Athletics: England's relay curse is broken

7.55am

MANCHESTER - Luck finally ran England's way when they won the men's 4x100m relay final at the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday in the most dramatic circumstances.

England were awarded the gold in a photo-finish with Jamaica after the two countries crossed the line together in 38.62 seconds. Australia were third in 38.87sec.

Although they were credited with the same time, Jamaica were relegated to silver because their final runner Asafa Powell was adjudged to have hit the line fractionally behind England's Darren Campbell.

England's victory was astonishing in many ways, not least because the country's two fastest sprinters, Mark Lewis-Francis and Dwain Chambers, missed the race after injuring themselves in Saturday's 100m individual final.

The result also broke the British sprint relay team's curse in recent major championships. They dropped the baton at both the 2000 Sydney Olympics and last year's world championships in Edmonton.

There were no mistakes this time as Jason Gardener, Marlon Devonish and Allyn Condon got the baton round safely to Manchester-born Campbell, who revealed just a few days ago that he had contemplated suicide earlier this year because of depression.

Earlier, Debbie Ferguson confirmed her position as the outstanding female track and field athlete in Manchester when she collected her third gold medal.

The 26-year-old anchored the Bahamas 4x100m relay team to victory after earlier winning the 100m and 200m individual events.

In doing so, Ferguson became the first woman to complete the sprint treble at the Commonwealth Games since Australia's Raelene Boyle in 1970 and 1974.

The final was still wide open after Tamica Clarke, Sevatheda Fynes and Chandra Sturrup carried the baton three quarters of the way round the track and handed over to Ferguson, but she sped away to give Bahamas a clear win over Jamaica and England in 42.44 seconds, a Games record time.

Mens 4x100m Final:

1 Jason Gardener, Marlon Devonish, Allyn Condon, Darren Campbell (Eng) 38.62 seconds, 2 Michael Frater, Dwight Thomas, Chris Williams, Asafa Powell (Jam) 38.62sec, 3 Tim Williams, Paul Di Bella, David Baxter, Patrick Johnson (Aus) 38.87sec, 4 Charles Allen, Anson Henry, Jermaine Joseph, Bruny Surin (Can) 38.94sec, 5 Marvin Regis, Marc Burns, Jacey Harper, Julian Raeburn (Tri) 38.97sec, 6 Taiwo Ajibade, Chinedu Oriala, Sunday Emmanuel, Uchenna Emedolu (Ngr) 39.01sec, 7 Alfred Moussambani, Serge Mbegomo, Claude Toukene, Joseph Batangdon (Cmr) 39.52sec, 8 Kevin Williams, Doug Turner, Christian Malcolm, Steven Shalders (Wal) 39.73sec.

Womens 4x100m Final:

1 Tamica Clarke, Sevatheda Fynes, Chandra Sturrup, Debbie Ferguson (Bah) 42.44 seconds (GR), 2 Elva Goulbourne, Juliet Campbell, Astia Walker, Veronica Campbell (Jam) 42.73sec 3 Joice Maduaka, Shani Anderson, Vernicha James, Abiodun Oyepitan (Eng) 42.84sec, 4 Melanie Kleeberg, Jodi Lambert, Sharon Cripps, Lauren Hewitt (Aus) 43.72sec, 5 Patience Edem, Uduak Ekah, Pauline Ibeagha, Chinedu Odozor (Ngr) 44.10sec, 6 Shamani Pradeepa Kumari Kiwuldeniye Herath Mudiyansela, Sriyani Kulawasha, Damayanthi Darsha, Susanthika Jayansinghe (Sri) 44.25sec, 7 Mereoni Raluve, Makelesi Bulikiobo, Vaciseva Tavaga, Vasiti Vatureba (Fij) 47.02sec, 8 Fatmata Bash-Koroma, Ekundayo Williams, Tennah Kargbo, Aminata Kargbo (Sle) 47.45sec

Womens 4x400m Final:

1 Lauren Hewitt, Cathy Freeman, Tamsyn Lewis, Jana Pittman (Aus) 3 minutes 25.63 seconds (GR), 2 Helen Frost, Helen Karagounis, Melanie Purkiss, Lisa Miller (Eng) 3min 26.73sec, 3 Olabisi Afolabi, Kudirat Akhigbe, Hajarat Yusuf, Doris Jacob (Ngr) 3min 29.16sec, 4 Carey Anne Easton, Sinead Dudgeon, Susan Burnside, Lee Mcconnell (Sco) 3min 31.50sec, 5 Foy Williams, Ladonna Antoine-Watkins, Karlene Haughton, Lami Oyewumi (Can) 3min 32.24sec, 6 Clementine Bewouda, Muriel Noah Ahanda, Mireille Nguimgo, Madeleine Kaboud Me Bam (Cmr) 3min 32.74sec, 7 Adia Mckinnon, Fana Ashby, Melissa De Leon, Niekiesha Charles (Tri) 3min 39.14sec, 8 Allison Beckford, Lorraine Graham-Fenton, Debbie-Ann Parris, Sandie Richards (Jam) Did Not Finish


- REUTERS

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