TOKYO, Japan – The Jamaican men’s 4x400m relay team advanced to the finals of the event at the Tokyo Olympics, after finishing second in their heat on Friday.

The team of Demish Gaye, Jaheel Hydel, Karayme Bartley and Nathon Allen clocked 2:59.29 and were never in danger of not progressing with the top three in each heat assured of an automatic spot in the medal round.

Allen looked smooth on the anchor leg as he separated from a group of three, and chased and caught the Belgian team at the line.

Poland won the heat in 2:58.55 and Belgium was third in 2:59.37.

A second Caribbean team will be in the final as Trinidad and Tobago were third in the first heat in 2:58.60.

The USA won the first heat in 2:57.77, ahead of Botswana who ran an African record 2:58.33 while Italy (2:58.91) and The Netherlands (2:59.06) both ran national records to advance to the final on time.

Christopher Taylor, a 400m finalist at the Tokyo Games, is expected to be substituted into the Jamaican team for the relay finals.

Jamaica’s 4×400 men’s team have won silver medals in the last two global championships, at the Olympics in Rio in 2016 and the World Championships in Doha in 2019.

Paul A Reid