U.S. W80 teams shatter relay world records on Lyon’s final day

Brits celebrate W35 WR, bettering listed mark of 3:19.45 by U.S. team at Winston-Salem nationals

Brits celebrate W35 WR, bettering listed mark of 3:19.45 by U.S. team at Winston-Salem nationals. Photo by Tom Phillips

At least six world records were set in relays Sunday at Lyon worlds, including two by American 80-plus ladies in the 4-by-1 and 4-by-4. In the short relay, Christel Donley, Flo Meiler, Fei-Mei Chou and Irene Obera clocked 1:21.06 to demolish the listed WR of 1:49.15 by a Canadian team including Olga Kotelko in 2008. Even more incredible was the 8:39.32 for the 1600 relay by the same team (with Mary Harada taking Flo’s place). They shaved more than a minute off the listed WR of 9:49.43 by Brazil in 2006. WRs also were set in the W60 and W70 4-by-4 and W35 4-by-1 and M35 4-by-4 (Britain’s 3:17.82, not showing up in results. But see photo), an indication that the debut age group is attracting more elites. Athletics Weekly has a nice UK-centric roundup of relays and other events.

From left: Fei-Mei, Irene, Christel and Mary with their latest WR. Photo by Tom Phillips.

From left: Fei-Mei, Irene, Christel and Mary with WR. Photo by Tom Phillips.

Missing some races, but here’s top marks:

W35 4×100 Meter Relay
====================
35 WMA: # 47.74
Team Seed Finals H#
====================
Finals
1 Trinidad and Tobago 47.65# 2
1) 7604 Stafford, Donelle 35 2) 7603 Springer, Sasha 37
3) 7589 Hutchinson, Ayanna 37 4) 7592 Mark-Baird, Marsha 41
2 France 49.09 2
1) 2602 Jouberton, Emily 35 2) 2527 Hernu, Agnès 37
3) 2171 Dragin, Carine 35 4) 3351 Selin, Ingrid 35
3 Great Britain and Northern Ire 49.30 2
1) 4375 Channon, Helen 38 2) 4872 Young, Susan 38
3) 4680 Owen, Paula 36 4) 4635 McLoughlin, Susie 38
4 United States of America 50.27 2
1) 7968 Moulds, LaTisha 37 2) 8011 Readinger, Danelle 39
3) 8081 Touya, Kimberly 39 4) 7845 Guest, Rachel 40

W45-79 4×100 Meter Relay
=================
Team Seed Finals
=================

1 United States of America 50.87
1) 7949 McGowan, Emmanuelle 47 2) 7766 Clark, Beth 49
3) 7913 Konrad, Evelyn 48 4) 8088 Upshaw, Joy 54
2 Italy 50.92
1) 5595 Roccamo, Marta 48 2) 5522 Moroni, Maria Costanza 46
3) 5454 Giorgi, Gigliola 47 4) 5609 Ruggeri, Maria 46
3 Germany 51.22
1) 4061 Reck, Cornelia 45 2) 3721 Frisch, Elisabeth 47
3) 3765 Guenther-Graeff, Eva 46 4) 4029 Opitz, Iris 49
4 France 52.94
1) 3034 Nivet-Jaunatre, Valérie 46 2) 3230 Reuillard, Corinne 46
3) 3286 Royer Nack, Lolita 46 4) 2259 Espalioux, Véronique 48
5 Great Britain and Northern Ire 54.00
1) 4858 Williams, Katy 45 2) 4686 Palmer, Fiona 47
3) 4550 Hodgson, Jacqui 46 4) 4675 Oliver, Louise 45

W50 4×100 Meter Relay
=================
50 WMA: # 51.50
Team Seed Finals
=================
Finals
1 France 53.49
1) 1612 Alexis, Nicole 55 2) 3569 Zongo, Joelle 54
3) 3543 Welch, Magali 51 4) 2815 Lyonnard, Murielle 50
2 Australia 56.82
1) 344 Forster, Julie 54 2) 375 Hossack, Michele 54
3) 306 Blute, Kathryn 54 4) 457 Stagles, Sally 54
3 Germany 56.89
1) 4203 Thierfelder, Jana 52 2) 3758 Grissmer, Angelika 53
3) 4111 Scheffler, Heike 54 4) 3920 Kunz, Gabriela 52

