Anchor leg

Last updated

The anchor leg is the final position in a relay race. Typically, the anchor leg of a relay is given to the fastest or most experienced competitor on a team. The athlete completing the anchor leg of a relay is responsible for making up ground on the race-leader or preserving the lead already secured by their teammates. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Notable track examples

"Bullet" Bob Hayes ran anchor leg for the United States 4 × 100 metres relay team in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Receiving the baton in fifth place, Hayes pulled ahead of four runners to win the race. A French rival, Jocelyn Delecour, remarked to the American lead-off runner Paul Drayton "You haven't got anything except Hayes", and Drayton responded "That's all we need, pal." [4]

Carl Lewis never lost a race when he anchored the American 4 × 100 m relay team.[ citation needed ] He regularly ran under 9 seconds for his anchor legs and helped the team break the world record in the 4 × 100 m relay five times. [5] The record set by the U.S. at the 1992 Summer Olympics of 37.40 seconds stood for 16 years. [6]

Anchoring the U.S. sprint relay team at the 1984 Summer Olympics, Evelyn Ashford ran a reported 9.77 seconds, the fastest time ever for a woman over 100 m.[ citation needed ] The U.S. team of Alice Brown (first leg), Jeanette Bolden (second leg) and Chandra Cheeseborough (third leg) won by the biggest margin in the event's history.[ citation needed ]

Usain Bolt anchored the 2012 Jamaican 4 × 100 m relay and helped set a new world record with a time 36.84 seconds. [7]

After she placed eight individually in the 100 m, Pam Marshall ran the anchor leg for the American 4 × 100 m team at the 1987 World Athletics Championships in Rome and beat Marlies Göhr in the final with an anchor leg timed at 10.11 s to Göhr's 10.41 s.[ citation needed ]

In some cases, athletes who are not top performers in individual events excel when given the responsibility of anchoring a relay. Phil Brown, a U.K. 400 m runner, won Olympic, World and European championship medals as the anchor leg runner for his national 4 × 400 m relay team [8] despite never having won a medal and rarely having advanced beyond the preliminary rounds individually.[ citation needed ]

British hurdling specialist Kriss Akabusi swapped places with normal Great Britain anchor, Olympic 400 metre silver medalist Roger Black, in a race where he caught and passed 400 metre world champion Antonio Pettigrew to win Great Britain the World Championship gold in Tokyo. [9] Due to the final legs of 4 × 400 m relay being run without lanes, the anchor may require some of the techniques normally associated with a middle distance runner, including tactical awareness, overtaking technique and physical strength to hold off other athletes, as well as basic speed.[ citation needed ]

Fastest anchors of all time

RankTimeAthleteCountryDatePlaceRef
18.65 Usain Bolt Flag of Jamaica.svg Jamaica2 May 2015 Nassau [10]
28.68 Asafa Powell Flag of Jamaica.svg Jamaica22 August 2008 Beijing
38.80 Richard Thompson Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg Trinidad and Tobago3 May 2014 Nassau
48.83 Ryan Bailey Flag of the United States.svg United States2 May 2015 Nassau
58.85 Carl Lewis Flag of the United States.svg United States8 August 1992 Barcelona
Filippo Tortu Flag of Italy.svg Italy6 August 2021 Tokyo
68.92 Leroy Burrell Flag of the United States.svg United States22 August 1993 Stuttgart
Yancarlos Martínez Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg Dominican Republic2 May 2015 Nassau
78.93 Donovan Bailey Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada3 August 1996 Atlanta
88.95 Linford Christie Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom1 October 1988 Seoul

Bob Hayes' time in 1964 has been the stuff of legend for decades, but its hand clocking of 8.5s is not the official time. With modern video reviews it has been estimated at 9.00 seconds.

