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The 4 x 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams comprise 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 500 metres is run in lanes. Start lines are thus staggered over a greater distance than in an individual 400 meters race; the runners then typically move to the inside of the track.

Relay race runners typically carry a relay baton which they must transfer between teammates. Runners have a 20 m box (usually marked with blue lines) in which to transfer the baton. The first transfer is made within the staggered lane lines; for the second and third transfers, runners typically line up across the track despite the fact that runners are usually running in line on the inside of the track. This prevents confusion and collisions during transfer. Unlike the 4 x 100 m relay, runners in the 4 x 400 typically look back and grasp the baton from the incoming runner, due to the fatigue of the incoming runner, and the wider margins allowed by the longer distance of the race. Consequently, disqualification is rare.

As runners have a rolling start, split times cannot be compared to individual 400 m performances. Internationally, the U.S. men's team has dominated the event, but have been challenged by Jamaica in the 1950s and Britain in the 1990s.

Men's Outdoor World Record: USA (Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Butch Reynolds, Michael Johnson) Stuttgart, Germany 22 August 1993 2:54.29

Note: (Young, Pettigrew, Washington, Johnson) ran 2:54.20 on 22 July 1998, however later Pettigrew admitted to usage of EPO, a blood doping agent, and results were nullified by the IAAF

Men's Indoor World Record: USA (Andre Morris, Dameon Johnson, Deon Minor, Milton Campbell) Maebashi, Japan 7 March 1999 3:02.83 (A time of 3:01.96 (USA) was rejected because no EPO analysis was performed)

Women's Outdoor World Record: USSR (Tatyana Ledovskaya (BLR), Olga Nazarova (RUS), Mariya Pinigina (UKR), Olga Bryzgina (UKR)) Seoul, Korea 1 October 1988 3:15.17

Women's Indoor World Record Russia (Yuliya Gushchina, Olga Kotlyarova, Olga Zaytseva, Olesya Krasnomovets) Glasgow, Scotland 27 January 2006 3:23.37

[edit] Notable performances

• Herb McKenley (Jamaica) ran a 44.6 split in the Helsinki Olympic final.
• Ron Freeman (USA) ran a 43.2 split in the Mexico Olympic final.
• Julius Sang (Kenya) ran a 43.6 split in the Munich Olympic final.
• Michael Johnson (USA) ran a 42.9 s split in the Stuttgart World Championship final.
• Jarmila Kratochvílová (Czechoslovakia) ran a 47.8 split in the 1983 Helsinki World Championship final.
• Olga Nazarova and Olga Bryzgina (USSR) both ran a 47.8 split in the Seoul Olympic final.

[edit] Records

• Men's 4 x 400 metres relay world record progression
• Women's 4 x 400 metres relay world record progression

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