Aug. 23, 2009
BERLIN, GERMANY - The United States recorded the largest winning margin in the history of the women's 4 x 400 relay during the final day of action at the IAAF World Championships on Sunday, earning a gold medal for Texas A&M sophomore Jessica Beard.
In the final the Americans dominated the field with a time of 3:17.83 over Jamaica (3:21.15) and Russia (3:21.64), posting a winning margin of 3.32 seconds. It's the fastest time in the world since 1993, when the U.S. won a world title in 3:16.71, and the sixth fastest ever. The previous largest winning margin in a World's final was 2.34 gap by the Russians in 2005.
Beard, the youngest member of the U.S. team, ran on the relay during the prelims and for the finals she and Natasha Hastings were replaced by Allyson Felix, the 200-meter World champion, as well as Lashinda Demus, the 400 hurdle silver medalist. Debbie Dunn ran the first leg while Sanya Richards anchored the squad.
This marks the fourth consecutive year for Beard to be part of a gold-medal 1,600-meter relay on the international level. The previous three relay gold medals came on the junior level, twice at the World Junior Championships as well as Pan Am Juniors.
Simone Facey and Tryone Edgar received relay medals from their efforts on Saturday during medal ceremonies. Facey was awarded gold for the Jamaica 4 x 100 while Edgar received bronze for the British 4 x 100.
Of the 10 athletes with ties to Texas A&M, four earned medals. Three came from relay duty with Beard, Facey and Edgar while Aggie volunteer assistant coach Wallace Spearmon claimed bronze in the 200 meters.
Another three athletes were in medal contention with fourth-place efforts at Olympic Stadium. The crew included A&M incoming junior Tabarie Henry (400m), 2005 NCAA champion Fabrice Lapierre (long jump) and Aggie volunteer assistant Muna Lee (200m).
12th IAAF World Championships - Olympic Stadium - Berlin, Germany
Gold Medalist
Simone Facey - Jamaica, 4 x 100 relay
Jessica Beard - United States, 4 x 400 relay, ran in prelims
Bronze Medalist
Wallace Spearmon - United States, 200 meters
Tyrone Edgar - Great Britain, 4 x 100 relay
Fourth place
Tabarie Henry - U.S. Virgin Islands, 400 meters
Fabrice Lapierre - Australia, long jump
Muna Lee- United States, 200 meters
Sixth place
Simone Facey - Jamaica, 200 meters
Semi-finals
Gerald Phiri - Zambia, 100 meters
Jessica Beard - United States, 400 meters
Muna Lee - United States, 100 meters