"VAN" (Sports Desk - 04.05.2026) :: The first relay teams have qualified for the World Athletics Ultimate Championship Budapest 26 after the mixed 4x100m and mixed 4x400m finals at the Debswana World Athletics Relays Gaborone 26 on Sunday (3).
The top six teams in each mixed relay event secured automatic qualification for the Ultimate Championship, which will be held in Budapest on 11-13 September.
Jamaica improved on their own world mixed 4x100m record from the heats, clocking 39.62 in the final. Canada, who had set a world record in the first heat on Saturday, finished second in the final. The USA were convincing winners of the mixed 4x400m final in Gaborone, smashing the championship record with 3:07.47. Jamaica finished second in a national record of 3:08.24.
The World Relays also confirmed 72 automatic qualifiers – 12 in each of the six relay disciplines contested in Gaborone – for the World Athletics Championships Beijing 27. The first 48 automatic places were secured on Saturday, while the final 24 places were decided through Sunday’s second qualifying round. The finals, meanwhile, decided prize money and preferential lane seeding positions for Beijing.
Hosts Botswana provided the most memorable moment of the weekend with victory in the men’s 4x400m, not only securing their place at the World Championships, but also smashing the competition record with 2:54.47, the third-fastest clocking in history.
The competition record was almost broken in the men’s 4x100m as USA triumphed in 37.43. Jamaica stormed to victory in the women’s event in 42.00, while Norway were surprise winners of the women’s 4x400m in a world-leading national record of 3:20.96.
The remaining relay places for the Ultimate Championship (two in each of the mixed relay disciplines) and the World Championships (four in each of the relay disciplines) will be determined by the top lists at the end of the respective qualifying periods.
Teams qualified for the World Athletics Ultimate Championship Budapest 26
Mixed 4x100m: Canada, Germany, Jamaica, Nigeria, Spain, United States
Mixed 4x400m: Great Britain & NI, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Spain, United States
Full list of teams qualified for the World Athletics Championships Beijing 27 through the World Relays
Women’s 4x100m: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain & NI, Italy, Jamaica, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, Spain
Men’s 4x100m: Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Canada, China, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain & NI, Jamaica, Netherlands, South Africa, United States
Women’s 4x400m: Australia, Canada, Czechia, France, Germany, Great Britain & NI, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain
Men’s 4x400m: Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, Qatar, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Zimbabwe
Mixed 4x100m: Australia, Canada, Germany, Great Britain & NI, Italy, Jamaica, Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, United States
Mixed 4x400m: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Great Britain & NI, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, Poland, South Africa, Spain, United States
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