W55 4×100 Meter Relay
====================
55 WMA: # 54.31
Team Seed Finals H#
====================
Finals
1 Great Britain and Northern Ire 56.16 2
1) 4557 Horder, Jane 58 2) 4495 Frisby, Susan 55
3) 4689 Parsons, Lesley 55 4) 4627 Mcclelland, Averil 57
2 United States of America 57.94 2
1) 7929 Loyd, Susan 57 2) 8016 Richburg, Ginny 56
3) 7819 Fox, Vicki 56 4) 8052 Sluys, Daphne 55
3 France 58.32 2
1) 2164 Dorina, Annie 58 2) 3172 Pourchon, Odile 58
3) 3412 Tassin, Marie-Claire 55 4) 3175 Pozzo Charvier, Dominique

W70 4×100 Meter Relay
=================
70 WMA: # 1:06.05
Team Seed Finals
=================
Finals
1 Australia 1:10.76
1) 426 Parrish, Noreen 73 2) 293 Allison, Marge 70
3) 325 Cudmore, Miriam 77 4) 400 Macliver, Peggy 71
2 Germany 1:11.27
1) 3694 Eriksen, Anne-Kathrin 71 2) 3935 Lay, Vroni 71
3) 4020 Nix, Diethild 73 4) 4215 Venn, Hannelore 73
3 Sweden 1:16.10
1) 7443 Nilsson, Astrid 79 2) 7447 Nilsson, Sonja 75
3) 7444 Nilsson, Kerstin 72 4) 7379 Carlsson, Kristina 74

W80 4×100 Meter Relay
=================
Team Seed Finals
=================
1 United States of America 1:21.06
1) 7794 Donley, Christel 80 2) 7956 Meiler, Florence 81
3) 7765 Chou, Fei-Mei 80 4) 7981 Obera, Irene 81

M35-64 4×100 Meter Relay
=================
Team Seed Finals
=================

Section 2
1 France 42.09
1) 3024 Niangane, Samba 39 2) 1719 Beaumont, David 36
3) 3201 Rahoui, Imad 35 4) 3509 Viallet, Michel 35
2 United States of America 42.68
1) 8017 Ridley, Babatunde 37 2) 7767 Clark, Dedrick 36
3) 8090 Veale, Ivory 43 4) 8003 Pittman, Lyndell 43
3 Great Britain and Northern Ire 43.07
1) 4376 Channon, Stuart 38 2) 4470 Elliott, Mensah 38
3) 4679 Owen, Ben 35 4) 4315 Beardsell, Richard 36

M40 4×100 Meter Relay
====================
40 WMA: # 42.20
Team Seed Finals H#
====================
Finals
1 Japan 42.70 2
1) 5722 Ishiguro, Fumiyasu 42 2) 5708 Fukuzato, Takeshi 44
3) 5799 Watanabe, Junichi 41 4) 5786 Takei, So 42
2 France 43.26 2
1) 2243 Egoua, George 44 2) 3523 Vilsans, Thierry 42
3) 3051 Ozier, Marc 41 4) 1729 Belghorzi, Bouziane 42
3 Great Britain and Northern Ire 43.68 2
1) 4396 Coogan, Mike 43 2) 4371 Carty, Jason 45
3) 4811 Tipper, Jim 43 4) 4676 Ossai, Tamunonengiye Ofori
4 Italy 46.17 1
1) 5294 Bianchi, Filippo 42 2) 5577 Pratesi, Simone 42
3) 5574 Pollicino, Giovambattista 4) 5491 Marin, Cristian 42
5 Australia 46.38 1
1) 395 Lehmann, Robert 43 2) 485 Wilcox, Andrew 46
3) 339 Elms, Mark 48 4) 398 Lorenzi, Pierre 42
6 United States of America 46.77 2
1) 7896 Jones, David 50 2) 7934 Makino, Shigeki 49
3) 7959 Millar, Andre 42 4) 8048 Shute, Marcus 52

