The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics till 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic Games, they represent the highest level championships of senior international outdoor athletics competition for track and field athletics globally, including marathon running and race walking. Separate World Championships are held by World Athletics for certain other outdoor events, including cross-country running and half-marathon, as well as indoor and age-group championships.
Matthew Nicholas Biondi is an American former competitive swimmer and water polo player. As a swimmer, he is an eleven-time Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder in five events. Biondi competed in the Summer Olympic Games in 1984, 1988 and 1992, winning a total of eleven medals. During his career, he set three individual world records in the 50-meter freestyle and four in the 100-meter freestyle.
Allyson Michelle Felix is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters. She specialized in the 200 meters from 2003 to 2013, then gradually shifted to the 400 meters later in her career. At 200 meters, Felix is the 2012 Olympic champion, a three-time world champion (2005–2009), a two-time Olympic silver medalist, and the 2011 world bronze medalist. At 400 meters, she is the 2015 world champion, 2011 world silver medalist, 2016 Olympic silver medalist, 2017 world bronze medalist, and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist. Across the short distances, Felix is a ten-time U.S. national champion.
Harry Lee "Butch" Reynolds Jr. is an American former track and field athlete who competed in the 400 meter dash. He held the world record for the event for 11 years 9 days with his personal best time of 43.29 seconds set in 1988. That year, he was the silver medalist at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and a relay gold medalist.
The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of 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 leg and the first bend of the second leg are 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. The slightly longer 4 × 440 yards relay, on an Imperial distance, was a formerly run British Commonwealth and American event, until metrication was completed in the 1970s.
The men's 400 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea took place between 24 and 28 September 1988. Seventy-five athletes from 55 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at three since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 0.06 seconds by Steve Lewis of the United States, the second in what would ultimately be seven consecutive American victories stretching from 1984 to 2008. As of May 2024, this remains the narrowest winning margin in the event since the introduction of fully automatic timing. The United States swept the podium in the event for the third time, having previously done so in 1904 and 1968.
The men's 200 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 72 competitors from 59 nations, with ten qualifying heats (72), five quarterfinal races (40) and two semifinals (16), before the final (8) took off on Wednesday September 28, 1988. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Joe DeLoach of the United States, beating his teammate and defending champion Carl Lewis by 0.04 seconds in the final. The defeat ended Lewis's hopes of repeating his 1984 quadruple, despite running the final under his own Olympic record time. It was the United States' 14th victory in the men's 200 metres. Lewis was the seventh man to win multiple medals in the event, matching Andy Stanfield for the best result to that point. Robson da Silva earned Brazil's first medal in the event with his bronze.
The 4 × 400 metres relay races at the 1984 Summer Olympics was contested as part of the athletics program.
The men's 400 metres was an event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. There were a total number of 68 participating athletes from 52 nations, with nine qualifying heats. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Quincy Watts of the United States, the third in what would ultimately be seven consecutive American victories stretching from 1984 to 2008 and the 15th overall title in the event by the United States. Steve Lewis became the third man to win a second medal in the event. Samson Kitur earned Kenya's first medal in the men's 400 metres since 1972.
These are the official results of the men's 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. There were a total number of 24 nations competing, with three qualifying heats.
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 1 September 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 metres team hadn't lost at a major championships in over seven years. Britain, by contrast, hadn't won a gold medal in the event since the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
These are the official results of the Men's 4 × 400 metres event at the 1993 IAAF World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. There were a total number of eighteen participating nations, with three qualifying heats and the final held on Sunday, August 22, 1993. The current world record for the event was set in the final.
These are the official results of the Women's 4 × 400 m Relay event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. There were a total number of sixteen nations competing.
Since the early 20th century, Jamaica has won 42 Commonwealth Golds, 14 World Championship Golds and 17 Olympic gold medals in athletics alone. Jamaica has a population of 2.85 million people, making it the 138th most populous country in the world.
The men's 200 metres at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States had an entry list of 76 competitors from 58 nations, with ten qualifying heats (76), four quarterfinals (32), and two semifinals (16) before the final (8) took off on Wednesday August 8, 1984. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 0.16 seconds by Carl Lewis of the United States, the nation's first victory in the men's 200 metres since 1968 and 13th overall. It was the third gold medal of the Games for Lewis, who was attempting to match Jesse Owens in winning the 100, 200, long jump, and 4x100 relay; his victory in this event left only the relay to go, in which the United States was heavily favored. The American team competed in a medal sweep in this event, the first since 1956 and the fifth overall for the United States, with Kirk Baptiste earning silver and Thomas Jefferson taking bronze.
Steven Earl Lewis is a former American track and field athlete, winner of three gold medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics and 1992 Summer 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. 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.
John Mair is a Jamaican former track and field sprinter who competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres. He won several medals with the Jamaican relay team, taking Jamaica's first World Championships relay medal at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics, as well as a bronze medal at the Pan American Games in 1987 and two relay bronze medals at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.
Clive George Wright, Jr. is a Jamaican former track and field sprinter who specialised in the 200 metres. He won several medals with the Jamaican relay team, taking Jamaica's first World Championships relay medal at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics, as well as a bronze medal at the Pan American Games in 1987 and two relay bronze medals at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.
The women's 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 5 and 7 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. There were 16 competing relay teams, with each team having at least 5 members from which 4 were selected in each round.
