The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individual 400 m race. Each runner carries a relay baton. Before 2018, the baton had to be passed within a 20 m changeover box, preceded by a 10-metre acceleration zone. With a rule change effective November 1, 2017, that zone was modified to include the acceleration zone as part of the passing zone, making the entire zone 30 metres in length. The outgoing runner cannot touch the baton until it has entered the zone, and the incoming runner cannot touch it after it has left the zone. The zone is usually marked in yellow, frequently using lines, triangles or chevrons. While the rule book specifies the exact positioning of the marks, the colours and style are only "recommended". While most legacy tracks will still have the older markings, the rule change still uses existing marks. Not all governing body jurisdictions have adopted the rule change.
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, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. 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.
Thomas Goller is a retired German hurdler. He was banned from competing for two years for doping.
Ariane Friedrich is a German high jumper. She won the silver medal at the 2009 World Championships and represented Germany at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics. She is the German outdoor record holder in the event with a best of 2.06 m, although this is 1 cm less than the indoor record held by Heike Henkel.
Nataliya Pyhyda is a Ukrainian track and field sprinter who specializes in the 200 and 400 metres. Her personal best times are 22.82 seconds (2008) and 50.62 seconds (2015), respectively.
Antje Möldner-Schmidt is a retired German track and field athlete who specialised in middle distance running and the 3000 metres steeplechase.
Phara Anacharsis is a French athlete who specializes in the 400 metres and the 400 metres hurdles.
Carolin Nytra, also known as Carolin Dietrich, is a German athlete who specialises in the 100 metres hurdles. With a personal best time of 12.57 seconds, she became the seventh fastest German ever over this distance at the Diamond League meet in Lausanne on 8 July 2010.
Eilidh Doyle is a retired British track and field athlete. Originally running as Eilidh Child, she specialised in the 400 metres hurdles outdoors, and the 400 metres flat indoors, as well as the 4 x 400 metres relay on both surfaces. She represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. Individually, she is the 2014 European Champion and a three-time Commonwealth silver medalist in the 400 metres hurdles.
Carline Muir is a Canadian sprinter, who specialized in the 400 metres. She won the bronze medal for the 400 metres, and ultimately, led her national team to claim the sprint relay title at the 2009 Summer Universiade in Belgrade, Serbia. She is also a three-time junior national champion, a two-time silver medalist at the Canadian Track and Field Championships.
Davide Re is an Italian male 400 metre runner, two times gold medallist at the 2018 Mediterranean Games. He competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in 400 m.
Esther Akinsulie is a Canadian athlete specializing in the 400-metre sprint. She graduated from Carleton University with a degree in psychology.
Paulien Couckuyt is a Belgian track and field athlete who specializes in middle-distance running and 400 metres hurdles.
Alica Megan Schmidt is a German runner. She was part of the national team that came second in the 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 2017 European Athletics U20 Championships, and third in the same discipline at the 2019 European Athletics U23 Championships. She was previously a fitness coach of Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. Schmidt was part of the German relay squad at the 2020 Summer Olympics, though she did not compete.
Johanna Martin is a German sprinter. In 2024, she became German national indoors champion over 400 metres.
Emil Agyekum is a German hurdler and sprinter. He won a bronze medal in the Men's 4 × 400 m relay at the 2024 European Athletics Championships.
Lucas Krappe is a German sprinter.
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