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SAINT-DENIS, France — A secret algorithm and a coach obsessed with numbers are behind Italy's recent relay success on the track. Italy has been able to contend with the much faster Americans and the more talented Jamaicans on a consistent basis lately because of Filippo Di Mulo. The coach has broken down baton exchanges into a math-based science that is all meticulously recorded in his nearly 25-year-old database. The Sicilian coached the Azzurri to 4x100 gold in Tokyo, silver at last year's world championships, another gold at the recent European Championships. His team remains a contender in Paris when the men's 4x100 gets underway with Thursday's heats followed by the final on Friday.
