IAAF World Relays Bahamas 2017

[Gabriella2]

You can't run male vs female runners on the same leg.

[Sasuke]

You can't run male vs female runners on the same leg.

Are you sure of that? At Cali WYC two years ago you could put whoever you want in whatever leg...

[polevaultpower]

Having a co-ed 4x400 is silly. I'm not opposed to a co-ed race, but only a handful of countries will fund enough athletes to fill all three 4x4 fields.

The co-ed race should have been something that is not a World Championship event...

[Sasuke]

Having a co-ed 4x400 is silly. I'm not opposed to a co-ed race, but only a handful of countries will fund enough athletes to fill all three 4x4 fields.

The co-ed race should have been something that is not a World Championship event...

That's true. The only possibility, I think, is having 6 athletes for both the relays and putting the weaker ones (the reserves) in the mixed relay. I don't like this new formula, though.

[Powell]

Not every country will run all three; and the missing one is more likely to be a 'standard' M/F

I'm sure all the strong countries will focus on single-sex relays, since that's where you can earn WC qualifiers, and the mixed races will be an afterthought at best.

[gh]

I'm all for trying mixed-sex relays, but as others have noted, utterly stupid to do it in a WC event.

Serves only to benefit the U.S., which has the depth to field a team of "backups" that should be a slam-dunk favorite and only boost its medal count, which is hardly the way to grow an event.

And hard to believe they'd set up the timetable so this loser of a race (no matter how exciting it MIGHT turn out to be) is the climax of the whole thing.

'Splain it to me Lucy!

[lonewolf]

'Splain it to me Lucy!

This is one of life's mysteries an a par with reducing number of attempts in field events...or actually just the opposite, will lengthen meet.

[tandfman]

This is one of life's mysteries an a par with reducing number of attempts in field events...or actually just the opposite, will lengthen meet.

Not really. They're dropping the men's and women's Distance Medley Relays and replacing them with the single mixed relay. Even with the mixed relay heats, the net effect is a shortening of the meet.

[gh]

The amount of meet-shortening is so insignifcant it makes no sense at all. In fact, on the first day, it will probably take longer to run a couple of heats of the 4xX than it would to run a single DMR.

The second day the savings will be less than 10 minutes.

And if make the DMR the mixed race, then the need for heats goes out the door, arguably making both days shorter than the "solution" they came up with.

Fuzzy thinking reigns.

[lonewolf]

I did not think the time element through. but that was not really my point.. mixed relays are not relevant at a WC.. comic relief but c'mon...

[gh]

Not really. They're dropping the men's and women's Distance Medley Relays and replacing them with the single mixed relay. Even with the mixed relay heats, the net effect is a shortening of the meet.

timetable from start of first event to start of last event

2015 Day 1--2:56; 2017 Day 1--3:06 (10 minutes longer)
2015 Day 2--3:01; 2017 Day 2--2:44 (17 minutes shorter)

so, yes, overall 7 minutes shorter.

In other words, insignificant.

(edited because I had wrong numbers first time through)

[norunner]

Why are you calling this a world championship? Winners aren't world champions, they qualify for WCs, in this case London. Without the 8 qualification spots given away in each event, the World Relays would have no significance whatsoever.

[mungo man]

How do teams qualify for each even at the world relays?
Is each event by invitation?

[Powell]

There's no qualification. Every country can send a team if it so wishes.

[tandfman]

There's no qualification. Every country can send a team if it so wishes.

That's just not true. In the 4x100 and 4x400, there are entry standards. See IAAF Technical Regulation Section 903.3.