4 × 400 metres relay at the Olympics

4 × 400 metres relay at the Olympic Games
Relais 4x400 m Jeux olympiques 2008.jpg The 2008 Olympic men's 4×400 m relay final
Overview
Sport	Athletics
Gender	Men, Women and Mixed
Years held	Men: 1912 – 2020 Women: 1972 – 2020
Olympic record
Men	2:55.39  United States (USA) (2008)
Women	3:15.17  Soviet Union (URS) (1988)
Reigning champion
Men	United States (USA)
Women	United States (USA)

The 4×400 metres relay at the Summer Olympics is the longest track relay event held at the multi-sport event. The men's relay has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1912 and the women's event has been continuously held since the 1972 Olympics. The inaugural and so far the only mixed 4 × 400 metres relay was held at the 2020 Olympics. It is the most prestigious 4×400 m relay race at elite level. At the 1908 Summer Olympics, a precursor to this event was held – the 1600 m medley relay. This event, with two legs of 200 m, one of 400 m, and a final leg of 800 m, was the first track relay in Olympic history.

The competition has two parts: a first round and an eight-team final. Historically, there was a semi-final round, but this has been eliminated as selection is now determined by time, with the sixteen fastest nations during a pre-Olympic qualification period are entered.

Since 1984, teams may enter up to six athletes for the event. Larger nations typically have two reserves runners in the first round in order to preserve the fitness of their top runners for the final. Heat runners of medal-winning teams receive medals even if they did not run in the final.

The Olympic records for the event are 2:55.39 for men, set by the United States in 2008; 3:15.17 for women, set by the Soviet Union in 1988 and 3:09.87 in mixed relay, set by Poland in 2020. The women's record is also the world record for the 4×400 metres relay. The first two women's Olympic finals (1972 and 1976) resulted in new world records for the winning East German teams. The men's world record has been profoundly shaped by Olympic competition with ten records set (1912, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1952, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1988, and 1992): the record has only been broken twice in a 4 × 400 m relay race outside of the multi-sport event.

The United States is by far the most successful nation in the event. The country has won the men's race 17 times and the women's race seven times. As of 2016, no other country has won more than three golds in the event. Great Britain (two wins, thirteen medals), Jamaica (one win, eight medals) and the Soviet Union (three wins, four medals) are the next most successful nations.

Participants in this event are often competitors in the 400 metres and 400 metres hurdles individual Olympic events (and, less commonly, the 800 metres and 200 metres).

Allyson Felix is the most successful athlete in the event, having four straight wins from 2008 to 2020. Steve Lewis and Jeremy Wariner are the only men to win the title twice, and Chris Brown is the only man to reach the podium three times.

Medal summary

Men

Multiple medalists (Not updated, incorrect)

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Olympics	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1=	Steve Lewis	United States (USA)	1988–1992	2	0	0	2
1=	Jeremy Wariner	United States (USA)	2004-2008	2	0	0	2
1=	LaShawn Merritt	United States (USA)	2008, 2016	2	0	0	2
4=	Godfrey Rampling	Great Britain (GBR)	1932–1936	1	1	0	2
4=	Mal Whitfield	United States (USA)	1948–1952	1	1	0	2
4=	Charles Asati	Kenya (KEN)	1968–1972	1	1	0	2
4=	Munyoro Nyamau	Kenya (KEN)	1968–1972	1	1	0	2
4=	Michael Mathieu	Bahamas (BAH)	2008–2012	1	1	0	2
4=	Ramon Miller	Bahamas (BAH)	2008–2012	1	1	0	2
4=	Andrae Williams	Bahamas (BAH)	2008–2012	1	1	0	2
4=	Angelo Taylor	United States (USA)	2008–2012	1	1	0	2
11=	Guy Butler	Great Britain (GBR)	1920–1924	1	0	1	2
11=	Enefiok Udo-Obong	Nigeria (NGR)	2000–2004	1	0	1	2
13=	Mark Richardson	Great Britain (GBR)	1992–1996	0	1	1	2
13=	Roger Black	Great Britain (GBR)	1992–1996	0	1	1	2
13=	Du'aine Ladejo	Great Britain (GBR)	1992–1996	0	1	1	2
13=	Avard Moncur	Bahamas (BAH)	2000–2008	0	1	1	2

