JAMAICA grabbed their only bronze medal as the 26th Summer Universiade (World University Games) ended in Shenzhen, China yesterday.

Shermaine Williams, Carrie Russell, Anneisha McLaughlin and Anastasia Le-Roy secured the third place in the women’s 4x100m relay with a time of 43.57 seconds on the sixth and final day of athletics.

Ukraine registered 43.33 seconds for gold, beating the United States who took the silver clocking 43.48 seconds.

Having performed beyond expectations, Jamaica leave the Games with six gold, two silver and one bronze medals for second place in athletics, the only sporting discipline they competed in, and eighth overall when all 22 sports are combined.

Jacques Harvey, Rasheed Dwyer, Hansle Parchment, O’Dayne Richards, Carrie Russell and Anneisha McLaughlin are Jamaica’s six world university champions, four of whom achieved personal best and a fifth equalling her career best.

Jason Young and Peter Matthews, who also ran a personal best, claimed the silver medals, while the women’s 4x100m relay quartet got bronze.

Jamaica’s performance at the Shenzhen university games in China exceeds the medal haul of the 1993 Buffalo, New York Games where Dahlia Duhaney, Debbie-Ann Parris, Inez Turner, Evon Clarke and Danny McFarlane left with one gold, four silver and one bronze medals.

In fact, according to the International University Sports Federation (FISU), since the 1993 games university student athletes have not taken this multi-sport competition seriously until now.

Though the final figures have yet to be confirmed, some 11,900 athletes from 143 countries were said to have participated in 22 sport disciplines.

Russia top athletics with 11 gold, 11 silver and nine bronze for a total 31 medals. Four other countries have joined second-placed Jamaica with nine medals.

Turkey ended with five gold, three silver and one bronze; Ukraine, four gold, four silver, one bronze; Japan, three gold, three silver, three bronze; and the United States, also three gold, three silver and three bronze medals.

China won the most medals from all sports with 61 gold, 35 silver and 28 bronze; beating Russia with 35 gold, 36 silver, and 39 bronze; Korea 23 gold, 20 silver, 29 bronze; and Japan 22 gold, 26 silver, and 35 bronze.

The United States took fifth spot with 17 gold, 20 silver and nine bronze medals.

Ukraine with 39 medals, including 11 gold, and Italy with 28 medals, also 11 gold, were the other two countries beating Jamaica when all sports are combined.

Only 62 of the 143 countries participating won medals at the games.