 | This articlerelies largely or entirely on asingle source. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "4 × 400 metres relay at the World Athletics Championships" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2020) |
| 4 × 400 metres relay at theWorld Athletics Championships | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Gender | Men, Women and Mixed |
| Years held | Men:1983 –2025 Women:1983 –2025 |
| Championship record | |
| Men | 2:54.29 United States (1993) |
| Women | 3:16.71 United States (1993) |
| Reigning champion | |
| Men |  Botswana (BOT) |
| Women |  United States (USA) |
The4 × 400 metres relay at theWorld Championships in Athletics has been contested by both men and women since the inaugural edition in 1983. The competition features three formats in relation to gender: men, women, and mixed. The 2019 edition added in the mixed competition. The format utilizes one set of heats qualifying the top 8 into a final.
The United States holds all thechampionship records in this event. For both the men and women, the record has been held since1993 with a time of 2:54.29 for the men and 3:16.71 for the women. In the mixed competition, a time of 3:09.34 was set in2019. For the men and the mixed records, they are also bothworld records.
| Distinction | Male | Female | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athlete | Age | Date | Athlete | Age | Date | |
| Youngest champion |  Mark Richardson (GBR) | 19 years, 37 days | 1 Sep 1991 | Sanya Richards (USA) | 18 years, 186 days | 31 Aug 2003 |
| Youngest medalist |  Kunle Adejuyigbe (NGR) | 18 years, 5 days | 13 Aug 1995 | Sanya Richards (USA) | 18 years, 186 days | 31 Aug 2003 |
| Youngest finalist |  Renny Quow (TTO) | 17 years, 354 days | 14 Aug 2005 | Doris Jacob (NGR) | 15 years, 237 days | 10 Aug 1997 |
| Youngest participant |  Masoud Al-Rahman (QAT) | 16 years, 354 days | 31 Aug 1991 | Doris Jacob (NGR) | 15 years, 236 days | 9 Aug 1997 |
| Oldest champion |  Timothy Munnings (BAH) | 35 years, 51 days | 12 Aug 2001 | Jearl Miles Clark (USA) | 36 years, 361 days | 31 Aug 2003 |
| Oldest medalist | Timothy Munnings (BAH) | 35 years, 51 days | 12 Aug 2001 | Jearl Miles Clark (USA) | 36 years, 361 days | 31 Aug 2003 |
| Oldest finalist | Isaac Makwala (BOT) | 35 years, 298 days | 24 Jul 2022 | Jearl Miles Clark (USA) | 36 years, 361 days | 31 Aug 2003 |
| Oldest participant | Isaac Makwala (BOT) | 35 years, 298 days | 24 Jul 2022 | Christine Amertil (BAH) | 37 years, 359 days | 12 Aug 2017 |
| Distinction | Male | Female | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athlete | Age | Date | Athlete | Age | Date | |
| Youngest champion | Wil London (USA) | 22 years, 43 days | 29 Sep 2019 |  Fiordaliza Cofil (DOM) | 21 years, 261 days | 15 Jul 2022 |
| Youngest medalist |  Moussa Ali Issa (BHR) | 19 years, 34 days | 29 Sep 2019 | Salwa Eid Naser (BHR) | 21 years, 129 days | 29 Sep 2019 |
| Youngest finalist | Moussa Ali Issa (BHR) | 19 years, 34 days | 29 Sep 2019 | Imeobong Nse Uko (NGR) | 18 years, 145 days | 15 Jul 2022 |
| Youngest participant | Moussa Ali Issa (BHR) | 19 years, 33 days | 28 Sep 2019 |  Saki Takashima (JPN) | 17 years, 222 days | 28 Sep 2019 |
| Oldest champion | Michael Cherry (USA) | 24 years, 190 days | 29 Sep 2019 | Allyson Felix (USA) | 33 years, 239 days | 29 Sep 2019 |
| Oldest medalist |  Javon Francis (JAM) | 24 years, 289 days | 29 Sep 2019 | Allyson Felix (USA) | 36 years, 315 days | 15 Jul 2022 |
| Oldest finalist | Rabah Yousif (GBR) | 32 years, 292 days | 29 Sep 2019 |  Geisa Coutinho (BRA) | 39 years, 120 days | 29 Sep 2019 |
| Oldest participant | Rabah Yousif (GBR) | 32 years, 292 days | 29 Sep 2019 | Geisa Coutinho (BRA) | 39 years, 120 days | 29 Sep 2019 |
Note: * Indicates athletes who ran only in the preliminary round and also received medals.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States (USA) | 12 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| 2 | Great Britain (GBR) | 2 | 2 | 5 | 9 |
| 3 | Bahamas (BAH) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 |  France (FRA) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 6 |  Poland (POL) | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 7 |  Soviet Union (URS) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Botswana (BOT) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 9 | Jamaica (JAM) | 0 | 8 | 3 | 11 |
| 10 |  South Africa (RSA) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 11 |  Germany (GER) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 |  Belgium (BEL) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 13 |  Australia (AUS) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Note: * Indicates athletes who ran only in the preliminary round and also received medals.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States (USA) | 11 | 5 | 1 | 17 |
| 2 |  Russia (RUS) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 3 | Jamaica (JAM) | 2 | 7 | 2 | 11 |
