4 × 400 metres relay

The 4 x 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams comprise 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 x 100 m relay, runners in the 4 x 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.

Records

Men's Outdoor World Record
Country	Members	Venue	Date	Time
USA	Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Butch Reynolds, Michael Johnson	Stuttgart, Germany	22 August 1993	2:54.29

Note: The IAAF announced on 12 August 2008 that they had rescinded the world record of 2:54.20 set by the USA (Jerome Young, Antonio Pettigrew, Tyree Washington, Michael Johnson) on 22 July 1998 after Pettigrew admitted to using human growth hormone and EPO between 1997 and 2003.

Men's Indoor World Record
Country	Members	Venue	Date	Time
USA	Andre Morris, Dameon Johnson, Deon Minor, Milton Campbell	Maebashi, Japan	7 March 1999	3:02.83

Note: The IAAF rejected a time of 3:01.96 set by the USA (Kerron Clement, Wallace Spearmon, Darold Williamson, Jeremy Wariner) on 16 September 2006 as no post-race EPO analysis was performed.

Women's Outdoor World Record
Country	Members	Venue	Date	Time
USSR	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
Russia	Yuliya Gushchina, Olga Kotlyarova, Olga Zaytseva, Olesya Krasnomovets	Glasgow, Scotland	27 January 2006	3:23.37

Notable performances

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.
• Quincy Watts ran a 43.1 split and Steve Lewis (USA) ran a 43.5 split in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic final.
• Michael Johnson (USA) ran a 42.91 split in the 1993 Stuttgart World Championship final.
• Jeremy Wariner (USA) ran a 42.93 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 (Czechoslovakia) ran a 47.8 split in the 1983 Helsinki World Championship final.
• Olga Nazarova and Olga Bryzgina (USSR) both ran a 47.80 split in the 1988 Seoul Olympic final.

Records

• Men's 4 x 400 metres relay world record progression
• Women's 4 x 400 metres relay world record progression