EUGENE, Ore. – U.S. sprint champion English Gardner is promising a “nasty” women’s 4x100m relay team at the Rio Olympics next month.
Gardner led three women under 10.80-seconds in the 100m at the 2016 USA Olympic Team Trials on Sunday and she believes the sprint relay team will be something special to see.
The 24-year-old captured the women’s 100m crown at Hayward Field in Eugene on Sunday in a personal best time of 10.74 seconds, improving on the 10.79 previous personal best she posted in 2015.
Those behind her were also fast as well, as Tianna Bartoletta, Tori Bowie and Morolake Akinosun all ran personal bests on the day.
Bartoletta clocked 10.78 seconds to edge out Bowie, who also ran the same time for third, with Akinosun rounding out the top four in 10.95. Jenna Prandini was fifth in 10.96.
With such fast times, USA could certainly challenge their own women’s 4x100m world record, set four-years-ago in London, and a confident Gardner is predicting something fast.
“It’s going to be nasty, I promise you that,” she said about the strength of the women’s 4×100 relay team.
As usual, USA is expected to continue its fierce rivalry in the sprints with Jamaica, which had three women running below 11-seconds in their own trials, including Elaine Thompson, who ran 10.70, easing down as she crossed the finishing line.
On her own individual battle with Bartoletta and Bowie, Gardner said: “These two ladies are the two most fierce ladies we have in the United States because they don’t back down.
She added: “They’re not scared of anybody, and that’s why I love competing with them because they always give the best race they possibly can.
“I knew it was gonna be a wire-to-wire race, so if I just kept my composure, we would just see what I came out with in the end.”
USA will need to worry about getting the stick around clean first.
Nice try Dave, but that’s the men. The relay is the US women’s to lose.