MOSCOW, August 16 (R-Sport) – Russia qualified easily for the women’s 4x400 meter relay final at the world championships in Moscow on Friday, comfortably beating Jamaica into second place.
Russia, running without 400m individual bronze medalist Antonina Krivoshapka, ran the fastest time across the three heats with a run of 3 minute 23.51 seconds.
Jamaica briefly contended for the win on the second leg, when Kaliese Spencer overtook Russia’s Tatyana Firova, but was well behind the host team at the end.
Russia is likely to battle the US for gold in the final, while Britain could also contend for a medal.
The first two teams in each of the three heats qualify automatically for Saturday’s final, plus two fastest losers, in this case France and Romania.
The championships are being held at Moscow’s Luzhniki arena, the venue for athletics at the 1980 Olympics, and end Sunday.
