At the recent World Relays from the Bahamas, the Jamaican men’s 4x400m squad failed to earn an automatic qualifier to the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.
They ran a season best time in the Heats (3:02.46), however their 3rd place finish in their respective race put them just outside the automatic qualification spots from the first day of competition (and finals for the World Relays). Their next chance came on the following day in the repechage rounds, in which the top two teams from each round would earn their qualifier. Unfortunately for the team from Jamaica, they ended their day in fifth place.
Without an automatic qualifier, their only remaining opportunity to get to the Games is to do so on world ranking, and the qualification window closes on June 30. Credit to Reddit user u/uses_for_mooses for the following passage, shared with permission, on the Jamaicans’ chances on getting into the field in Paris, which could be their first missed Olympics in over 60 years.
The short is, unless the Jamaica men’s 4×400 team can run sub 2:59.12 by June 30, they will miss the Olympics for the first time since 1960.
16 nations will qualify for each relay for the Paris Olympics. The first 8 qualified on Saturday at World Relays—the top 2 nations in each heat (Jamaica was 3rd in its heat). 6 more nations qualified on Sunday at World Relays—the first 2 teams of each of the three “losers” heats (Jamaica was 5th in its heat). That’s 14 nations of the 16 open spots.
The last 2 spots for each relay are based on world rankings—i.e., best times—since December 31, 2022. Right now, the nations with the 2 best times (of nations not yet qualified) are France and Zambia, which have times of 2:58.45 and 2:59.12, respectively. Jamaica is third with a time of 2:59.34, set at the 2023 Budapest WC’s.
So Jamaica must beat Zambia’s 2:59.12 to qualify for the Paris Olympics. And this assumes no other nation that has not yet qualified runs an even faster time. The Euro Athletics Championships are coming up at the start of June, for example. Could a team like the Netherlands squeak in under Zambia’s time?
For Jamaica, they also don’t seem to have any great meets coming up to run the 4x400m. It’s not a typical Diamond League event, for example. Plus several of Jamaica’s best 400m runners, such as Raheem Hayles and Jevaughn Powell, are competing collegiately in the NCAA. They are unlikely to be available until their collegiate season ends on June 8th (if they make NCAA nationals, which is likely).
So, pretty good chance we’ll see no Jamaica men’s 4×400 at the Olympics.
