The 2024 Debswana World Athletics Relays, hosted in Gaborone, Botswana, delivered a standout opening performance from Jamaica’s powerhouse women’s 4x100m relay squad on the event’s first qualifying day. The quartet, made up of global sprint star Shericka Jackson, Jodean Williams, Lavanya Williams and Jonielle Smith, blazed through the track to clock an impressive 41.96 seconds, finishing first in their qualifying heat and securing the top overall seed for Sunday’s highly anticipated final.
Finishing behind the dominant Jamaican team, Germany claimed second place in the heat with a solid time of 42.44 seconds, while Portugal rounded out the top three with a historic run. The Portuguese squad set a new national record of 43.11 seconds, marking a career milestone for the team and a standout moment in the qualifying round.
Beyond securing their spot in the weekend’s final, the leading performance from Jamaica punched the country’s ticket to two major upcoming global athletics competitions: the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, scheduled to take place in Budapest, Hungary this coming September, and the 2025 World Athletics Championships set to be hosted in Beijing. This early qualification solidifies Jamaica’s status as one of the top contenders for gold in both events later this year and next.
Three other participating teams — Belgium, France, and Nigeria — faced disqualification during Saturday’s opening qualifying heats. However, the teams have been granted a second opportunity to qualify, and will compete in an additional qualifying round held Sunday ahead of the main final to earn their place in the championship round.