M45-69 4×100 Meter Relay
=================
Team Seed Finals
=================

Section 2
1 Germany 44.59
1) 3869 Kessler, Thomas 45 2) 4109 Schauwecker, Bernd 46
3) 3923 Lachmann, Bernd 46 4) 3761 Gröger, Roland 50
2 United States of America 45.20
1) 7700 Aurelien, Clinton 49 2) 7837 Gosa, Duane 49
3) 8074 Thomas, Robert 48 4) 7797 Drummond, Don 46
3 Great Britain and Northern Ire 45.27
1) 4512 Golding, Leeroy 48 2) 4334 Bokor-Ingram, Dominic 47
3) 4740 Rogers, Phil 45 4) 4499 Gardiner, Michael 47

M55 4×100 Meter Relay
====================
55 WMA: # 46.16
Team Seed Finals H#
====================
Finals
1 United States of America 47.10 2
1) 7792 DiSalvo, Tony 55 2) 7773 Cottong, Brent 58
3) 7764 Chinn, James 56 4) 8077 Tissenbaum, Allan 55
2 Germany 48.02 2
1) 3824 Hoell, Peter 55 2) 4283 Zorn, Gerhard 58
3) 4078 Richter, Wolfgang 56 4) 3956 Lüers, Heiner 56
3 France 48.35 2
1) 3564 Zavattero, Benoît 55 2) 1691 Barbier, Patrick 55
3) 2966 Mondesir, Hervé 55 4) 1985 Choukairy, Mansour 56

M65-99 4×100 Meter Relay
=================
Team Seed Finals
=================

Section 2
1 Australia 53.05
1) 315 Carr, William 66 2) 319 Coleman, Alan 66
3) 388 Lamb, John 65 4) 323 Crombie, Peter 70
2 France 54.21
1) 2093 Débonnaire, Daniel 67 2) 3372 Simon, Pierre 68
3) 1617 Allenbach, Jean-Martin 67 4) 3421 Teurnier, Pierre 67
3 Germany 56.09
1) 3885 Klemm, Ulrich 66 2) 3792 Heckner, Winfried 65
3) 3784 Hartung, Günter 69 4) 4269 Wondra, Heinz 66

M70 4×100 Meter Relay
=================
70 WMA: # 51.96
Team Seed Finals
=================
Finals
1 Great Britain and Northern Ire 53.10
1) 4669 Novell, Victor 70 2) 4674 Oldfield, Laurence 71
3) 4326 Bissett, Terry 71 4) 4791 Sutton, Glyn 70
2 Finland 56.47
1) 1521 Mikkola, Aimo 76 2) 1513 Markunsalo, Antero 72
3) 1463 Juopperi, Markku 71 4) 1591 Ylä-Liedenpohja, Jouko 70
3 France 58.65
1) 3069 Pasquini, Jean-Claude 71 2) 2092 Deblieux, Jean 70
3) 1614 Aliphat, Pierre 70 4) 2959 Mocka, Eugene 75

M75 4×100 Meter Relay
=================
75 WMA: # 55.44
Team Seed Finals
=================
Finals
1 Germany 58.48
1) 3891 Knorr, Dr. Hartmann 75 2) 3577 Adams, Gerhard 77
3) 4125 Schmid Dr., Karl 77 4) 3996 Müller, Guido 76
2 United States of America 1:01.12
1) 7993 Pawlik, Emil 76 2) 7775 Cozens, Robert 79
3) 7924 Lida, Robert 78 4) 7901 Kaspari, Bill 80
3 Russia 1:01.46
1) 6692 Ukhov, Valery 75 2) 6621 Lushchikov, Vladimir 75
3) 6657 Romanov, Anatolyi 78 4) 6703 Zorin, Anatoly 80

6 India 1:26.35
1) 5150 Thangappanadar Dharm, Raje 2) 5164 Virupaxgouda Goudapp, Pati
3) 5080 Muthumari Palaniappa, Mano 4) 5100 Poovathinkalmattakal, Skar

M80-99 4×100 Meter Relay
=================
Team Seed Finals
=================
Section 1
1 Japan 1:09.85
1) 5790 Tanaka, Hiroo 84 2) 5783 Takahara, Ryosuke 80
3) 5782 Tabira, Sadao 82 4) 5723 Ishikawa, Nobuo 80
— Germany DQ
1) 4274 Zecha, Josef 81 2) 3667 Dr. Hufnagel, Horst 80
3) 3783 Hartlaub, Hermann 80 4) 4013 Neumann, Karl-Heinz 80

