The Australian men’s 4x400m relay team has been disqualified for an illegal handover at the Tokyo world championships, minutes after they had seemingly smashed a 41-year-old national record.
The team of Cooper Sherman, Reece Holder, Aidan Murphy and Tom Reynolds finished third in the fastest of the two heats in two minutes 58.00 seconds.
The time was the third fastest overall and would have seen Australia qualify automatically for Sunday’s final.
But they were disqualified after third-leg runner Murphy was deemed to have stepped over the line before accepting the baton from Holder.
Australian officials immediately lodged an appeal.
Rohan Browning (R) has anchored Australia’s 4x100m relay team into the world championships final. (AP PHOTO)
Had the time stood it would have bettered the previous record of 2:59.70 set way back at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, when an Australian team including national 400m record holder Darren Clark and 1980 Olympic silver medallist Rick Mitchell finished fourth in the final.
The news was better for the men’s 4x100m team anchored by Rohan Browning which progressed to Sunday’s final as the fastest of the two non-automatic qualifiers in 38.21 seconds.
A stacked Jamaican team including 100m individual champion Oblique Seville was disqualified after botching the final changeover.
The Australian women’s 4x100m team made a mess of the first changeover and the women’s 4x400m squad also failed to advance.