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.
Michael Blackwood is a Jamaican male track and field athlete, who specialized in the 400 meters, his personal best being 44.60 set during his win at the 2002 IAAF World Cup. He was chosen as the Jamaica Sportsman of the Year in 2002, in that same year he was the world number one rank by IAAF in the 400 meters. He is the brother of Catherine Scott who earned a silver medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Blackwood won the NAIA national 400 meters title in 1997. He is the winner of Jamaica 400 meters national championships three times. Blackwood holds the Big 12 conference record in the 400 meters since 2000 in the time of 44.69. He is an alumnus of The University of Oklahoma.
Marek Plawgo is a Polish athlete. He mainly competes in the 400 meters hurdles, but he also starts in the 400 meters and the 4 x 400 meters relay.
Bertland "Bert" Cameron is a retired Jamaican sprinter who mainly competed over 400 metres. He represented Jamaica at three consecutive editions of the Summer Olympics. Cameron won the 400 m title at the first World Championships in Athletics. He was also the 1982 Commonwealth Games champion in the event and won a number of gold medals at regional competitions. He helped the Jamaican runners to a silver medal in the 4×400 metres relay at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Matthew John "Matt" Elias is a retired Welsh athlete who specialised in the 400 metres sprint and 400 metres hurdles. During his international career he represented Great Britain. In 2003 he won a gold medal at the European Championships and at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens he finished 5th in the 4 × 400 m relay, He is also a part of Super Schools.
Yohan Blake is a Jamaican sprinter specialising in the 100-metre and 200-metre sprint races. He won gold at the 100m at the 2011 World Athletics Championships as the youngest 100m world champion ever, and a silver medal in the 2012 Olympic Games in London in the 100m and 200m races for the Jamaican team behind Usain Bolt. His times of 9.75 in 100m and 19.44 in 200m are the fastest 100m and 200m Olympic sprints in history to not win the gold medal.
Rabah Mahhamed Yousif Bkheit is a Sudanese-born British track and field athlete, who initially competed for Sudan before obtaining British citizenship.
Michael Walter Mathieu is a retired Bahamian sprinter hailing from Freeport, Grand Bahama who specialized in the 200 metres and 400 metres. He was part of the Bahamian silver medal-winning team in the men's 4×400 metres relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, running second leg and recording a 44.0 split, and the gold medal-winning team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was also a part of second place relay team at the 2007 World Championships. He won the bronze medal in the 4x400 metres relay in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Mark David Hylton is a former British 400 metres sprinter. Hylton won a silver medal in the relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Ricardo Chambers is a Jamaican track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres.
Tony McQuay is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters. He is a member of the 2012 and 2016 United States Olympic teams, winning a silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay in 2012 and a gold in the same event in 2016. He is also a two time World Champion in this event.
Warren Weir is a retired Jamaican sprinter, who specialized in the 200 metres. He was the bronze medallist in the event at the 2012 London Olympics, helping Jamaica sweep the medals. In 2013 at the Moscow World Championships, Warren Weir won the silver medal equalling his personal best. He finished behind Usain Bolt who set a World Leading time. His personal best is 19.79 seconds set at the National Stadium in his home country Kingston, Jamaica. He has since equalled his personal best in Moscow, in the World Championship final. He trained with the Glen Mills-coached Racers Track Club, alongside Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake.
Stephenie Ann McPherson is a Jamaican track and field athlete, who specializes in the 400 metres. She has won a bronze medal in the event at the 2013 World Championships, and then placed in the finals of both the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and all four following World Championships between 2015 and 2022, consecutively. McPherson earned also a bronze at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. She added medals in the 4 x 400 metres relays, taking a silver at the 2016 Olympics, a gold in 2015 in Beijing, and a bronze in 2019.
Matthew Hudson-Smith is a British track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. He holds, as of May 2024, the British and European record, running a personal best of 44.07 seconds for the distance at the Oslo Bislett Games. He was the 2018 European Champion in 400 metres, and a member of the gold-winning teams in the 4 x 400 metre relay at the 2014 European Athletics Championships, with Great Britain and 2014 Commonwealth Games with England.
Patience Okon George is a Nigerian sprinter. She competed in the 400 metres event at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, China and also at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. George is a two-time African Championships bronze medallist in the individual 400 metres event. She is also a three-time Nigerian national champion in the 400 metres.
Jarryd Dunn is an English sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. He represented Great Britain at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing winning the bronze medal in the relay.
Julian Jrummi Walsh is a Jamaican-born Japanese track and field athlete competing in the sprints. He is the son of reggae drummer Emanuel Walsh, who married a Japanese woman and has lived in Japan for almost 20 years. Walsh moved to Japan as a toddler and grew up in Higashimurayama. He started running track in 10th grade, but his school had no facilities to practice on and no coach. He couldn't take track seriously until the following year. After two seasons, he led off the Japanese silver medal winning relay team at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics. That same summer he moved into senior level competition, anchoring the Asian-Pacific 4x400 metres relay team at the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup. Two years later, he qualified for the 2016 Olympics in the 400 metres, by running a 45.35 at the Japanese Olympic Trials in Nagoya at age 19.
Fredrick Lee Kerley is an American professional track and field sprinter who started his career competing in the 400 meters until 2020, when he transitioned to the 100 meters and 200 meters. He has earned several medals at the World Championships in the 400 m and 4 × 400 m relay including an individual bronze and a relay gold at the 2019 edition. Kerley claimed 100 m gold in the 2022 edition.
Dominique Blake is a Jamaican track and field athlete. Blake won a gold medal at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games and was accidentally awarded a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was banned for 4+1⁄2 years after testing positive for methylhexanamine and returned to athletic competition in 2017.
Alexander (Alex) Beck is an Australian Olympic athlete. He is a three time defending National champion.
