Aussie world record snatched after only nine minutes
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Four Australian relay young guns joined forces in the USA on Friday (AEST) to break the world under-20 record in the mixed 4x100m.
A mere nine minutes later at the world athletics under-20 championships at Hayward Field in Oregon, Great Britain knocked the record off.
From left: Thewbelle Philp, Kelechi Ekwomadu, Maya Taber and Uwezo Lubenda after their record-breaking display. Ben Levy/Australian Athletics.
In heat one of the mixed 4x100m – which is being held for the first time in world junior championship history – an Australian team featuring Uwezo Lubenda, Maya Taber, Kelechi Ekwomadu and Thewbelle Philp won in 41.64 seconds.
The star quartet huddled around the clock, which had their record on display, and smiled for the cameras.
Then, in heat two, a team from Great Britain made up of Divine Iheme, Savannah McKenzie Morgan, Mathew Ajayi and Sophie Thomas eclipsed Australia’s newly minted record by 0.04 of a second.
In heat one, Australia’s Philp and Carlotta Suppini of France could hardly be split as they launched into their anchor legs.
But Philp, a promising 18-year-old sprinter of Aboriginal and Filipino heritage, raced ahead on the home straight to claim the heat win.
“It’s really good to set the standard before the other heats to show them what they’re up against,” Philp said, speaking after Great Britain had stolen the record.
Ekwomadu said the Australian team had sent a formidable message.
“It feels great to have had the record for as long as it lasted, just to kind of show the other teams that we’re not here to mess around,” Ekwomadu said.
“We’re here to win, we’ve done the work, and we’re going to make it happen.”
Lubenda, the lead runner, said the team was “hungry for more”.
“We know we’re in medal contention, so we’re very excited to come back for the final,” said the Townsville tearaway.
“Despite Great Britain getting the world record, it doesn’t matter – the only thing that matters is the gold medal.”
The mixed 4x100m final is scheduled for Sunday at 11.05am (AEST).
Australia will be up against Great Britain, the USA, Poland, Germany, Jamaica, Italy, Nigeria and France.