Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay

Men's 4 × 400 metres relay at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Athletics at the Olympics 4x400 relay race
Venue	Beijing National Stadium
Dates	August 22 August 23 (final)
Teams	16
Winning time	2:55.39 OR
Medalists
LaShawn Merritt Angelo Taylor David Neville Jeremy Wariner Kerron Clement* Reggie Witherspoon*   United States Andretti Bain Michael Mathieu Andrae Williams Chris Brown Avard Moncur* Ramon Miller*   Bahamas Martyn Rooney Andrew Steele Robert Tobin Michael Bingham   Great Britain
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The men's 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 22 and 23 August at the Beijing National Stadium. ^[1]

There were 16 NOCs competing at this event. These 16 NOCs were selected by the average of the two best marks at the qualifying period. The final was won by the United States in the new Olympic record time 2:55.39.

Summary

Having swept the 400 metres and winning the World Championships as part of their qualifying process, defending champion USA came in as an overwhelming favorite.

USA put their Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt on the leadoff leg with the intent to break the race wide open from the start. The strategy worked, Merritt ran 44.01 out of the blocks. 400 hurdles champion Angelo Taylor hit the break line with an 8 metre lead over Belgium, who also front loaded their order with brothers Kévin Borlée and Jonathan Borlée. Jonathan closed down on Taylor down the backstretch, with Bahamas Michael Mathieu working his way through traffic to move into third. Down the home stretch, Taylor re-opened the lead to 8 metres before handing off to bronze medalist David Neville. A 45 second runner, Belgium's Cédric Van Branteghem was no match as Neville pulled away while Bahamas Andrae Williams closed in from behind. USA handed off to their silver medalist Jeremy Wariner, who was also the defending 400 champion coming into these Olympics. Belgium's 47 second anchor Arnaud Ghislain was caught by Bahamas 4th place, 44 second anchor Chris Brown halfway through the turn. Wariner continued to open the gap all the way to a 25 metre victory. Brown was in the sights of Russia's Denis Alekseyev through the final turn until he opened up a clear second place down the home stretch. Taking the baton in 6th place, Great Britain's 400 metre finalist Martyn Rooney worked his way past Jamaica and Belgium, almost catching Alekseyev at the line.

Eight years later, Alekseyev was found guilty of doping. He and the Russian team were disqualified, elevating Great Britain to the bronze medal.

Records

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

World record	United States Andrew Valmon Quincy Watts Butch Reynolds Michael Johnson	2:54.29	Stuttgart, Germany	22 August 1993
Olympic record	United States  (USA) Andrew Valmon Quincy Watts Michael Johnson Steve Lewis	2:55.74	Barcelona, Spain	8 August 1992

The following Olympic record was set during this competition.

Date	Event	Name	Nationality	Time	OR	WR
23 August	Final	LaShawn Merritt Angelo Taylor David Neville Jeremy Wariner	United States	2:55.39	OR

Qualification summary

Pos	NOC	2 races		1	2
		Total	Average
1	United States	5:54.74	2:57.37	2:55.56	2:59.18
2	Bahamas	5:59.55	2:59.78	2:59.18	3:00.37
3	Jamaica	6:01.20	3:00.60	3:00.44	3:00.76
4	Poland	6:01.75	3:00.87	3:00.05	3:01.70
5	Russia	6:02.69	3:01.34	3:01.07	3:01.62
6	Great Britain	6:03.14	3:01.57	3:01.22	3:01.92
7	Germany	6:03.98	3:01.99	3:01.77	3:02.21
8	Australia	6:04.05	3:02.03	3:01.52	3:02.53
9	Belgium	6:04.64	3:02.32	3:02.13	3:02.51
10	Dominican Republic	6:04.97	3:02.48	3:02.48	3:02.49
11	Japan	6:05.20	3:02.60	3:02.44	3:02.76
12	Cuba	6:05.32	3:02.66	3:02.10	3:03.22
13	France	6:05.98	3:02.99	3:02.33	3:03.65
14	Trinidad and Tobago	6:06.52	3:03.26	3:02.92	3:03.60
15	Greece	6:07.86	3:03.93	3:02.21	3:05.65
16	South Africa	6:08.24	3:04.12	3:03.58	3:04.66
Reserves
17	Italy	6:08.77	3:04.38	3:03.66	3:05.11
18	Botswana	6:09.12	3:04.56	3:03.16	3:05.96
19	Ireland	6:09.14	3:04.57	3:04.43	3:04.71
20	Brazil	6:09.51	3:04.76	3:04.36	3:05.15

Results

All times shown are in seconds.

