Australia elated after breaking 42-year record at world relays

MELBOURNE, May 4 : While Jamaica stole the show with world records, Australia underlined its status as an emerging power on the track with a bronze medal and a long-awaited national record at the World Athletics Relays despite missing headline names.

The Australian quartet of Luke van Ratingen, Reece Holder, Thomas Reynolds and Aidan Murphy clocked 2:55.20 in the men's 4x400 metres on Sunday to finish third behind hosts Botswana and South Africa at the Gaborone stadium, lifting Australia to fourth on the all-time list.

With Reynolds subbed in for Matthew Hunt, the team improved on their 2:57.30 in the qualification round which blitzed the nation's 42-year-old record of 2:59.70 at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

"It was so surreal and such a vibe out there," Holder said of the atmosphere.

"To come out and win a medal and do a time like that is pretty incredible."

The men's 4x100 team of Lachlan Kennedy, Joshua Azzopardi, Christopher Ius and Rohan Browning finished fourth in 38 seconds flat, just outside the medals behind the U.S., South Africa and Germany.

However, it came without two of the country's fastest men as emerging talent Gout Gout and California-based Eddie Nketia sat out the event.

"We wanted to make the final and came wanting a medal, so to get so close is disappointing," Ius said.

"But to show the rest of the world what we can do is such a good thing, and I think we are improving every year which is exciting."

Established track power Jamaica earlier stamped their dominance in the mixed relay, clocking a blistering 39.62 seconds to win the 4x100m in a world record, having become the first nation to break the 40-second barrier in the qualifying round.

However, Australia's athletics chiefs were thrilled with their