W45 4×400 Meter Relay
====================
45 WMA: # 4:01.22
Team Seed Finals H#
====================
Finals
1 Australia 4:04.93 2
1) 394 Lehmann, Narelle 45 2) 303 Bezuidenhout, Jacqualine 48
3) 389 Lambert, Lenore 45 4) 332 Delaney, Janelle 45
2 United States of America 4:10.95 2
1) 7949 McGowan, Emmanuelle 47 2) 7780 Daley, Lisa 45
3) 7913 Konrad, Evelyn 48 4) 7832 Gentile, Christine 45
3 Spain 4:16.66 2
1) 6917 Carabante, Maria José 47 2) 6938 Colas, Esther 48
3) 7062 Guerra, Angeles 46 4) 7082 Jimenez Guardeño, Mª Dolor

W55-79 4×400 Meter Relay
=================
Team Seed Finals
=================
Section 1
1 United States of America 4:40.90
1) 7819 Fox, Vicki 56 2) 7929 Loyd, Susan 57
3) 7932 Macneal, Alina 56 4) 8052 Sluys, Daphne 55
2 France 4:41.19
1) 1932 Caux, Edith 58 2) 3113 Pezet Gonnet, Christine 55
3) 2439 Gould-Dupuit, Patricia 56 4) 3175 Pozzo Charvier, Dominique
3 Great Britain and Northern Ire 4:41.55
1) 4627 Mcclelland, Averil 57 2) 4689 Parsons, Lesley 55
3) 4495 Frisby, Susan 55 4) 4557 Horder, Jane 58

W60 4×400 Meter Relay
=================
60 WMA: # 4:55.53
Team Seed Finals
=================
Finals
1 Great Britain and Northern Ire 4:49.58#
1) 4511 Godsell, Helen 61 2) 4817 Trimble, Joan 60
3) 4737 Roe, Edna 60 4) 4702 Powell, Caroline 61
2 Australia 5:06.68
1) 318 Choate, Lynne 62 2) 445 Saunders, Margaret 61
3) 441 Ryan, Anne 60 4) 343 Flynn, Jeanette 63
3 Finland 5:28.42
1) 1481 Kokkonen, Terhi 68 2) 1546 Reijonen, Eliisa 62
3) 1517 Metsänkylä, Marja 64 4) 1487 Kumpula, Maija 68

W70 4×400 Meter Relay
=================
70 WMA: # 5:53.62
Team Seed Finals
=================
Finals
1 Australia 5:32.95#
1) 400 Macliver, Peggy 71 2) 360 Hampson, Jean 70
3) 390 Lang, Anne 72 4) 293 Allison, Marge 70
2 Germany 6:50.07
1) 3935 Lay, Vroni 71 2) 4215 Venn, Hannelore 73
3) 4085 Ritter, Lydia 76 4) 4020 Nix, Diethild 73
3 Japan 8:01.69
1) 5767 Okada, Shimiko 72 2) 5728 Kanari, Tomoko 74
3) 5709 Gemba, Masako 76 4) 5780 Suzuki, Ikuko 78

W75 4×400 Meter Relay
=================
75 WMA: # 6:58.70
Team Seed Finals
=================
1 Mexico 8:46.29
1) 5935 Garcia Moreno, Maria Celia 2) 5976 Ortiz Trapala, Ana Maria 7
3) 5899 Aviles Sanchez, Juanita 80 4) 5985 Ramirez Garcia, Ernestina

W80 4×400 Meter Relay
=================
80 WMA: # 9:49.43
Team Seed Finals
=================
1 United States of America 8:39.32#
1) 7765 Chou, Fei-Mei 80 2) 7853 Harada, Mary 80
3) 7794 Donley, Christel 80 4) 7981 Obera, Irene 81

M55-79 4×400 Meter Relay
=================
Team Seed Finals
=================

1 United States of America 3:48.33
1) 7764 Chinn, James 56 2) 8116 Yelverton, William 55
3) 8077 Tissenbaum, Allan 55 4) 7773 Cottong, Brent 58
2 Germany 3:54.14
1) 3824 Hoell, Peter 55 2) 3956 Lüers, Heiner 56
3) 4112 Scheffler, Lutz 55 4) 4283 Zorn, Gerhard 58
3 Great Britain and Northern Ire 3:56.20
1) 4454 Duncan, Alastair 58 2) 4445 Douglas, Bob 61
3) 4626 Mayor, John 57 4) 4567 James, Tennyson 57

