Jon Drummond

USA relay coach Jon Drummond remains confident that his team can "absolutely" upset the Usain Bolt-led Jamaican relay quartet at this month's Olympic Games in London, insisting it will take more than just speed to win the four-leg race.

"Everyone is looking at times and individual speeds," international news agency Reuters quoted Drummond as saying.

"That's not what wins relays. The baton exchange is what wins relays."

Few can doubt, however, that the US, who boast the second-fastest man ever in Tyson Gay and a resurgent Olympic-champion Justin Gatlin, will have a tough assignment to dethrone the reigning World and Olympic champions.

sprint prodigies

In double world record holder Bolt, former world record holder Asafa Powell and 100m world champion Yohan Blake, the latest in a long line of sprint prodigies, the Jamaican team will have three of the fastest men, not only this season but in history, at their disposal. Drummond believes that is an advantage that could easily shift.

"It only takes one interruption to change the dynamic," Drummond said.

"It is not about just four fast guys running. It is about four fast guys being able to get the stick around."

However, in addition to their raw speed, the Jamaican relay squad have certainly shown an ability to get the baton around the track, breaking the world record in two of the last three major athletic championships.

speedy quartet

In fact, it was the Jamaicans who ended the run of the United States as the world's fastest quartet in 2008 at the Olympic Games in Beijing, posting a then world record mark of 37.10. The time bettered the United States previous best of 37.40. Prior to that, the USA had held the last five world records. The speedy quartet then went on to lower the mark at last year's World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, posting a new world record of 37.04. The United States, on the other hand, have certainly had their problems as they have dropped the baton or been disqualified in the last three successive global meetings between the countries. With that in mind and as far as Drummond, who was brought in for the specific reason of working with the relay teams, is concerned a clash between the countries is yet to occur.

"People can think what they want," Drummond said of a US vs Jamaica showdown, "but the race never happened."

4x100m world record progression

Time Nationality Year

37.83 United States 1984-08-11

37.79 France 1990-09-01

37.79 United States 1991-08-03

37.67 United States 1991-08-07

37.50 United States 1991-09-01

37.40 United States 1992-08-08

37.40 United States 1993-08-21

37.10 Jamaica 2008-08-22

37.04 Jamaica 2011-09-04

Usain Bolt - File