• Q denotes automatic qualification.
• q denotes fastest losers.
• DNS denotes did not start.
• DNF denotes did not finish.
• DQ denotes disqualified
• AR denotes area record.
• NR denotes national record.
• PB denotes personal best.
• SB denotes season's best.

Round 1

First 3 in each heat(Q) and the next 2 fastest(q) advance to the Final.

Rank	Heat	Lane	Nation	Competitors	Time	Notes
1	2	5	Great Britain	Andrew Steele, Robert Tobin, Michael Bingham, Martyn Rooney	2:59.33	Q, SB
2	2	3	Bahamas	Michael Mathieu, Avard Moncur, Ramon Miller, Andrae Williams	2:59.88	Q, SB
3	1	3	United States	David Neville, Kerron Clement, Reggie Witherspoon, Angelo Taylor	2:59.98	Q
4	2	7	Jamaica	Michael Blackwood, Allodin Fothergill, Sanjay Ayre, Ricardo Chambers	3:00.09	Q, SB
5	1	6	Belgium	Cédric Van Branteghem, Jonathan Borlée, Arnaud Ghislain, Kévin Borlée	3:00.67	Q, NR
6	1	8	Australia	Joel Milburn, Mark Ormrod, John Steffensen, Clinton Hill	3:00.68	q, SB
7	1	7	Poland	Marek Plawgo, Piotr Klimczak, Piotr Kędzia, Rafał Wieruszewski	3:00.74	q, SB
8	1	5	South Africa	Pieter Smith, Ofentse Mogawane, Alwyn Myburgh, L.J. van Zyl	3:01.26	SB
9	1	4	Cuba	Yunier Perez, Yunior Díaz, William Collazo, Omar Cisneros	3:02.24
10	1	2	France	Teddy Venel, Ydrissa Mbarke, Brice Panel, Richard Maunier	3:03.19
11	2	6	Germany	Simon Kirch, Kamghe Gaba, Ruwen Faller, Bastian Swillims	3:03.49
12	2	2	Trinidad and Tobago	Ato Modibo, Jovon Toppin, Cowin Mills, Stann Waithe	3:04.12	SB
13	2	4	Japan	Mitsuhiro Abiko, Dai Tamesue, Yoshihiro Horigome, Kenji Narisako	3:04.18	SB
14	2	9	Greece	Stylianos Dimotsios, Dimitrios Gravalos, Pantelis Melachroinoudis, Konstantinos Anastasiou	3:04.30	SB
15	2	8	Dominican Republic	Carlos Yohelin Santa, Arismendy Peguero, Pedro Mejía, Yoel Tapia	3:04.31	SB
DSQ	1	9	Russia	Maksim Dyldin, Vladislav Frolov, Anton Kokorin, Denis Alekseyev		Q

Final

Rank	Lane	Nation	Competitors	Time	Notes
	7	United States	LaShawn Merritt, Angelo Taylor, David Neville, Jeremy Wariner	2:55.39	OR
	5	Bahamas	Andretti Bain, Michael Mathieu, Andrae Williams, Chris Brown	2:58.03	SB
	6	Great Britain *	Andrew Steele, Robert Tobin, Michael Bingham, Martyn Rooney	2:58.81	SB
4	8	Belgium	Kévin Borlée, Jonathan Borlée, Cédric Van Branteghem, Arnaud Ghislain	2:59.37	NR
5	2	Australia	Sean Wroe, John Steffensen, Clinton Hill, Joel Milburn	3:00.02	SB
6	3	Poland	Rafał Wieruszewski, Piotr Klimczak, Piotr Kędzia, Marek Plawgo	3:00.32	SB
7	9	Jamaica	Michael Blackwood, Ricardo Chambers, Sanjay Ayre, Lanceford Spence	3:01.45
DQ	4	Russia	Maksim Dyldin, Vladislav Frolov, Anton Kokorin, Denis Alekseyev	DQ [2]

*On 14 September 2016, IOC officially stripped Russia of the bronze medal for positive doping test of Denis Alekseyev. Reallocation to Great Britain was confirmed on 21 June 2017. ^[3]

References

1. "Olympic Athletics Competition Schedule". IAAF. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
2. "IOC sanctions four athletes for failing anti-doping tests at Beijing 2008 and London 2012". olympic.org. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
3. "Beijing 2008 relay quartet to be awarded Olympic bronze". teamgb.com. Retrieved 18 April 2018.

• Results on website IAAF
• "Best Relay Performances" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-01. Retrieved 2008-07-30.