M60 4×400 Meter Relay
=================
60 WMA: # 3:51.33
Team Seed Finals
=================
Finals
1 Germany 3:57.29
1) 3906 Kreemke, Wolfgang 60 2) 4201 Thate, Wolfgang 61
3) 3899 König, Rudolf 61 4) 3980 Michelchen, Reinhard 61
2 France 4:02.79
1) 3245 Riou, Jean 60 2) 3177 Prado, Raoul 63
3) 1688 Barber, Didier 60 4) 2178 Drutinus, André 60
3 United States of America 4:15.57
1) 7863 Haywood, George 62 2) 7776 Crowl, Clyde 60
3) 7760 Chantry, Stephen 60 4) 8000 Pierce, Roger 70

M65 4×400 Meter Relay
====================
65 WMA: # 4:02.62
Team Seed Finals H#
====================
Finals
1 Australia 4:22.78 2
1) 319 Coleman, Alan 66 2) 455 Solomon, Kevin 68
3) 323 Crombie, Peter 70 4) 388 Lamb, John 65
2 France 4:26.29 2
1) 2236 Duval, Jean-Luc 66 2) 1868 Brard, Gaston 68
3) 1617 Allenbach, Jean-Martin 67 4) 2093 Débonnaire, Daniel 67
3 Italy 4:27.46 2
1) 5442 Gasparinetti, Franco 65 2) 5589 Rappo, Dario 67
3) 5456 Goretti, Renato 65 4) 5429 Frei, Rudolf 66

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August 16, 2015

4 Responses

  1. daphne sluys - August 16, 2015

    Congratulations to all US relay athletes; you were impressive. The W75, W80+ were an especially inspiring group of iron ladies to ‘hang out with’ at Lyon. Thank you for sharing so much of yourselves and for setting the bar even higher for us younger folks to follow.

  2. ICARRE maryvonne - August 17, 2015

    https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipP_9gThJYSFjPYzdV6tVCCl1AAKD1Va5ZXYP2tW0EkQt5N8g2fd6CMOq_I_0XsZoA?key=Um1KZXpXZmI5QUkzY3pkU1BZelJMRDFVREtnbWVB

  3. Alan Kolling - August 17, 2015

    Always good to see the USA’s W80 team members bring more respectability to the world record marks in their age bracket. Both relay marks could fall again in the near future with the depth of talent on this side of the Atlantic.

  4. Mary Harada - August 18, 2015

    The relays are a high-light of the meet on the last day. Many great performances by various US age groups. It is very hard to get 4 women age 80-84 together at a track meet to run a relay and sometimes it may be pretty much pick-up team. It is not like there are 40 of us there competing to be on the teams. There are no arguments about who is deserving to be on a team and unhappiness over being left off a relay team
    Yes the records will fall – after all records are made to be broken. Writing that we were “bringing more respectability…” is a bit of a put-down to put it mildly. There are far fewer older women competing at this point. Until Title IX was passed very few high schools and universities had sports for women. Many of us have taken up track, field, and road racing as middle-aged women and did not have the advantage of coaching in our youth. Until the generation of US women who grew up after Title IX was passed and sports such as track and field became available for young women the numbers of older US women competing in competitive athletics such as track and field will lag that of the older men.
    Maybe there will be 4 US women who can and want to run relays in Perth in the W 80 age group but there will not be a group of US women in the W 85 age group there. Maybe in the 2018 WMA meet – and maybe not – one has to stay healthy and continue to train. in the older women’s relays there is not really competition to be on the relays. Some of the women W 70 and W 75 relay teams included women who had that day run the half marathon or marathon and/or race walkers. Older age group records will fall as the the Title IX generation of women hit their 60;s, 70’s and 80’s. But there is not great mob waiting at the gate right now in the US, In Europe – yes there are more numbers but I would point out that in the W 85 age group in the middle distance events there was ONE woman – a German woman who is a fabulous athlete – just one – and the Germans could not put together a W 80 team for the relays. There were no W 85 nor any W 90 relay teams either.

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