With Paulo Andre opening relay, Brazil advances to World Cup 4x100m final.

Brazil has advanced to the final of the 4x100m freestyle relay at the World Cup Athletics Championships in Budapest.

This Friday, the Brazilian team formed by Paulo Andre (open instead of closing the relay as usual), Eric Cardoso, Felipe Pardi and Rodrigo Nascimento finished fourth in the second heat of the semi-finals and secured a place in the final.

The top three finishers in each heat qualified for the finals. Other than that, the two best times take the top three in each. Brazil finished the race in 38 seconds.

“It’s a new cycle, the coach chose to change positions. We respected their ideas. It’s definitely different, I haven’t run 200 meters for a while. Now sit down, put my head in place, so we can achieve. Tomorrow is our goal. We haven’t got a good time for our goal, so We have to fix some things to get that medal. There are eight teams, eight chances for a medal. That’s it for the final. We’re not super happy, we have a big challenge ahead of us, at least we’re not going to grab a good series. Of course we’re happy to go to the final, but Now it’s time to put our feet on the ground”, Paulo Andre told Sportv.

Apart from Brazil, teams from USA, Jamaica, Japan, Italy, South Africa, United Kingdom and France will participate in this Saturday’s final.

In the semi-final the Italians had the best time with 37 v 65.

Brazil has won two medals in the 4x100m relay at the World Championships: bronze in 1999 and silver in 2003.