Unpredictable New Mixed 400m Relay Set to Intrigue Tokyo

The unpredictability of how teams choose to run their athletes promises to keep fans guessing throughout the event. (Getty Images)
The unpredictability of how teams choose to run their athletes promises to keep fans guessing throughout the event. (Getty Images)
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Unpredictable New Mixed 400m Relay Set to Intrigue Tokyo

The unpredictability of how teams choose to run their athletes promises to keep fans guessing throughout the event. (Getty Images)
The unpredictability of how teams choose to run their athletes promises to keep fans guessing throughout the event. (Getty Images)

Tokyo’s athletics program will see the inaugural 400 meter mixed relay event kick off on Friday, where teams of two men and two women will compete for Olympic gold against each other offering fans unpredictable and intriguing match-ups.

The United States will be the favorites for Saturday’s final, assuming there are no baton blunders in Friday’s heats, having claimed the 2019 World Championships in Doha. Jamaica are also expected to feature prominently.

But there is a level of unpredictability to the race, since there are no gender rules governing the order in which athletes race.

In the Doha world title race, for instance, Poland went for men in the first two legs and women in the last two while the rest of the teams ran the first and fourth legs with men.

The move gave Poland a sizeable lead after the second leg, but they saw that cut back in the third before losing it completely in the fourth as the American Michael Cherry took a lead he never relinquished, helping his team set a world record time of 3.09.34 minutes. Jamaica came second and Poland eventually finished fifth.

The unpredictability of how teams choose to run their athletes promises to keep fans guessing throughout the event, though the man-woman-woman-man running order is favored by most teams.

Germany boast this year’s world-leading time after they posted a 3:13.57 minute performance in June at home, according to World Athletics data, followed by Ukraine and Nigeria.

Kevin Borlee, Belgium’s 2011 World Championship 400 meter bronze medalist, told Olympics.com that the event has expanded the potential pool of countries that can offer genuine competition in Olympics relay racing.

“With the traditional relays you need at least four athletes of the same gender,” he said earlier this year.



PSG Win 13th French Title Ahead of Aston Villa Champions League Clash

PSG's supporters celebrate winning the French League One championship title after the soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Angers at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
PSG's supporters celebrate winning the French League One championship title after the soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Angers at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
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PSG Win 13th French Title Ahead of Aston Villa Champions League Clash

PSG's supporters celebrate winning the French League One championship title after the soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Angers at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
PSG's supporters celebrate winning the French League One championship title after the soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Angers at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Paris Saint-Germain clinched the Ligue 1 title on Saturday with a 1-0 win at home against Angers as they prepare for a Champions League quarter-final showdown with Aston Villa.

PSG needed just a draw at home to their struggling opponents to be confirmed as champions again, having started the day a huge 21 points clear of nearest challengers Monaco with seven matches left.

Desire Doue's strike early in the second half decided the game in PSG's favor, allowing Luis Enrique's team to take the title with six matches still to play.

It is a fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title for the club from the French capital and their 11th in the last 13 seasons.

Their overall tally of 13 French league titles is three more than Saint-Etienne, who are the next most successful club with 10 but have not been champions since 1981.

Marseille have won nine titles, while Nantes and Monaco have each been champions on eight occasions.

The extent to which winning the French league has become a routine exercise for the Parisian outfit helps explain why celebrations were far from excessive on a beautiful spring day in the city.

However, Luis Enrique was raised aloft by members of his coaching staff while the PSG players undertook a lap of honor of the Parc des Princes pitch.

The trophy ceremony will take place at a later date, with PSG maintaining their focus on the European clash with Villa, who visit the Parc des Princes for the first leg of their quarter-final on Wednesday, before the return in England on April 15.

However, PSG have another objective in their sights in the league, one which would make this title triumph stand out above all others, AFP reported.

They remain undefeated after 28 matches, with 23 wins and just five draws, and are on course to become the first team to complete a Ligue 1 campaign without losing a game.

The closest any French side has come to an unbeaten season remains Nantes, who went undefeated through their first 32 games before losing their only game on the way to winning the title in 1994/95.

That was a 38-game season, while PSG will only play 34 matches in this campaign, with the league having recently been reduced from 20 clubs to 18.

They will not play again in Ligue 1 until a home meeting with struggling Le Havre on April 19, with next week's trip to Nantes postponed to April 22 in order to allow PSG to recover in between the two legs of their tie against Villa.

Ousmane Dembele, PSG's top scorer with 32 goals in all competitions this season, was rested at kick-off against Angers, having netted twice in the 4-2 midweek win over second-tier Dunkerque in the semi-finals of the French Cup.

Bradley Barcola, the team's second-top marksman on 18 goals, was also left out of the starting line-up and it was far from a vintage performance by the home side.

They were perhaps fortunate early on when Angers forward Esteban Lepaul ran through on goal before being outmuscled by Willian Pacho, the challenge a fair one in the eyes of the referee.

Doue was on hand to convert from a Khvicha Kvaratskhelia cross 10 minutes into the second half as he scored his 11th goal in all competitions since signing from Rennes at the start of the season.

That proved enough for PSG to win the game and take the title, maintaining Luis Enrique's record of having won every domestic trophy since he took over prior to last season.

Monaco are in action later away to Brest, while Lyon host Lille in Saturday's other Ligue 1 game, a key encounter in the fight for Champions League qualification.