| 4 |  East Germany (GDR) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Germany (GER) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 6 | Soviet Union (URS) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 |  Netherlands (NED) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | Great Britain (GBR) | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| 9 | Poland (POL) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 |  Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Australia (AUS) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| France (FRA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Note: * Indicates athletes who ran only in the preliminary round and also received medals.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States (USA) | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Dominican Republic (DOM) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Netherlands (NED) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Great Britain (GBR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Jamaica (JAM) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 6 | Bahrain (BHR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Belgium (BEL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Czech Republic (CZE) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Time | Nation | Location | Round | Date | Athletes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.06.62 | United States (USA) | Helsinki | Heat 1 | Aug 13, 1983 | Alonzo Babers,Willie Smith,Andre Phillips,Michael Franks |
| 3.02.13 | United States (USA) | Helsinki | Semifinals | Aug 13, 1983 | Alonzo Babers,Sunder Nix,Willie Smith,Edwin Moses |
| 3.00.79 | Soviet Union (URS) | Helsinki | Final | Aug 14, 1983 | Sergey Lovachov,Aleksandr Troshchilo,Nikolay Chernetskiy,Viktor Markin |
| 2.59.06 | United States (USA) | Rome | Heat 2 | Sep 05, 1987 | Danny Everett,Michael Franks,Raymond Pierre,Antonio McKay |
| 2.57.29 | United States (USA) | Rome | Final | Sep 06, 1987 | Danny Everett,Roddie Haley,Antonio McKay,Butch Reynolds |
| 2.54.29 | United States (USA) | Stuttgart | Final | Aug 22, 1993 | Andrew Valmon,Quincy Watts,Butch Reynolds,Michael Johnson |
| Time | Nation | Location | Round | Date | Athletes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.26.82 | United States (USA) | Helsinki | Heats | Aug 13, 1983 | Roberta Belle,Easter Gabriel,Rosalyn Bryant,Denean Howard |
| 3:19.73 | East Germany (GDR) | Helsinki | Finwal | Aug 14, 1983 | Kerstin Walther,Sabine Busch,Marita Koch,Dagmar Rübsam |
| 3:18.63 | East Germany (GDR) | Rome | Final | Sep 6, 1987 | Dagmar Neubauer,Kirsten Emmelmann,Petra Muller,Sabine Busch |
| 3:18.43 | Soviet Union (URS) | Tokyo | Final | Sep 1, 1991 | Tatyana Ledovskaya,Lyudmila Dzhigalova,Olga Nazarova,Olha Bryzhina |
| 3:16.71 | United States (USA) | Stuttgart | Final | Aug 22, 1993 | Gwen Torrence,Maicel Malone,Natasha Kaiser-Brown,Jearl Miles |
| 3:16.61 | United States (USA) | Tokyo | Final | 21 Sep, 2025 | Isabella Whittaker,Lynna Irby-Jackson,Aaliyah Butler,Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone |
| Time | Nation | Location | Round | Date | Athletes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3:12.42 | United States (USA) | Doha | Heats | 28 Sep, 2019 | Tyrell Richard,Jessica Beard,Jasmine Blocker,Obi Igbokwe |
| 3:09.34 | United States (USA) | Doha | Final | 29 Sep, 2019 | Wilbert London,Allyson Felix,Courtney Okolo,Michael Cherry |
| 3:08.80 | United States (USA) | Budapest | Final | 19 Aug 2023 | Justin Robinson,Rosey Effiong,Matthew Boling,Alexis Holmes |
| United States (USA) | Tokyo | Final | 13 Sep 2025 | Bryce Deadmon,Lynna Irby-Jackson,Jenoah McKiver,Alexis Holmes |
| Rank | Time (sec) | Nation | Athletes | Games | Round | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3:08.80 | United States (USA) | Justin Robinson,Rosey Effiong,Matthew Boling,Alexis Holmes | 2023 | Final | 19 August |
| United States (USA) | Bryce Deadmon,Lynna Irby-Jackson,Jenoah McKiver,Alexis Holmes | 2025 | Final | 13 September | ||
| 3 | 3:09.34 | United States (USA) | Wilbert London,Allyson Felix,Courtney Okolo,Michael Cherry | 2019 | Final | 29 September |
| 4 | 3:09.82 | Dominican Republic (DOM) | Lidio Andrés Feliz,Marileidy Paulino,Alexander Ogando,Fiordaliza Cofil | 2022 | Final | 15 July |
| 5 | 3:09.90 | Netherlands (NED) | Liemarvin Bonevacia,Lieke Klaver,Tony van Diepen,Femke Bol | 2022 | Final | 15 July |
| 6 | 3:09.96 | Netherlands (NED) | Eugene Omalla,Lieke Klaver,Jonas Phijffers,Femke Bol | 2025 | Final | 13 September |
| 7 | 3:10.16 | United States (USA) | Elija Godwin,Allyson Felix,Vernon Norwood,Kennedy Simon | 2022 | Final | 15 July |
| 8 | 3:10.18 | United States (USA) | Bryce Deadmon,Lynna Irby-Jackson,Jenoah McKiver,Alexis Holmes | 2025 | Heats | 13 September |
| 9 | 3:10.22 | Great Britain (GBR) | Lewis Davey,Nicole Yeargin,Toby Harries,Yemi Mary John | 2025 | Heats | 13 September |
| 10 | 3:10.37 | Belgium (BEL) | Jonathan Sacoor,Imke Vervaet,Dylan Borlée,Helena Ponette | 2025 | Heats | 13 September |
