Sixteen teams competed in round1, where the team of the United States set a world record of 3:07.41minutes, making them more than 3seconds faster than the other teams. The teams of France, Great Britain, Belgium, Jamaica, Nigeria, and Switzerland all broke national records in round1. Eight teams advanced to the final, that was won by the team of the Netherlands in a European record of 3:07.43min, ahead of the team of the United States in second place in 3:07.74min and the team of Great Britain in third place in a national record of 3:08.01min. The Belgian team set another national record and the French team was disqualified in the final.
Femke Bol's anchor leg in the final was called "one of Paris' signature moments";[3] the Dutch runner started in fourth position and overtook three runners to win the race, where she had a split time of 48.00s. The next year, when Eugene Omalla auctioned his gold medal, he received criticism.
In the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay, each mixed-sex team consists of four athletes, two male and two female, who successively run one lap on a 400-metre track and pass on a baton between them.[4] The running order man–woman–man–woman has been mandatory at championships since 2022.[5]
Sixteen national teams could qualify for this event. Fourteen teams qualified during two rounds of the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay, eight teams in round 1 and six teams in a repechage round, at the 2024 World Athletics Relays in Nassau, The Bahamas, on 4 and 5 May 2024. The remaining two teams that qualified were those with the highest ranking on the World Athletics top list based on performances from 31 December 2022 to 30 June 2024.[16][17]
Kaylyn Brown (bottom right) of the United States, metres ahead of the other anchors, before breaking the world record
Announcement of the world record on a screen in the stadium
Sixteen teams competed in the two heats of the first round on 2 August in the evening, starting at 19:10 (UTC+2). Eight teams, the first three in each heat (Q) and the next two fastest overall (q), qualified for the final.[2]
In the first heat, the team of the United States, consisting of Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, and Kaylyn Brown, was leading from the first to the last leg and finished in a new world record (WR) of 3.07.41min, more than a second faster than the previous world record and more than three seconds faster than the other teams. The French team set a national record (NR) of 3:10.60min, the Belgian team set a national record (NR) of 3:10.74min, and the Jamaican team set a national record (NR) of 3:11.06min. Although they didn't advance to the final, the Swiss team also set a national record (NR) of 3:12.77min.[2]
Jason Henderson of Athletics Weekly called it "a runaway relay victory" for the team of the United States.[18] Marcus Thompson II of The New York Times said about the American runners: "Judging by the aggression of their legs, the quartet had every intention of going for the world-record mark. It was top of mind heading into the race."[19] In an interview after the race, Deadmon said: "I ain’t think we (were) gon’ do that today." and "I was running down the back stretch on the last curve, and I was like, ... 'Damn! It's kinda loud in here.' So that was definitely a great experience."[19]
In the second heat, the team of Great Britain set a national record (NR) of 3:10.61min. The Nigerian team also set a national record (NR) of 3:11.99min, although they didn't advance to the final.[2]
All eight first-leg runners of the finalFemke Bol of the Netherlands is about to pass Naomi Van den Broeck of Belgium.
Eight teams competed in the final on 3 August in the evening, starting at 20:55 (UTC+2). During the race it was lightly raining.[1]
In the opening leg, Alexander Doom of Belgium was the first to hand over the baton, followed by Vernon Norwood of the United States and Samuel Reardon of Great Britain; Eugene Omalla of the Netherlands handed over in sixth position. In the second leg, Shamier Little of the United States moved into the leading position and handed over before Helena Ponette of Belgium, Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands, who had moved up from sixth position at the start of this leg, and Laviai Nielsen of Great Britain. In the third leg, Jonathan Sacoor of Belgium brought his team back in the lead at the handover, and he was followed by Bryce Deadmon of the United States, Alex Haydock-Wilson of Great Britain, and Isaya Klein Ikkink of the Netherlands. In the anchor leg, Femke Bol of the Netherlands first caught up with Naomi Van den Broeck of Belgium between 200 and 300 metres and then Bol also passed Amber Anning of Great Britain and Kaylyn Brown of the United States in the last 100 metres.[1][20]
The team of the Netherlands won the race in a European record (AR) of 3:07.43min, 0.02s slower than the world record set the day before, followed by the team of the United States in second place in 3:07.74min and the team of Great Britain in third place in a national record (NR) of 3:08.01min. Outside the medals, the Belgian team set a national record (NR) of 3:09.36min.[1] The French team was disqualified (DQ) for obstructing other runners (TR17.1.2) at the third handover.[1][21] The fastest male runner was Sacoor who had a split time of 44.01s and the fastest female runner was Bol with a 48.00s split.[1]
Mark Puleo of The New York Times reported that the "Netherlands' legendary 400-meter star is making a surprise appearance in the mixed 4x400m," seeing the 400 metres hurdles as Bol's main event.[22] Lori Ewing of Reuters wrote that "Femke Bol ran a stunning last lap to lead the Netherlands to victory".[23] Jason Henderson of Athletics Weekly said about Bol: "The tall Dutch athlete was a scintillating sight as she took the Netherlands from a fighting fourth and up into first place."[24] Rohan Nadkarni of NBC News called Bol's anchor leg overcoming three runners to win gold "one of Paris' signature moments".[3] And Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad called the Dutch victory "Sensational!" in its headline.[25]
In an interview after the race, Bol said: "I just went for it. We just wanted a medal this time, we didn't think it would be gold, just a medal. Well, we got gold and are the Olympic champions. It is absolutely crazy for a small country like ours."[23] Anning said about the final stage of the race, referring to Brown and Bol: "I saw my teammate in front of me so I wanted to keep pushing but I knew Femke was coming. I just didn’t want to let off, they had done the job but I just had to finish it off. I wanted a medal and I was just doing my part in getting there. I've got a great team and all I could do was finish what they had started."[26] Norwood said about his relay team: "We did exactly what we needed to do. We are still world record holders and I can't be more proud of us."[23]
In May 2025, Omalla sold his gold medal of the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay for $57,000 through Heritage Auctions.[27][28][29] When he was criticized, Omalla released a statement on social media: "I understand that my decision to auction the medal may have come across to some as an act of greed or lack of respect. That's why I want to make this clear: it's not about financial problems, and it's definitely not meant to enrich myself."[30] Omalla, who had lived in Uganda and had represented this African nation before representing the Netherlands, said about the intended purpose of the proceeds: "A large part of the proceeds will go to my parents' charity, Child's Destiny of Hope (CDhope), an organization that works for children in Uganda through education, health care, and life-improving support. The rest will be used to support my family – people who sacrificed everything so that I could pursue my dreams."[27][30]
Notes
1 2 This athlete only competed in the final, not in round 1.[1][2]
1 2 This athlete competed in round 1, but was replaced in the final.[1][2]
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.
