Hot favourites USA are worth taking on

While Jamaica are expected to win both men’s and women’s sprint relay finals being staged in the Estadio Olimpico at the Rio Games overnight, the USA are rightly overwhelming favourites to take gold in both 4x400 metres relays. Yet as the Americans have shown before, these are races they can easily lose.

The Americans have strength in depth among their quarter-milers for the long relays, the heats of which are staged later today. However, likely anchor stage runner in the men’s squad, LaShawn Merritt, the individual 400m bronze medallist, may be feelng the effects of three rounds of 400m and 200m racing during the past week.

In the women’s event, the race dynamic is affected by the absence of Russia, the silver medallists at the last three Olympics and 2013 world champions.