Medals by country

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	17	3	0	20
2	Great Britain (GBR)	2	5	5	12
3	Jamaica (JAM)	1	3	1	5
4	Bahamas (BAH)	1	1	2	4
5	Kenya (KEN)	1	1	0	2
6	Nigeria (NGR)	1	0	2	3
7	Soviet Union (URS)	1	0	0	1
8=	France (FRA)	0	2	2	4
8=	Germany (GER)	0	2	2	4
10	Australia (AUS)	0	2	0	2
11	Sweden (SWE)	0	1	1	2
12=	Cuba (CUB)	0	1	0	1
12=	East Germany (GDR)	0	1	0	1
12=	Poland (POL)	0	1	0	1
12=	South Africa (RSA)	0	1	0	1
16	West Germany (FRG)	0	0	3	3
17=	Canada (CAN)	0	0	2	2
17=	Trinidad and Tobago (TTO)	0	0	2	2
19=	British West Indies (BWI)	0	0	1	1
19=	Italy (ITA)	0	0	1	1

• ^nb The German total includes teams both competing as Germany and the United Team of Germany, but not East or West Germany.

Women

Multiple medalists

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Olympics	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Allyson Felix	United States (USA)	2008–2021	4	0	0	4
2	Sanya Richards-Ross	United States (USA)	2004–2012	3	0	0	3
3	Jearl Miles-Clark	United States (USA)	1992–2000	2	1	0	3
4=	Olga Nazarova	Soviet Union (URS)  Unified Team (EUN)	1988–1992	2	0	0	2
4=	Olga Bryzgina	Soviet Union (URS)  Unified Team (EUN)	1988–1992	2	0	0	2
4=	Lyudmila Dzhigalova	Soviet Union (URS)  Unified Team (EUN)	1988–1992	2	0	0	2
4=	Monique Hennagan	United States (USA)	2000–2004	2	0	0	2
4=	Monique Henderson	United States (USA)	2004–2008	2	0	0	2
4=	DeeDee Trotter	United States (USA)	2004–2012	2	0	0	2
10	Denean Howard-Hill	United States (USA)	1984–1992	1	2	0	3
11=	Lillie Leatherwood	United States (USA)	1984–1988	1	1	0	2
11=	Sherri Howard	United States (USA)	1984–1988	1	1	0	2
11=	Valerie Brisco-Hooks	United States (USA)	1984–1988	1	1	0	2
11=	Diane Dixon	United States (USA)	1984–1988	1	1	0	2
11=	Rochelle Stevens	United States (USA)	1992–1996	1	1	0	2
16	Tatyana Firova	Russia (RUS)	2004–2012	0	3	0	3
17=	Natalya Antyukh	Russia (RUS)	2004–2012	0	2	0	2
17=	Yuliya Gushchina	Russia (RUS)	2008–2012	0	2	0	2
17=	Anastasiya Kapachinskaya	Russia (RUS)	2008–2012	0	2	0	2
20=	Sandie Richards	Jamaica (JAM)	2000–2004	0	1	1	2
20=	Natalya Nazarova	Russia (RUS)	2000–2004	0	1	1	2
20=	Olesya Zykina	Russia (RUS)	2000–2004	0	1	1	2
20=	Michelle Burgher	Jamaica (JAM)	2000–2004	0	1	1	2
24	Novlene Williams-Mills	Jamaica (JAM)	2004–2012	0	0	3	3
25=	Grit Breuer	East Germany (GDR)  Germany (GER)	1988–1996	0	0	2	2
25=	Shericka Williams	Jamaica (JAM)	2008–2012	0	0	2	2
25=	Shereefa Lloyd	Jamaica (JAM)	2008–2012	0	0	2	2
25=	Rosemarie Whyte	Jamaica (JAM)	2008–2012	0	0	2	2
25=	Christine Ohuruogu	Great Britain (GBR)	2008–2016	0	0	2	2

Medalists by country

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	7	4	0	11
2	East Germany (GDR)	2	1	1	4
3	Soviet Union (URS)	2	0	1	3
4	Unified Team (EUN)	1	0	0	1
5	Russia (RUS)	0	1	1	2
6	Jamaica (JAM)	0	4	3	7
7=	Canada (CAN)	0	1	0	1
7=	Nigeria (NGR)	0	1	0	1
9	Great Britain (GBR)	0	0	4	4
10	West Germany (FRG)	0	0	2	2
11	Germany (GER)	0	0	1	1

