RAYMOND GRAHAM, STAR Writer

JAMAICA is one of the few teams to have beaten powerhouse, the United States, in the women's 4x400 metres relay at a major championships.

This they did at the 2001 event in Edmonton, Canada.

The United States' Suzann Reid dropped the baton on the change over on the anchor leg, allowing Lorraine Fenton to run away with victory, and giving Jamaica its only gold medal at these Championships.

Jamaica has won seven relay medals at the World Championships, their first in Atlanta in 1997, where the team mined bronze.

After failing to medal two years later in Seville, Spain, the Jamaicans have had a good run and have only been out of the medals once. That was during the last championships in Moscow, where the team was disqualified for lane violation.

The Jamaicans finished second in 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2011.

Can Jamaica upstage their United States counterparts in Beijing and go all the way this time around?

Many Jamaican fans will be hoping that this can happen. While some fans think Jamaica has a chance to do so, it will not be easy as Allyson Felix, Sanya Richards-Ross, and Francena McCorory are in their squad, and it will be a tall order.

McCorory and Richards-Ross are ranked number one and three in the world with times of 49.83 and 49.95 seconds.

Neither will be in the individual 400m, but the United States are taking the 4x400m very seriously and have included the latter in the relay pool.

On the other hand, Jamaica's top athletes, Christine Day (50.16), Shericka Jackson (50.31), Stephenie Ann McPherson (50.40), and Novlene Williams-Mills (51.11) are expected to compete in the individual 400m.

The USA are odds on favourites to win another gold medal.

Jamaica will be hoping for a major upset, however, but with Williams-Mills not at her best all season, and McPherson not showing the form of previous years, it is highly unlikely that they can match this powerful US line-up.

TOP THREE

1. USA 2. Jamaica 3. Russia