Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay

Men's 4 × 100 metre relay at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Venue	Olympic Stadium
Date	10–11 August
Teams	16
Winning time	36.84 WR
Medalists
Nesta Carter Michael Frater Yohan Blake Usain Bolt  Jamaica Keston Bledman Marc Burns Emmanuel Callender Richard Thompson  Trinidad and Tobago

Official Video

Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m		men		women
200 m		men		women
400 m		men		women
800 m		men		women
1500 m		men		women
5000 m		men		women
10,000 m		men		women
100 m hurdles				women
110 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men		women
3000 m steeplechase		men		women
4×100 m relay		men		women
4×400 m relay		men		women
Road events
Marathon		men		women
20 km walk		men		women
50 km walk		men
Field events
Long jump		men		women
Triple jump		men		women
High jump		men		women
Pole vault		men		women
Shot put		men		women
Discus throw		men		women
Javelin throw		men		women
Hammer throw		men		women
Combined events
Heptathlon				women
Decathlon		men

The men's 4 × 100 metres relay competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, was held at the Olympic Stadium on 10–11 August.

Overview

On 11 August, the Jamaican national team, led by Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt, won the gold medal and broke their own world record of 37.04 set at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, with a time of 36.84.

Carter did not start well, and Trell Kimmons of the United States led the first 100 metres. Kimmons handed the baton to former world record holder and Olympic champion Justin Gatlin, who was in the lead. By the third changeover, America had a slight lead over the Jamaicans, but when Michael Frater handed over to Yohan Blake, Blake took the final bend and made up ground and overtook Tyson Gay of the USA. Blake then passed the baton to Bolt slightly ahead of Gay's pass to Ryan Bailey. In the final 100 metres, Bolt extended that lead to a few metres and crossed the line in a new world record time for his country for the second consecutive Olympics, with the USA finishing second. Although the Canadian team finished third, they were disqualified after third leg runner Jared Connaughton accidentally stepped on a line, and the bronze medal went to Trinidad and Tobago.

While the Jamaican team were breaking the world record, the American team crossed the line in exactly the same time as the old record of 37.04 seconds, setting a new national record.

In May 2014, the US 4x100m relay team member Tyson Gay received a one-year suspension for anabolic steroid use and was stripped of his medals and disqualified from all results after 15 July 2012 when he first used. In May 2015 the IOC wrote to the USOC telling them to collect the medals from teammates Trell Kimmons, Justin Gatlin, Ryan Bailey, Jeffery Demps and Darvis Patton. One of Gay's teammates who ran with him in the final, Gatlin, had previously also served a suspension. If the medals are reallocated, Trinidad and Tobago will be awarded silver, while France will take bronze.

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record	Jamaica (Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake, Usain Bolt)	37.04	Daegu, South Korea	4 September 2011
Olympic record	Jamaica (Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell)	37.10	Beijing, China	22 August 2008
2012 world leading	Racers Track Club (Mario Forsythe, Yohan Blake, Kimmari Roach, Usain Bolt)	37.82	Kingston, Jamaica	14 April 2012

The following records were established during the competition:

Date	Event	Name	Nationality	Time	Record
11 August	Final	Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake, Usain Bolt	Jamaica	36.84	WR
10 August	Round 1	Brian Mariano, Churandy Martina, Giovanni Codrington, Patrick van Luijk	Netherlands	38.29	NR
10 August	Round 1	Guo Fan, Liang Jiahong, Su Bingtian, Zhang Peimeng	China	38.38	NR
10 August	Round 1	Lestrod Roland, Jason Rogers, Antoine Adams, Brijesh Lawrence	Saint Kitts and Nevis	38.41	NR
10 August	Round 1	Anthony Alozie, Isaac Ntiamoah, Andrew McCabe, Josh Ross	Australia	38.17	=AR
10 August	Round 1	Kamil Masztak, Dariusz Kuć, Robert Kubaczyk, Kamil Kryński	Poland	38.31	NR

Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date	Time	Round
Friday, 10 August 2012	19:45	Round 1
Saturday, 11 August 2012	21:00	Finals

Result

Round 1

Qual. rule: first 3 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) qualified.

