through <a href="http://twitter.com/spikesmag" target="_blank">twitter</a>, the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WorldAthleticsClub" target="_blank">IAAF World Athletics Club on Facebook</a>, and their <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/spikes" target="_blank">new home on the IAAF website</a> – will add an extra dimension to the IAAF World Relays coverage, unearthing stories that you’d never hear anywhere else.And there’s more.You can <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-relays/iaaf-world-relays-5409/country/all" target="_blank">follow your chosen country</a> throughout the competition. Simply bookmark them, and then the tab along the top of every competition page will keep you updated on their progress.In the <a href="http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-relays/iaaf-world-relays-5409/athletes" target="_blank">athletes section</a>, you can filter all the entrants by name, country, discipline or gender.There’s also the <a href="https://iaafmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/competitioninfo/88acfb9c-902a-43ae-8192-41c0739ce703.pdf" target="_blank">IAAF World Relays facts and figures PDF</a>, which contains all the relay-related information you will ever need to know.If that’s still not quite enough information, you can download <a href="https://iaafmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/competitioninfo/21f1fccb-4041-4aeb-b34b-cd72121847a3.pdf" target="_blank">in-depth biographies</a> – compiled by statistician Mark Butler – of all the athletes set to compete in Nassau.IAAF

The inaugural IAAF World Relays gets under way on Saturday (24) in Nassau, The Bahamas, and you can follow all the action on the IAAF website.

How to follow the action in Nassau – IAAF World Relays

It was a blazing second bend by Jeneba Tarmoh which set up victory for the USA in the women's 4x100m final, and sharp baton work on all three exchanges didn't hurt, with the US team clocking 41.88.The victory put the US women, who set the world record of 40.82 in the 2012 Olympic final, back on top of the global rankings for the sprint relay after taking silver behind rivals Jamaica at last year's IAAF World Championships.Tianna Bartoletta and Alexandria Anderson set the race up, staying even with the Jamaican lead-off pair of Carrie Russell and Kerron Stewart. Bartoletta even had the slowest reaction time of the eight finalists but, in the end, it didn't matter as Tarmoh scorched past Schillonie Calvert on the turn before passing the baton to LaKeisha Lawson and the US anchor had a free flight down the homestretch, even as Jamaica's Samantha Henry-Robinson tried in vain to close the gap. Neither USA nor Jamaica had their top talent available, as Jamaica's winning anchor runner from Moscow 2013 and last year&rsquo;s IAAF World Athlete of The Year, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, though entered, did not run, and many of the top US women stayed home. Jamaica held on to second in 42.28; third place went to Trinidad and Tobago, with Kamaria Durant, Michelle-Lee Ahye, Reyare Thomas and Kai Selvon bringing the baton around in 42.66, the latter overtaking Nigeria just a few metres from the line to grab third place by 0.01.Most of the top quartets ran the same line-ups from the heats to the final, a fact which may have contributed to all 24 exchanges in the final coming off successfully.Earlier, the USA won the first of three heats with 42.29, using Bartoletta, Anderson, Tarmoh and Lawson &ndash; the same line up they would run in the final &ndash; with Trinidad and Tobago taking the second automatic qualification spot. Jamaica held off a strong challenge from Nigeria to take second heat, also in 42.29. The third heat went to Great Britain &ndash; fielding Asha Philip, Anyika Onuora, Jodie Williams and Desiree Henry &ndash; in 43.20, with France taking the second spot. Hosts The Bahamas finished third in 43.54 but just missed out on a place in the main final with the two fastest non-automatic qualifier spots going to Germany and Brazil, the third-placed teams in the first two heats.Parker Morse for the IAAF

It was a blazing second bend by Jeneba Tarmoh which set up victory for the USA in the women's 4x100m final, and sharp baton work on all three exchanges didn't hurt, with the US team clocking 41.88.

