4×400 metres relay at the Olympics

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. 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.

Contents

• Medals by country
• Women
• References

The competition has two parts: a first round and an eight-team final. Historically, there has been a semi-final round, but this has been eliminated as selection is now determined by time – 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 minutes for men, set by the United States in 2008, and 3:15.17 minutes for women, set by the Soviet Union in 1988. 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 dominant nation in the event. The country has won the men's race 16 times and the women's race on six occasions. The American have finished in the top two at all but three Olympics (fourth in 1920, non-starters in 1972, and boycotted in 1980). The team won the 2000 Olympic gold medals, but were stripped of these due to doping bans for Antonio Pettigrew and Jerome Young. The American women have accrued five straight victories, remaining unbeaten since the 1992 Olympics. As of 2012, no other country has won more than two golds in the event. Great Britain (two wins, thirteen medals) and 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). Marion Jones was stripped of her Olympic medal from the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but the American result was allowed to stand and the remainder of the team are still listed as gold medallists. Another American runner, Crystal Cox, was stripped of her 2004 Olympic title for doping offences, but again the American team remain champions. Sanya Richards-Ross is the most successful athlete in the event, having three straight wins from 2004 to 2012. Americans Steve Lewis and Jeremy Wariner are the only men to win the title twice and Chris Brown of the Bahamas is the only man to reach the podium three times.