LIMA, Peru — Back-to-back 4x100m relay gold medals saw Jamaica end the World Athletics Under 20 Championships at Estadio Atletico de la Videna in Lima, Peru, on a high on Saturday as they totalled five medals, including four golds at the five-day championships.

A blistering anchor leg from DeAndre Daley saw the men win their first gold medal in 18 years, while the women won a third straight.

Jamaica ended fourth on the medal table after starting the day in ninth position, with four gold and a bronze, and were seventh on the placing tables with 59 points.

The USA topped both tables, getting 16 medals, same as two years ago in Cali, Colombia — eight gold, four silver, and four bronze; Ethiopia were next with six gold, two silver, and two bronze; and China — four gold, four silver, and three bronze.

“The main focus was to not panic,” Daley told the Jamaica Observer. “I am used to running from behind and win crucial races, so we did not panic. I told myself focus, run past everybody, we have to get the gold medal.”

Both Daley, who was fourth in the 100m on Wednesday, and Gary Card, who was also in the final, said the relay gold made up for the disappointment.

“I don’t like losing the 100 metres, so I always go out, take it out in the relay, and that is exactly what I did today,” Daley added.

The men’s team was unchanged from the preliminaries: Jace Witter leading off to Card, Nyrone Wade, and Daley, who got the baton in fourth place and powered his way past all the teams ahead of him, just catching the Great Britain athlete on the line.

Daley brought the crowd to its feet as he ran from fourth place to edge Great Britain’s Teddy Wilson on the line as they ended a string of three straight silver medals, all behind the USA.

Great Britain clocked 39.20 seconds and Thailand ran a national Under 20 record, 39.39 seconds for the bronze.

Jamaica’s women strolled to a third straight 4x100m gold medal after running 43.39 seconds in the final, following wins in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2021 and Cali, Colombia, two years ago.

After replacing Sabrina Dockery on the lead-off leg with 200m bronze medalist Shanoya Douglas, the Jamaican team used smooth baton changes to come from behind with what was essentially an easy win.

Alliah Baker ran the second leg, handing off to Briana Campbell, with 100m champion Alana Reid cruising home.

Australia had finished second originally but were later disqualified along with the USA team, and Switzerland were promoted to the silver medal position with a national Under 20 record 44.06 seconds and Canada took third with 44.60 seconds.

Reid, who copped her second gold of the championships said afterwards, “It feels good. I also wanted to come out here and let my other teammates feel how it feels to be up there on the podium. I think we did fairly well.”

Reid said further, “Last night we told ourselves that today is the last day we want to leave with something that we can look back on. So seeing that we came out here and we did our best, and we both gave our best, and we’re both on top, it really means a lot to us. I feel really good. I mean, it’s my second World Junior Championships and my last one. And I told myself that each championship that I go, I’m going to make my last one my best one.”

The women’s 4x400m team of Abrina Wright, Alliah Baker, Anecia Campbell, and Kelly Ann Carr ended eighth in 3:39.30 seconds. USA, who only got into the final after three teams were disqualified in the preliminaries, won with 3:30.74 minutes, ahead of Australia, 3:31.47, and Great Britain, 3:32.80.

Both 400m hurdler Daniel Wright and shot putter Shaiquan Dunn were seventh in their respective events earlier in the day.

Wright had finished eighth after running 51.61 seconds, but the disqualification of Chile’s Ramon Fuenzalida saw him move up to seventh place.

American Vance Nilsson won in a world Under 20 leading 49.26 seconds, followed by Michal Rada, who set a Czechia national Under 20 record 49.30 seconds, and Finland’s Anti Sainio was third in 49.61 seconds.

Dunn, who came into the championships with the world leading 65.48m, could only muster 59.79m in the final.

This was his second final of the week after he had placed ninth in the shot put on Tuesday.

Jade-Ann Dawkins was 10th in the triple jump with 12.91m (0.2m/s).