Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Mixed 4 × 400 metres relay

Mixed 4 × 400 metres relay at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Olympic Athletics
Venue	Japan National Stadium
Dates	30 July 2021 (round 1) 31 July 2021 (final)
Competitors	76 from 15 nations
Winning time	3:09.87
Medalists
Karol Zalewski Natalia Kaczmarek Justyna Święty-Ersetic Kajetan Duszyński Dariusz Kowaluk* Iga Baumgart-Witan* Małgorzata Hołub-Kowalik*   Poland Lidio Andrés Feliz Marileidy Paulino Anabel Medina Alexander Ogando Luguelín Santos*   Dominican Republic Trevor Stewart Kendall Ellis Kaylin Whitney Vernon Norwood Elija Godwin* Lynna Irby* Taylor Manson* Bryce Deadmon*   United States
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Official Video Highlights

The mixed 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 30 and 31 July 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. ^[1] There were 16 competing relay teams, with each team having four members (two men and two women).^{[ clarification needed ] [2]} It was the first mixed-gender relay in athletics held at the Olympic Games, as part of a larger focus on gender equality by the International Olympic Committee. ^[3]

Summary

After finishing first and second in their heat, the USA and Dominican Republic teams were initially disqualified for an alleged baton-changeover violation. Both teams appealed and the decision was reversed. This meant that the German and Spanish teams, that qualified after the disqualifications, did not qualify to the final—they protested, and it was decided that Germany could start the final as the ninth team. The Dutch and Belgian teams protested against the reinstatements—both protests were rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. ^{[4] [5]}

In the final, the Netherlands' Liemarvin Bonevacia took the lead going in to the first handoff, with Karol Zalewski (Poland), Trevor Stewart (USA) and Dylan Borlée (Belgium) in contention. Through the third turn, Marileidy Paulino pulled Dominican Republic past all the teams, squeezing past the Netherlands' Lieke Klaver after the break to take the lead. Kendall Ellis powered through the fourth turn passing Poland's Natalia Kaczmarek and Klaver chasing after Paulino. Down the home stretch, Ellis tied up and Kaczmarek ran past. Anabel Medina left the pass with almost a 3-second Dominican lead. Netherlands went with their star 400 hurdler Femke Bol, along with Justyna Święty-Ersetic for Poland and Kaylin Whitney for USA separating as a 3-person pack in chase of Medina. Bol almost made it, pulling the pack to just behind Medina at the handoff, the teams leaving the zone with Alexander Ogando (DOM), Ramsey Angela (NED), Kajetan Duszyński (POL) and Vernon Norwood (USA) in a row. Halfway through the lap, Angela passed Ogando, then Duszyński gained through the final turn with Norwood in tow. Coming off the turn, Duszyński went past Angela into the lead. With 30 metres to go, the three chasers were in a row across the track, but Norwood had the momentum to move into second place. Duszyński had too much of a lead, crossing the finish line with his arms outstretched. Unable to catch Duszyński, Norwood relaxed and glided across the line, but Ogando continued to chase and won silver for the Dominican Republic. ^{[6] [7]}

Background

This was the first appearance of the event, added along with mixed team events in multiple sports for the 2020 Games. The mixed relay was first introduced at the 2017 IAAF World Relays. It was added to the World Championship programme at the 2019 World Athletics Championships. ^[8]

Qualification

Main article: Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could qualify a relay team of 4 athletes in one of three ways. A total of 16 NOCs qualified. ^{[2] [9]}

• The top 8 NOCs at the 2019 World Athletics Championships qualified a relay team.
• The top 8 NOCs at the 2021 World Athletics Relays qualified a relay team.
• Where an NOC placed in the top 8 at both the 2019 World Championships and the 2021 World Relays, the quota place was allocated to the world ranking list as of 29 June 2021. In this case, 3 teams did so, so there are 3 places available through the world rankings.

The qualifying period was originally from 1 May 2019 to 29 June 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the period was suspended from 6 April 2020 to 30 November 2020, with the end date extended to 29 June 2021. The qualifying time standards could be obtained in various meets during the given period that have the approval of the IAAF. Both indoor and outdoor meets are eligible. The most recent Area Championships may be counted in the ranking, even if not during the qualifying period. ^{[2] [10]}

Competition format

The event used the two-round format introduced for other relay events in 2012. ^[11]

Each team consists of two men and two women. The team members can run in any order. ^[8]

Records

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

World record	Wilbert London, Allyson Felix, Courtney Okolo, Michael Cherry  (USA)	3:09.34	Doha, Qatar	29 September 2019
Olympic record	new event

Area	Time(s)	Athlete	Nation
Africa ( records )	3:16.90	Jared Nyambweke Momanyi Maureen Nyatichi Thomas Hellen Syombua Aron Koech	Kenya
Asia ( records )	3:11.82	Musa Isah Aminat Yusuf Jamal Salwa Eid Naser Abbas Abubakar Abbas	Bahrain
Europe ( records )	3:12.27	Rabah Yousif Zoey Clark Emily Diamond Martyn Rooney	Great Britain
North, Central America and Caribbean ( records )	3:09.34 WR	Wilbert London Allyson Felix Courtney Okolo Michael Cherry	United States
Oceania ( records )	3:18.55	Steven Solomon Murray Goodwin Anneliese Rubie Ella Connolly	Australia
South America ( records )	3:16.12	Anderson Henriques Tiffani Marinho Geisa Coutinho Lucas Carvalho	Brazil

Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

The mixed 4 × 400 metres relay took place over two consecutive days. ^[1]

Date	Time	Round
Friday, 30 July 2021	20:00	Round 1
Saturday, 31 July 2021	21:35	Final

Results

Heats

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

Heat 1

Rank	Lane	Nation	Competitors	Reaction	Time	Notes
1	3	United States	Elija Godwin, Lynna Irby, Taylor Manson, Bryce Deadmon	0.182	3:11.39	Q, SB
2	7	Dominican Republic	Lidio Andrés Feliz, Marileidy Paulino, Anabel Medina, Luguelín Santos	0.253	3:12.74	Q, NR
3	2	Belgium	Alexander Doom, Imke Vervaet, Camille Laus, Jonathan Borlée	0.177	3:12.75	Q, NR
4	5	Ireland	Cillin Greene, Phil Healy, Sophie Becker, Christopher O'Donnell	0.137	3:12.88	q, NR
5	4	Germany	Marvin Schlegel, Corinna Schwab, Ruth Spelmeyer, Manuel Sanders	0.189	3:12.94	qJ, NR
6	6	Spain	Samuel García, Laura Bueno, Aauri Bokesa, Bernat Erta	0.176	3:13.29	NR
7	8	Nigeria	Ifeanyi Emmanuel Ojeli, Imaobong Nse Uko, Samson Oghenewegba Nathaniel, Patience Okon George	0.196	3:13.60	AR

Heat 2

Rank	Lane	Nation	Competitors	Reaction	Time	Notes
1	2	Poland	Dariusz Kowaluk, Iga Baumgart-Witan, Małgorzata Hołub-Kowalik, Kajetan Duszyński	0.156	3:10.44	Q, OR, AR
2	9	Netherlands	Jochem Dobber, Lieke Klaver, Lisanne de Witte, Ramsey Angela	0.178	3:10.69	Q, NR
3	5	Jamaica	Sean Bailey, Junelle Bromfield, Stacey-Ann Williams, Karayme Bartley	0.180	3:11.76	Q, NR
4	6	Great Britain	Cameron Chalmers, Zoey Clark, Emily Diamond, Lee Thompson	0.189	3:11.95	q, NR
5	7	Italy	Edoardo Scotti, Alice Mangione, Rebecca Borga, Vladimir Aceti	0.184	3:13.51	NR
6	4	Ukraine	Mykyta Barabanov, Kateryna Klymiuk, Alina Lohvynenko, Oleksandr Pohorilko	0.157	3:14.21
7	8	Brazil	Pedro Luiz de Oliveira, Tiffani Marinho, Tábata de Carvalho, Anderson Henriques	0.185	3:15.89	AR
8	3	India	Muhammed Anas, Revathi Veeramani, Subha Venkatesan, Arokia Rajiv	0.158	3:19.93	SB

Final

Rank	Lane	Nation	Competitors	Reaction	Time	Notes
	5	Poland	Karol Zalewski, Natalia Kaczmarek, Justyna Święty-Ersetic, Kajetan Duszyński	0.157	3:09.87	OR AR
	6	Dominican Republic	Lidio Andrés Feliz, Marileidy Paulino, Anabel Medina, Alexander Ogando	0.184	3:10.21	NR
	4	United States	Trevor Stewart, Kendall Ellis, Kaylin Whitney, Vernon Norwood	0.167	3:10.22	SB
4	7	Netherlands	Liemarvin Bonevacia, Lieke Klaver, Femke Bol, Ramsey Angela	0.209	3:10.36	NR
5	8	Belgium	Dylan Borlée, Imke Vervaet, Camille Laus, Kevin Borlée	0.165	3:11.51	NR
6	2	Great Britain	Nicklas Baker, Nicole Yeargin, Emily Diamond, Cameron Chalmers	0.169	3:12.07
7	9	Jamaica	Sean Bailey, Stacey-Ann Williams, Tovea Jenkins, Karayme Bartley	0.208	3:14.95
8	1	Ireland	Cillin Greene, Phil Healy, Sophie Becker, Christopher O'Donnell	0.140	3:15.04
	3	Germany	Marvin Schlegel, Corinna Schwab, Nadine Gonska, Manuel Sanders	0.182	DQ	TR 24.6.3

References

1. "Athletics Competition Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
2. "Qualification System – Games of the XXXI Olympiad – Athletics" (PDF). IAAF . Retrieved 31 March 2019.
3. "Mixed-gender events: a sign of innovation and greater gender diversity at Tokyo 2020 - Olympic News". International Olympic Committee. 31 July 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
4. "Again faulty exchange does in US in Olympic Mixed Relay". Washington Post. 30 July 2021.
5. "USA and Dominican reinstated in 4x400m mixed relay final after disqualification (Updated) - Xinhua | English.news.cn".
6. "Dominican Republic Silver in Mixed 4X400 Relay at Tokyo Olympics".
7. "Poland wins inaugural Olympic 4x400m mixed relay gold in exhilarating race". Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
8. "What is the new athletics mixed relay event?". Tokyo 2020. 25 April 2021. Archived from the original on 5 July 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
9. "IAAF to follow other sports with world ranking system for athletes". BBC Sport. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
10. "Olympic qualification period suspended until 1 December 2020". World Athletics. 6 April 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
11. "Athletics Explanatory Guide" (PDF). Tokyo 2020. August 2019.