Report: women's 4x100m – Bahamas 2014

Jamaica&rsquo;s men&rsquo;s 4x200m quartet improved the world record* by 0.05 with a run of 1:18.63 at the IAAF World Relays in Nassau, The Bahamas, on Saturday (25).Nickel Ashmeade, Warren Weir, Jermaine Brown and 2011 world 100m champion Yohan Blake combined to win the first prize of US$50,000 and a world record bonus of US$50,00.The previous world record of 1:18:68 was set by an all-US quartet in 1994.In the end the 20-year-old 4x200m world record that had been on the books in the name of the fabled Santa Monica Track Club did indeed fall, but it required some heroics in the form of an unofficial 19-flat anchor leg by Blake from a rolling start.The Jamaicans were pressed early by a blazing first leg from Antoine Adams of St Kitts and Nevis out in lane eight and as his compatriot Lestrod Roland came down the homestretch he swung his left arm &ndash; the one holding the baton &ndash; over his head as though to invite the others to come along, which they eventually did.Jamaica passed the finish line to start the second lap in 39.00, although with a four-turn stagger and starting in lane three, Jamaica had somewhat more than 400m to run at that point. Nevertheless, Brown and Blake completed the second tour of the track in 39.63.An expected challenge from the US team failed to materialise as their second exchange, from Moscow 2013 200m bronze medallist Curtis Mitchell to Ameer Webb, initially missed and was completed outside the zone. The US team continued and crossed the line third, unable to overhaul the St Kitts quartet, but following their disqualification third place went to France.Again there was a rash of national records behind the world record. St Kitts and Nevis put up a mark of 1:20.51, with Brijesh Lawrence and Allistar Clarke finishing for their quartet. France, with Christophe Lematire leading off and Fonsat, Bassaw and Romain bringing it home, established a European record of 1:20.66; notably both St. Kitts and Nevis and France ran with the same line ups for the final as they did for the heats. Barbados (fourth, 1:21.88) and Kenya (fifth, 1:22.35) also set national records.Earlier, Jamaica were the easy winners of the first heat in 1:20.14, running Rasheed Dwyer, Brown, Jason Livermore and Weir, with France next (1:21.45) and St. Kitts and Nevis (1:21.97) third. The USA quartet of Maurice Mitchell, Curtis Mitchell, Isaiah Young and Wallace Spearmon ran 1:21.35 to take the second heat easily, with Spearmon easing up at the line. Barbados at 1:21.88 and Kenya third at 1:23.24 took the automatic qualifying spots; The Bahamas and China then advanced on time from the first heat, the former with a national record of 1:22.18.Parker Morse for the IAAF*subject to the usual ratification procedures

Jamaica’s men’s 4x200m quartet improved the world record* by 0.05 with a run of 1:18.63 at the IAAF World Relays in Nassau, The Bahamas, on Saturday (25).

Report: men's 4x200m – Bahamas 2014

In the absence of any decibel counters, possibly the biggest cheer on a raucous night came not when either of the two World records were set but when host nation The Bahamas won the third and final heat of the men&rsquo;s 4x400m in 3:00.30.Fielding the four heroes who won the gold medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games &ndash; albeit with the quartet running in a different sequence to their formation two summers ago and this time the running order was Demetrius Pinder, Ramon Miller, Chris Brown and Michael Mathieu &ndash; the local legends clocked the fastest time of the heats and raised the rafters of the Thomas A Robinson Stadium.However, it should be a fantastic battle for supremacy in the final on Sunday as Great Britain and the USA both impressed in winning their heats in 3:00.74 and 3:01.09 respectively.Both teams&rsquo; victories were notable for their anchor leg runners.Britain&rsquo;s Martin Rooney executed a tactically astute come-from-behind run, hitting the front with approximately 230 metres to go after taking over in second place, as surprise package Venezuela also overtook their South American rivals Brazil, who led at the bell.The USA fielded 2011 IAAF World Championships and London 2012 Olympic Games triple jump gold medallist Christian Taylor on the last leg and he showed his versatility by uncorking a 44.9 stint as he battled to hold off Jamaica&rsquo;s Rusheen McDonald.Phil Minshull for the IAAF

In the absence of any decibel counters, possibly the biggest cheer on a raucous night came not when either of the two world records were set but when host nation The Bahamas won the third and final heat of the men’s 4x400m in 3:00.30.

Report: men's 4x400m heats – Bahamas 2014

The USA showed that they will be the team to beat in the women&rsquo;s 4x400m after a storming run of 3:23.84 to win the second of two heats.The experienced Deedee Trotter handed over in the lead at the end of the first leg but Sanya Richards-Ross, who has three Olympic 4x400m gold medals to her name as well as multiple individual honours, did the damage on the second leg and put the US team into a 30-metre lead.Monica Hargrove and Jessica Beard then had little problem staying in pole position all the way to the line, although Jamaica&rsquo;s Kaliese Spencer closed well on the final leg to bring her team home in 2:24.95 and advertise to the USA that, although they will be the favourites, they will not be able to relax too much. Great Britain took the third automatic qualifying spot in the second heat in 3:27.30.Nigeria took full advantage of the late withdrawal of world champions Russia to put together an emphatic win in the first heat with a win in 3:27.07.Folasade Abugan had a marginal lead at the end of the first leg but her team mate Regina George ran an outstanding second stint, establishing a 30-metre lead, leaving Bukola Abogunloko and Patience Okon George the relatively easy task of completing the job.Brazil won a three-way battle on the last lap to take second place in 3:30.37.There was disappointment for the home crowd as The Bahamas dropped the baton on the second leg and although they finished the race down in sixth, they failed to make Sunday&rsquo;s final.Phil Minshull for the IAAF

The USA showed that they will be the team to beat in the women’s 4x400m after a storming run of 3:23.84 to win the second of two heats.

WORLD ATHLETICS RELAYS

World records ratified

Bah-mazing!

Yohan Blake: most valuable teammate?

Kenya's 4x1500m men throw caution to the winds

USA wins first Golden Baton – Bahamas 2014