The Women's 4x100m WR - 41.37, The Hardest Soft-WR of All Time!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBEqxkt-IB0

German Democratic Republic | Canberra | 06/10/1985 | 41.37
(Silke Gladisch-Möller, Sabine Rieger-Günther, Ingrid Auerswald-Lange, Marlies Göhr)

41.37 has got to be the hardest "soft" record of all time...every meet since '87 Worlds people have predicted that several other national teams would crack the mark...and can you blame them...US teams with Flo-Jo should have...JAM teams with Ottey, Cuthbert and Jackson certainly should have as well...same with Marion's units and now JAM with the likes of Fraser, Stewart, Campbell-Brown and Simpson all near or in their respective primes...People...Jamaica has four women at 10.8 or better...and the best time they've mustered is 41.88 (41.74 in "04 without Stewart and Fraser)...

The sprint relay is clearly about so much more than speed, line-ups and good changes...we can now see that it's also largely about getting people to the final healthy, unified and in the right frame of mind...

Since the women's mark was set in '85 the men's record has been broken no less than five times...so is it a "girl thang"...a "sista thang"...do women's teams need the iron cold rule of a communist dictatorship to get them all on the same page at the same time...or is 41.37 a genuinely "hard" record...

Well the splits were:

Silke Möller - 11.13
Sabine Günther - 10.14
Ingrid Auerswald - 10.40
Marlies Göhr - 10.02

Hard splits all the way round, helped by some of the sweetest passing you'll see - baton moves fast through the zone and each runner is on their way instantly

http://www.alltime-athletics.com/w4x100ok.htm

Is breakable though....could not honestly say who though, out of US and JAM

red(dy)jah

The 2nd exchange was not great and the first was just good. only the last looked exceptional.

both expound on issues that are relevant here...

GDR splits: excellent running but two passes were a bit soft (see clip)...with that said...these splits are achievable by most of the US and JAM squads...outside of Gladisch-Möller and Göhr the other two are very "gettable" by the weaker two of any US and JAM team...

The "movement to not have Jackson run the 4x100m": is exactly what I'm getting at...the women's relay has a great deal more moving parts (variables) than the men's race...one could never be conclusive but I'm starting to believe that this record is "hard" for "off the track" reasons...today's management doesn't get the teams to practice enough...the GDR girls probably slept in the same apartment for months (speculation) and certainly trained together for just as much time...that would be a result of an establishment that had the capacity to demand such a structure (never going to happen in the post cold war free world)...the politicos who now seem to decide who runs and who doesn't also never had a chance in the GDR...the GDR wanted to win and bred and built a TEAM to do just that (can't and wouldn't want that to ever happen again..re PEDs)...

This record is "hard" for reasons that go way beyond the track...let's see if a potentially relaxed and untested JAM team can make things happen at next year's Commonwealth Games (Fraser-Simpson-Campbell-Stewart)...all 10.8 or better sprinters who have won individual major meet gold and silver medals...the C'Wealth stage should be a breeze...As far as athletic talent and capacity is concerned the stage is set for a 40.x clocking...now let's see if the powers that be can get this team together for a run at the record...GDR set this record against the clock...USSR was miles behind...can JAM do the same in 2010...on paper sure...too bad administrators always seem to crush that paper...

The 2nd exchange was not great and the first was just good. only the last looked exceptional.

It should also be noted that Gladisch on leadoff handed over at the end of the zone so she covered about 109m...her 11.13 is easily the most significant split in history...

red(dy)jah

red(dy)jah

Excellent point! That is why I shutter ever time I read someone regugitate that 2nd leg is the longest leg nonsense. By optimizing 109m out of Gladisch, it gave the 2nd leg runner 9 more meters to maximize acceleration - this is risky, but it is optimal. And the concept is never utilized by either JAM or USA because it is about precision - something that can only be achieved with a 'tape over Allan Iverson's mouth'.

LOL...Indeed!!!

Okay I give in. Commonwealths is not the best of quality international ch'ship. Sh*t though ???

Inf, I hadn't watched the 41.37 for ages wwas going on memory but you're right the passing overall wasn't nearly as magnificent as I made out. Just one of them days where everything clicked I suppose I mean the record before that was East Germany's 41.53 (3 of the same except Marita Koch in place of Sabine Rieger - may have been even faster in '85 with Koch's inclusion after 47.60 in 400m and reported 21.56 electronic time-trial in training over 200m)