The United States of America picked their third successive Golden Baton honour at the IAAF/BTC World Relays, “Bahamas 2017”.
The U.S. won five of the nine events over the two-day programme, took silver in a pair and third in another to tally 60 points, 21 ahead of Jamaica which had 39 in total.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said on its website on Monday that the Golden Baton was awarded to the team who accrues the most points.
It said the points were based on the simple scoring system of eight points for first place down to one point for finishing eighth. Australia was third with 24, edging Poland by just one point.
The U.S. won the men’s 4x800m and men’s and women’s 4x400m on the final day but for the vociferous crowd that gathered in Nassau’s Thomas A Robinson Stadium.
It said that the highlight was the resounding victory by a Bahamian quartet in the mixed 4x400m relay that capped the thoroughly entertaining evening. Kenya placed sixth with 16 points, Botswana placed 11th with 10 points and Nigeria placed 16th on the table with six points.
The competition held from April 22 to April 23 at Nassau, Bahamas and Nigeria featured only the women’s team in the 4x100m, 4x200m and 4x400m. Nigeria’s 4x200m women’s squad, the winner of the 2015 edition failed to retain its title by clinching a distant fifth position.