Swimming

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Jason Lezak was the oldest male on the U.S. swim team. He anchored the U.S. 4 × 100 m freestyle relay team that won the gold medal and set a new world record. [11]

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Michael Phelps swam the anchor leg of the 4 × 200 m relay becoming the most decorated Olympian of all time with his 15th gold medal and 19th overall. [12] He returned in 2016 to again anchor the 4 ×200 m freestyle relay, claiming his 21st gold and 25th medal. [13]

Related Research Articles

Evelyn Ashford is an American retired track and field athlete, the 1984 Olympic champion in the 100-meter dash, and the world record-holder in the 60-yard dash. She ran under the 11-second barrier over 30 times and was the first to run under 11 seconds in an Olympic Games. Ashford has the distinction of owning the longest unbroken athletics record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Black</span> British sprinter

Roger Anthony BlackMBE is an English former athlete who competed internationally for Great Britain and England. During his athletics career, he won individual silver medals in the 400 metres sprint at both the Olympic Games and World Championships, two individual gold medals at the European Championships, and 4 × 400 metres relay gold medals at both the World and European Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelo Taylor</span> American track and field athlete

Angelo F. Taylor is an American track and field athlete, winner of 400-meter hurdles at the 2000 and 2008 Summer Olympics. His personal record for the hurdles event is 47.25 seconds. His time puts him in a tie with Félix Sánchez for the #14 performer of all time. Sánchez also won two Olympic gold medals, in 2004 between Taylor's two golds and 2012, immediately following. Taylor also has a 400-meter dash best of 44.05 seconds, ranking him as the #25 performer of all time, superior to any other athlete who has made a serious effort in the 400 metres hurdles. He won the bronze medal in the 400 m at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marlies Göhr</span> East German sprinter

Marlies Göhr is a former East German track and field athlete, the winner of the 100 metres at the inaugural World Championships in 1983. She ranked in the top 10 of the 100 m world rankings for twelve straight years, ranking first in six of those years. During this time she won many medals as a sprinter at major international championships and set several world records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4 × 100 metres relay</span> Track and field relay event covering 400 metres

The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individual 400 m race. Each runner carries a relay baton. Before 2018, the baton had to be passed within a 20 m changeover box, preceded by a 10-metre acceleration zone. With a rule change effective November 1, 2017, that zone was modified to include the acceleration zone as part of the passing zone, making the entire zone 30 metres in length. The outgoing runner cannot touch the baton until it has entered the zone, and the incoming runner cannot touch it after it has left the zone. The zone is usually marked in yellow, frequently using lines, triangles or chevrons. While the rule book specifies the exact positioning of the marks, the colours and style are only "recommended". While most legacy tracks will still have the older markings, the rule change still uses existing marks. Not all governing body jurisdictions have adopted the rule change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Lezak</span> American swimming executive (born 1975)

Jason Edward Lezak is an American former competitive swimmer and swimming executive. As a swimmer, Lezak specialized in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle races. His pro career lasted for nearly fifteen years, spanning four Olympic games and eight Olympic medals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kriss Akabusi</span> British athlete

Kezie Uchechukwu Duru Akabusi, MBE, known as Kriss Akabusi, is a British broadcaster & former sprint and hurdling track and field athlete.

Philip "Phil" Andrew Brown is a British retired athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres.

These are the official results of the Men's 4 × 400 metres event at the 1991 IAAF World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. There were a total number of sixteen participating nations, with three qualifying heats and the final held on Sunday September 1, 1991. The final was won by Great Britain in what was, at the time, the fourth fastest time in history. Going into the meeting, the USA 4 × 400 m team hadn't lost at a major championships in over 7 years. Britain, by contrast, hadn't won a gold medal in the event since the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alain Bernard</span> French swimmer

Alain Bernard is a former French swimmer from Aubagne, Bouches-du-Rhône.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Adrian</span> American swimmer (born 1988)

Nathan Ghar-jun Adrian is an American competitive swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist who formerly held the American record in the long course 50-meter freestyle event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garrett Weber-Gale</span> American swimmer

Garrett Weber-Gale is an American competition swimmer, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and world record-holder in two events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay</span>

