A young men's 4x100m squad have ensured Australia of a spot at August's world athletics championships with an impressive showing at the World Relays meet in the Bahamas.
The unheralded team of Trae Williams, Tom Gamble, Alex Hartmann and Nick Andrews scraped into the final as the fastest non-automatic qualifier after finishing third in a heat where sprint superpower Jamaica failed to finish after dropping the baton.
The Australians were fourth in the final in 39.79 seconds, with a United States squad anchored by Justin Gatlin taking the gold ahead of Barbados and China.
"The 4x100m boys were outstanding," said Australian head coach Craig Hilliard.
"They are a young team, working together as a squad for just over a year, and today they've been unnerved by the pressure of the environment to ensure their automatic entry to the IAAF world championships."
A star-studded Australian women's 4x400m team including Morgan Mitchell, Anneliese Rubie, Ella Nelson and Olivia Tauro also guaranteed their place at the world championships in London later this year by finishing second in their heat in Nassau.
The final will be contested on Monday (AEST).
"The 4x400m women are becoming a genuine challenger on the world stage," said Hilliard.
"They automatically qualified for Rio 2016 at the IAAF World Relays two years ago, went on to make a final at the Olympic Games."
The Australian women's 4x800m team of Lora Storey, Abbey de la Motte, Zoe Buckman and Heidi See claimed bronze in a time of 8:21.08.
