Nations will be battling it out in China with Tokyo 2025 qualification on the line
Relay teams from around the globe will be fighting for more than just medals this weekend (May 10-11) in Guangzhou—they’ll also be racing for a place at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Over two days of high-stakes action, the top 14 finishers in each of the men’s and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m relays, plus the mixed 4x400m, will book their tickets to Tokyo. Two additional spots in each event will be awarded later through the World Athletics rankings system, which is based on performance points across the season.
The Netherlands, for example, have decided not to send a women’s or mixed 4x400m squad to China, confident that their current world No. 2 ranking in both events will be enough to see them through.
A new addition to this year’s program is the mixed 4x100m relay, which will be contested for the first time at a global event. The event is not on this September’s World Championships program.
On Saturday in China, the first two teams in each of the four heats will go straight to the final—and with that, claim their World Championships ticket. Teams that don’t make it through on day one will get another chance in Sunday’s repechage round. That format, introduced at last year’s World Relays in the Bahamas, gives the top two finishers in each of three additional heats a shot at joining the final line-up for Tokyo.
Here’s a full breakdown of what to expect in Guangzhou.
Women’s 4x100m
Team USA’s squad arrives as the team to beat in the women’s 4x100m. The Americans shattered a decade-old championship record during last year’s edition of the event, clocking 41.85 before their gold medal run at the Paris Olympics.
Twanisha Terry, a vital part of that Olympic-winning quartet, is set to make her World Relays debut. Having run the second leg in Paris, Terry brings a streak of global relay success, having also been part of the American teams that clinched 4x100m titles at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships. Individually, she placed fifth in the 100m final in Paris.
The historical rivalry between the USA and Jamaica adds extra intrigue. The two have claimed gold and silver at three of the last four global championships. However, Jamaica finished fifth at the most recent Olympics – a result they’ll be eager to improve on at this…
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