On the opening day of the Debswana World Athletics Relays held in Gaborone, Botswana, Saturday delivered a historic moment that will be etched in track and field history books: Jamaica’s mixed 4x100m relay squad shattered the world record, becoming the first team in the event’s history to clock a sub-40 second time. The Jamaican foursome, made up of sprinters Ackeem Blake, Tina Clayton, Kadrian Goldson and Tia Clayton, put on a dominant display of speed and flawless baton passing from the opening crack of the gun to the final handover, powering through their qualifying heat to stop the clock at an unprecedented 39.99 seconds. Their new mark toppled the 40.07 second world record that Canada had set just minutes earlier in the day’s first qualifying heat, a performance that had already left spectators and commentators stunned ahead of Jamaica’s history-making run. Beyond securing their spot at the top of the rankings for Sunday’s event final, the record-breaking run automatically locked in Jamaica’s qualification for two upcoming major global athletics competitions: the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, scheduled to take place in Budapest, Hungary this coming September, and the 2027 World Athletics Championships set to be hosted in Beijing. Great Britain’s squad crossed the line second behind Jamaica in the heat, finishing with a solid time of 40.72 seconds to earn their own place in the final, while Australia rounded out the top three with a 40.78 second finish to also advance to the next round of competition. The opening day of the World Athletics Relays has already set a high bar for competition, with Jamaica’s historic achievement signaling what is sure to be an action-packed final day of world-class racing.