Jamaica picked up two relay silver medals on the final day of the World Athletics Championship to finish with 10 overall, as Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce closed out her illustrious career with 4x100m silver, on a rain-soaked day in Tokyo.

Jamaica, with a population of 2.8 million, continued to punch above its weight, with a third-place on the medals table, as only the United States (340.1m), boasting 26 medals, and Kenya (56.4m), securing 11, have won more.

The US, with 16 gold, five silver and five bronze, totalled 308 points and was followed by Kenya with 118 points, with Jamaica in third with 98 points, with one gold, six silver and three bronze. Great Britain was fourth with 66 points.

However, with just one gold, Jamaica ended in 10th position in the medal table behind teams with fewer medals but more golds.

Jamaica’s best medal haul was in 2009 with 13 medals, with seven gold, three of which were won by Usain Bolt. This year, Jamaica won 10 medals, two fewer than in the last edition in 2023, where they won 12 medals.

The legendary Fraser-Pryce, who started her international career in Japan in 2007 with silver, brought it to an end in Japan 18 years later with another silver in the women’s 4x100m before hanging up her spikes at the end of this season.

Fraser-Pryce started the relay with Tia Clayton, Tina Clayton and a storming run by Jonelle Smith, clocking a season’s best 41.79s, just behind the Americans, who won gold in 41.75s. Germany won the bronze in 41.87s.

It was a very good run by Jamaica, only hampered by a poor exchange between the twins on the second and third legs, but a storming anchor by Smith almost stole the show and just failed to catch Sha’Carri Richardson.

The American quartet of Twanisha Terry, Kayla White, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Richardson got the baton around 0.04s ahead of Jamaica.

Meanwhile, Jamaica’s women’s 4x400m also brought home another silver as the quartet of Dejanea Oakley (50.56s), Stacey-Ann Williams (49.59s), Andrenette Knight (50.66s), and Nickisha Pryce (48.50s) ran a season’s best 3:19.25.

The Americans, on the back of a 47.82s anchor leg from Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, won gold in a championship record of 3:16.61 with the Netherlands third in a season’s best 3:20.18.

There was no such luck for Jamaica’s men in the 4x400m final as they finished seventh in a slow 3:03.46 by the quartet of Delano Kennedy (45.63s), Jevaughn Powell (45.35s), Jasaughn Dennis (46.36s) and Rusheen McDonald (46.12s).

In an epic battle, Botswana denied the Americans, winners of nine of the past 10 editions, stopping the clock at 2:57.76. Individual 400m champion Collen Kebinatshipi chased down and caught the 400m hurdles champion Rai Benjamin as they clocked 2:57.83, the same time as bronze medallists South Africa.