Mixed

1. REDIRECT Template:Olympic medalists in mixed 4 × 400 metres relay

Medalists by country

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Poland (POL)	1	0	0	1
2	Dominican Republic (DOM)	0	1	0	1
3	United States (USA)	0	0	1	1

1908 Olympic medley relay

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1908 London	United States (USA) William Hamilton Nate Cartmell John Taylor Mel Sheppard	Germany (GER) Arthur Hoffmann Hans Eicke Otto Trieloff Hanns Braun	Hungary (HUN) Pál Simon Frigyes Wiesner József Nagy Ödön Bodor

Top ten fastest Olympic times

Fastest men's times at the Olympics

Rank	Time (sec)	Nation	Athletes	Games	Round	Date
1	2:55.39	United States (USA)	LaShawn Merritt, Angelo Taylor, David Neville, Jeremy Wariner	2008	Final	23 August
2	2:55.70	United States (USA)	Michael Cherry, Michael Norman, Bryce Deadmon, Rai Benjamin	2020	Final	7 August
3	2:55.74	United States (USA)	Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Michael Johnson, Steve Lewis	1992	Final	8 August
4	2:55.91	United States (USA)	Otis Harris, Derrick Brew, Jeremy Wariner, Darold Williamson	2004	Final	28 August
5	2:55.99	United States (USA)	LaMont Smith, Alvin Harrison, Derek Mills, Anthuan Maybank	1996	Final	3 August
6=	2:56.16	United States (USA)	Vincent Matthews, Ronald Freeman, Larry James, Lee Evans	1968	Final	10 October
6=	2:56.16	United States (USA)	Danny Everett, Steve Lewis, Kevin Robinzine, Harry Reynolds	1988	Final	1 October
8	2:56.60	Great Britain (GBR)	Iwan Thomas, Jamie Baulch, Mark Richardson, Roger Black	1996	Final	3 August
9	2:56.72	Bahamas (BAH)	Christopher Brown, Demetrius Pinder, Michael Mathieu, Ramon Miller	2012	Final	10 August
10	2:57.05	United States (USA)	Bryshon Nellum, Josh Mance, Tony McQuay, Angelo Taylor	2012	Final	10 August

Fastest women's times at the Olympics

Rank	Time (sec)	Nation	Athletes	Games	Round	Date
1	3:15.17	Soviet Union (USSR)	Tatyana Ledovskaya, Olga Nazarova, Mariya Pinigina, Olga Bryzgina	1988	Final	1 October
2	3:15.51	United States (USA)	Denean Hill, Diane Dixon, Valerie Brisco-Hooks, Florence Griffith-Joyner	1988	Final	1 October
3	3:16.85	United States (USA)	Sydney McLaughlin, Allyson Felix, Dalilah Muhammad, Athing Mu	2020	Final	7 August
4	3:16.87	United States (USA)	Dee Dee Trotter, Allyson Felix, Francena McCorory, Sanya Richards-Ross	2012	Final	10 August
5=	3:18.29	United States (USA)	Lillie Leatherwood, Sherri Howard, Valerie Brisco-Hooks, Chandra Cheeseborough	1984	Final	11 August
5=	3:18.29	Soviet Union (USSR)	Dagmar Neubauer, Kirsten Emmelmann, Sabine Busch, Petra Schersing	1988	Final	1 October
7	3:18.54	United States (USA)	Mary Wineberg, Allyson Felix, Monique Henderson, Sanya Richards	2008	Final	23 August
8	3:19.01	United States (USA)	Dee Dee Trotter, Monique Henderson, Sanya Richards, Monique Hennagan	2004	Final	28 August
9	3:19.06	United States (USA)	Courtney Okolo, Natasha Hastings, Phyllis Francis, Allyson Felix	2016	Final	20 August
10	3:19.23	East Germany (GDR)	Doris Maletzki, Brigitte Rohde, Ellen Streidt, Ellen Streidt	1976	Final	31 July

References

Participation and athlete data

• Athletics Men's 4 × 400 metres Relay Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-02-07.
• Athletics Women's 4 × 400 metres Relay Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-02-07.
• Athletics Men's 1,600 metres Medley Relay Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-02-07.

Olympic record progressions

• Mallon, Bill (2012). TRACK & FIELD ATHLETICS - OLYMPIC RECORD PROGRESSIONS. Track and Field News. Retrieved on 2014-02-07.

Specific

External links

• IAAF 4×400 metres relay homepage
• Official Olympics website
• Olympic athletics records from Track & Field News