Official Video of Round 1

Heat 1

Rank	Lane	Nation	Competitors	Time	Notes
1	6	Jamaica	Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake, Kemar Bailey-Cole	37.39	Q, SB
2	3	Canada	Gavin Smellie, Oluseyi Smith, Jared Connaughton, Justyn Warner	38.05	Q, SB
3	7	Netherlands	Brian Mariano, Churandy Martina, Giovanni Codrington, Patrick van Luijk	38.29	Q, NR
4	8	Brazil	Aldemir da Silva Junior, Sandro Viana, Nilson Andre, Bruno de Barros	38.35	SB
5	5	China	Guo Fan, Liang Jiahong, Su Bingtian, Zhang Peimeng	38.38	NR
6	4	Saint Kitts and Nevis	Lestrod Roland, Jason Rogers, Antoine Adams, Brijesh Lawrence	38.41	NR
7	9	Italy	Simone Collio, Jacques Riparelli, Davide Manenti, Fabio Cerutti	38.58	SB
	2	Great Britain	Christian Malcolm, Dwain Chambers, Danny Talbot, Adam Gemili	DQ (37.93)

Heat 2

Rank	Lane	Nation	Competitors	Time	Notes
1	7	United States	Jeff Demps, Darvis Patton, Trell Kimmons, Justin Gatlin	37.38	Q, NR
2	9	Japan	Ryota Yamagata, Masashi Eriguchi, Shinji Takahira, Shota Iizuka	38.07	Q, SB
3	4	Trinidad and Tobago	Richard Thompson, Marc Burns, Emmanuel Callender, Keston Bledman	38.10	Q, SB
4	5	France	Jimmy Vicaut, Christophe Lemaitre, Pierre-Alexis Pessonneaux, Ronald Pognon	38.15	q
5	2	Australia	Anthony Alozie, Isaac Ntiamoah, Andrew McCabe, Josh Ross	38.17	q, =AR
6	3	Poland	Kamil Masztak, Dariusz Kuć, Robert Kubaczyk, Kamil Kryński	38.31	NR
7	6	Germany	Julian Reus, Tobias Unger, Alexander Kosenkow, Lucas Jakubczyk	38.37
8	8	Hong Kong	Tang Yik Chun, Lai Chun Ho, Ng Ka Fung, Tsui Chi Ho	38.61

Final

Results of the Final:

Rank	Lane	Nation	Competitors	Time	Notes
	6	Jamaica	Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake, Usain Bolt	36.84	WR, OR
DSQ	7	United States	Trell Kimmons, Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay, Ryan Bailey	37.04	NR1
	9	Trinidad and Tobago	Keston Bledman, Marc Burns, Emmanuel Callender, Richard Thompson	38.12
4	3	France	Jimmy Vicaut, Christophe Lemaitre, Pierre-Alexis Pessonneaux, Ronald Pognon	38.16
5	4	Japan	Ryota Yamagata, Masashi Eriguchi, Shinji Takahira, Shota Iizuka	38.35
6	8	Netherlands	Brian Mariano, Churandy Martina, Giovanni Codrington, Patrick van Luijk	38.39
7	2	Australia	Anthony Alozie, Isaac Ntiamoah, Andrew McCabe, Joshua Ross	38.43
	5	Canada	Gavin Smellie, Oluseyi Smith, Jared Connaughton, Justyn Warner	DSQ (38.07)	R 163.3a

¹ The United States were disqualified after Tyson Gay was suspended for drug use. If the medals are reallocated, Trinidad and Tobago (who finished third) would be awarded silver, and fourth-placed France would take the bronze instead.

Canada originally placed third but were Disqualified for over stepping the Lane Boundary.