The men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 10–11 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Phelps</span> American swimmer (born 1985)

Michael Fred Phelps II is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16). At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Phelps tied the record of eight medals of any color at a single Games, held by gymnast Alexander Dityatin, by winning six gold and two bronze medals. Four years later, when he won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, he broke fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won five gold medals and one silver. This made him the most successful athlete of the Games for the fourth Olympics in a row.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nickel Ashmeade</span> Jamaican sprinter

Nickel Ashmeade is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 and 200 meters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Whittle</span> Scottish Conservative politician

Brian Ian Whittle is a Scottish politician and former athlete, who has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South Scotland region since 2016. A member of the Scottish Conservatives, he serves as Shadow Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floria Gueï</span> French sprinter

Floria Gueï is a French sprint athlete of Ivorian origin specialising in the 400 metres. A 2016 European Championships silver medallist and a 2017 European Indoor Championships gold medallist, she also won as a member of women's 4x400 m relays a bronze at the 2013 World Championships and medals at several other international competitions.

The men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 29 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.

Jacqueline "Jackie" Pusey is a Jamaican former track and field sprinter. She competed over distances from 100 metres to 400 metres. She represented Jamaica at the 1976 Summer Olympics and competed a second time at the 1980 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filippo Tortu</span> Italian sprinter

Filippo Tortu is an Italian sprinter with a personal best in the 100 meters of 9.99, the first Italian in history to break the 10 seconds barrier. He won the gold medal in 100 metres at the 2017 European U20 Championships and the silver medal at the 2016 World U20 Championships. He ran the anchor leg in the 4×100m relay of the Italian team that won the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the silver medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships. At the individual level he won the bronze medal in 200 metres at the 2022 European Championships. He is coached by his father, Salvino Tortu, a former Sardinian sprinter who moved to Lombardy.

References

  1. ↑ Ask the Coaches: Relay Strategy Archived 2014-05-23 at the Wayback Machine . Running Times (2002-07-02). Retrieved on 2014-05-23.
  2. ↑ Anchor Leg Archived 2014-05-23 at the Wayback Machine . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved on 2014-05-23.
  3. ↑ Missy Franklin's Unreal Anchor Leg Secures 800 Free Relay Victory for California Archived May 23, 2014, at the Wayback Machine . Swimming World (2014-03-21). Retrieved on 2014-05-23.
  4. ↑ Litsky, Frank (2002-09-20). Bob Hayes, Stellar Sprinter and Receiver, Is Dead at 59 Archived 2017-08-11 at the Wayback Machine . The New York Times . Retrieved on 2014-05-23.
  5. ↑ "Carl LEWIS". Olympic Channel. Archived from the original on 2020-09-18. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  6. ↑ "USA Men's 4x100m - Olympic News". International Olympic Committee. 2017-03-17. Archived from the original on 2018-09-17. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  7. ↑ "USA Track & Field | Ashford's 100m record earns her USATF Throwback Athlete of the Week honors". usatf.org. Archived from the original on 2020-08-09. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  8. ↑ "Local Olympian to start 17th Great Midlands Fun Run". Great Midlands Fun Run. 2019-06-01. Archived from the original on 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  9. ↑ "Kriss Akabusi on the Olympic medal that changed his life". International Olympic Committee. 2019-03-05. Archived from the original on 2017-08-22. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  10. ↑ "Usain Bolt Ran History's Fastest Anchor Leg at World Relays - Athletics Live Streaming, videos, news, results - Watch Athletics". Archived from the original on 2018-07-12. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
  11. ↑ "12th Anniversary of Jason Lezak's Epic Anchor Leg at Beijing Games (Video)". Swimming World News. 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  12. ↑ "U.S. wins 4x200 freestyle relay gold, Michael Phelps sets career Olympic medal record". www.cbsnews.com. Archived from the original on 2020-12-29. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  13. ↑ Auerbach, Nicole. "With Michael Phelps as anchor, U.S. 4x200 free relay wins gold". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on 2020-03-17. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.