4 × 400 metres relay
The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, the first 500 metres is run in lanes. Start lines are thus staggered over a greater distance than in an individual 400 metres race; the runners then typically move to the inside of the track.
Relay race runners typically carry a relay baton which they must transfer between teammates. Runners have a 20 m box (usually marked with blue lines) in which to transfer the baton. The first transfer is made within the staggered lane lines; for the second and third transfers, runners typically line up across the track despite the fact that runners are usually running in line on the inside of the track. This prevents confusion and collisions during transfer. Unlike the 4 × 100 m relay, runners in the 4 × 400 typically look back and grasp the baton from the incoming runner, due to the fatigue of the incoming runner, and the wider margins allowed by the longer distance of the race. Consequently, disqualification is rare.
As runners have a running start, split times cannot be compared to individual 400 m performances. Internationally, the U.S. men's team has dominated the event, but have been challenged by Jamaica in the 1950s and Britain in the 1990s. The current men's Olympic champions are from the United States.
According to the IAAF rules, world records in relays can only be set if all team members have the same nationality.
Mixed-gendered 4 × 400 metres relays were introduced at the 2017 IAAF World Relays, but the IAAF has yet to recognize any world records in that event.
Records
| Men's Outdoor World Record[1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Members | Venue | Date | Time |
 | Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Butch Reynolds, Michael Johnson | Stuttgart, Germany | 22 August 1993 | 2:54.29 |
Note: On 12 August 2008, the IAAF rescinded a time of 2:54.20 set by the USA (Jerome Young, Antonio Pettigrew, Tyree Washington, Michael Johnson) at Uniondale on 22 July 1998 after Pettigrew admitted to using human growth hormone and EPO between 1997 and 2003.[2]
| Men's Indoor World Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Members | Venue | Date | Time |
 | Karol Zalewski, Rafał Omelko, Łukasz Krawczuk, Jakub Krzewina | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 4 March 2018 | 3:01.77 |
Note: A time of 3:00.77 by the USC runners (Zach Shinnick, Rai Benjamin, Ricky Morgan Jr., Michael Norman) at the 2018 NCAA Division I Championship was rejected as a record as Benjamin was a citizen of Antigua & Barbuda while the others are US citizens. US runners Ilolo Izu, Robert Grant, Devin Dixon, Mylik Kerley recorded a 3:01.39 at the same race, probably also unable for record proposes.[3]
| Women's Outdoor World Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Members | Venue | Date | Time |
 | Tatyana Ledovskaya (BLR), Olga Nazarova (RUS), Mariya Pinigina (UKR), Olga Bryzgina (UKR) | Seoul, Korea | 1 October 1988 | 3:15.17 |
| Women's Indoor World Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Members | Venue | Date | Time |
 | Yuliya Gushchina, Olga Kotlyarova, Olga Zaytseva, Olesya Krasnomovets | Glasgow, Scotland | 27 January 2006 | 3:23.37 |
All time Top 25
Men
- Correct as of August 2017.[4]
Women
- Correct as of August 2017.[5]
Olympic medalists
Men
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Women
Note: * Indicates athletes who ran in preliminary rounds and also received medals.
Note: † Indicates athlete who did not run in any rounds and also received medal.
Note: Marion Jones was stripped of all her Olympic medals in 2000. Crystal Cox was stripped of her Olympic medal in 2004, both being found guilty of doping violations. Dominique Blake was accidentally given her Olympic medal and she returned it in 2017.
World Championship medalists
Men
Note * Indicates athletes who ran only in the preliminary round and also received medals.
- dq1 The United States team (Jerome Young, Antonio Pettigrew, Chris Jones and Tyree Washington) originally won the 1997 World Championships in a time of 2:56.47 minutes, but were disqualified in 2009 after Pettigrew admitted to doping during the period.
Women
Note * Indicates athletes who ran only in the preliminary round and also received medals.
European Championship medalists
World Indoor Championships medalists
Men
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Women
Note * Indicates athletes who ran only in the preliminary round and also received medals.
Notable splits
Men
- Herb McKenley (Jamaica) ran a 44.6 split in the 1952 Helsinki Olympic final.
- Ron Freeman (USA) ran a 43.2 split in the 1968 Mexico Olympic final.
- Julius Sang (Kenya) ran a 43.6 split in the 1972 Munich Olympic final.
- Alberto Juantorena (Cuba) ran a 43.7 split in the 1977 IAAF World Cup event as part of the Americas team.
- Quincy Watts ran a 43.1 split and Steve Lewis (USA) ran a 43.4 split in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic final.
- Butch Reynolds ran a 43.23 split and Michael Johnson (both USA) ran a 42.91 split in the 1993 Stuttgart World Championship final; the USA team's final time of 2:54.29 is the current world record.
- Jeremy Wariner (USA) ran a 43.10 split in the 2007 Osaka World Championship final.
- Jeremy Wariner (USA) ran a 43.18 split in the 2008 Beijing Olympic final.
Women
- Jarmila Kratochvílová (CZE) ran a 47.6 split in the 1982 Athens European Championship final, a 47.75 split in the 1983 Helsinki World Championship final, and a 47.9 split in the 1983 Europa Cup in London.
- Marita Koch (GDR) ran a 47.70 split in Erfurt 1984, a 47.9 split in the 1982 European Championship final, and a 47.9 split at the 1985 Canberra World Cup.
- Allyson Felix (USA) ran a 47.72 split in the 2015 Beijing World Championships final, a 48.01 split in the 2007 Osaka World Championships final, and a 48.20 split in the 2012 London Olympic final.
- Olga Nazarova and Olga Bryzgina (USSR) both ran a 47.80 split in the 1988 Seoul Olympic final; the Soviet team's final time of 3:15.17 is the current world record.
- Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) ran a 48.08 split in the 1988 Seoul Olympic final.
External links
Notes and references
- ↑ "4x400 Metres Relay Records – outdoor". International Association of Athletics Federations. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
- ↑ "IAAF deletes Americans' 4x400m world record from the books". The Star Online. 13 August 2008. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
- ↑ Roy Jordan (10 March 2018). "Norman breaks world indoor 400m record at NCAA Indoor Championships". IAAF. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
- ↑ "All-time men's best 4 × 400m Relay". alltime-athletics.com. 13 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ↑ "All-time women's best 4 × 400m Relay". alltime-athletics.com. 13 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ↑ "4×400m Relay Results" (PDF). IAAF. 13 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ↑ "TRACK AND FIELD OLYMPIANS TO BE RECOGNIZED". University Park, Pennsylvania. Oct 4, 2012. Retrieved 2016-08-14.
Blake, a member of Penn State's NCAA Champion 4x400 in 2008, also had a successful London experience, earning a bronze medal as a member of Jamaica's 4x400 relay pool.