From the gun, the first runner to the break line was Mexico's Gabriela Medina, but as the athletes sorted themselves, American Chanelle Price found her way to the front followed closely by Cuba's Rose Mary Almanza.

Chesang paid for her exuberance and began to fall back through the field while Simoya Campbell put Jamaica at the head of the chase pack.

As Vessey continued to stretch the lead, Campbell was displaced by Poland's Katarzyna Broniatowska, chased by Canada's Rachel François.

By the end of her leg, Vessey had a 30-meter gap on the field, Broniatowska handed off in second and flopped to the track, Jamaica's Natoya Goule dodging the body after getting the baton.

Ludlow handed off to Alysia Johnson Montaño some 40 metres ahead, while Cichocka sprinted past Goule on the final straight.