Rio 2016: Japan beats Jamaica in relay heat, sets Asian record

Japanese sprinters Ryota Yamagata, Shota Iizuka, Yoshihide Kiryu and Aska Cambridge after winning the second heat of the men's 4x100-meter relay at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday. / AP-Yonhap

By Park Jae-hyuk

Japanese and Chinese sprinters have performed well at the Olympics, while South Korea has been left behind.

In heat two of the men’s 4x100-meter relay on Thursday, Japanese sprinters defeated the Jamaicans ― gold medal favorites ― setting an Asian record of 37.68 seconds.

Although Jamaica was missing the world’s fastest, Usain Bolt, the team still had world-class sprinters like Asafa Powell, Nickel Ashmeade, Kemar Bailey-Cole and Jevaughn Minzie.

But the Japanese quartet, who had smoother baton changes, never allowed the Jamaicans to dominate.

In heat one, the Chinese sprinters also ran well, almost matching the U.S. sprinters, finishing second in 37.82 seconds. The U.S. runners’ time was 37.65 seconds.

The Chinese were faster than the Jamaicans, who recorded 37.94 seconds.

South Korea sent only one sprinter, Kim Kuk-young, to Rio. He failed to qualify for the men’s 100-meter final with 10.37 seconds on Aug. 14.

The men’s 4x100-meter relay final is Saturday.