Ever since the early 20th century, the USA and Jamaica have formed one of the most intense rivalries in track and field, especially in relays. Jamaica burst onto the world stage with sprinters like Don Quarrie and Merlene Ottey. Meanwhile, America’s depth and resources gave it dominance in the early Olympic and World Championship era. Later on, Usain Bolt dominated the stage, leaving the USA a long way behind. But now, America has reasserted itself with dominating performances in relays and individual sprints. That history lays the groundwork for the showdown in Tokyo, where both nations are expected to spar not just for medals, but for global sprint sovereignty. And the 4x100m relay has set the stage for a pretty intense battle. 

The Track & Field Gazette recently shared the 4x100m men’s relay details that had the entire track fanbase alerted. In the first heat of the World Championships, we’ll get to see the battle between Jamaica, the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Poland, Kenya, and Belgium. In short, we won’t have to wait until the final battle to witness the competition between Jamaica and America. 

Right now, the fastest 4x100m men’s relay is captured by the South African team. They crossed the finish line in 37.61 seconds at the Tianhe Sports Center on 11 May 2025. In the same event, Team USA came in second with 37.66 seconds. And the third best time is taken by the Jamaican team at London, on 19 July 2025. Their clocking time? 37.80 seconds. 

With stars like Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles running for the USA, and Oblique Seville and Kishane Thompson competing for Jamaica, things are about to get even more interesting. As Track & Field Gazette rightfully stated, “Top 3 in each heat + Next 2 fastest qualify for the final.” 

So, who will compete in the second heat? The contestants are Great Britain, South Africa, Japan, the Netherlands, Australia, PR of China, Italy, and Ghana. But we might get to witness the war between Jamaica and the USA, not once, but twice. And as expected, Lyles has opened up about it as well. 

Noah Lyles looks forward to winning the relay at the Tokyo World Championships

‘Nojo18’ absolutely dominated the 200m dash finale at Tokyo. He clocked in at 19.52 seconds to win the gold for the fourth consecutive World Championship. Following his big win, Noah Lyles made a promise to cement his legacy at the 2025 World Athletics Championships. And that means he wants to dominate the relay race as well. He stated, “This is amazing and such a joyous moment I am going to keep with me forever. Now I want to win the gold medal in the relay, and I can’t wait for 2027 to become the only man to win five 200 metres titles.”

But wait… There’s one more rival that the American athletes must take note of at the 4x100m relay. And that’s none other than Canada. Talking about the threat during an interview with CBC Sports, Chris Chavez claimed, “I don’t think anyone is in the position where, you know, kind of jokingly at the world relays, Noah saying ‘who?’ when it comes to Canada. Canada definitely put themselves on the map over the last couple of years with the relays.” 

But in the end, it’s the rivalry between America and Jamaica that has dominated the relay races. With Lyles on the final leg, we can expect Team USA to claim the win. But then again, can we really ignore the threat that Thompson and Seville pose?