Olympic Summer Games 2008 / Athletics - 4 × 400 m (men)

sport	athletics
discipline	4 x 400 meter relay
gender	Men
place	Beijing National Stadium
Attendees	70 athletes in 16 relays
Competition phase	August 22nd and 23rd, 2008
Medalist
gold	United States
silver	BAH
bronze	GBR

The men's 4 x 400 meter relay race at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing was held on August 22nd and 23rd, 2008 in the Beijing National Stadium. Seventy runners took part in 16 teams.

The US team with the cast of LaShawn Merritt , Angelo Taylor , David Neville and Jeremy Wariner became Olympic champions . Kerron Clement and Reggie Witherspoon were also used in the run-up. Bahamas won the silver medal with | Andretti Bain , Michael Mathieu , Andrae Williams , Chris Brown as well as Avard Moncur and Ramon Miller, who were used in the run-up . Bronze went to Great Britain (Andrew Steele, Robert Tobin , Michael Bingham , Martyn Rooney ).

The runners used in the heats for the medal winners also received corresponding precious metal.

Current title holders

Olympic champion 2004	USA Otis Harris , Derrick Brew , Jeremy Wariner , Darold Williamson	2: 55.91 min	Athens 2004
World Champion 2007	USA LaShawn Merritt , Angelo Taylor , Darold Williamson , Jeremy Wariner	2: 55.56 min	Osaka 2007
European champion 2006	France Leslie Djhone , Ydrissa M'Barke , Naman Keïta , Marc Raquil	3: 01.10 min	Gothenburg 2006
Pan American Champion 2007	Bahamas Andrae Williams , Avard Moncur , Michael Mathieu , Chris Brown	3: 01.94 min	Rio de Janeiro 2007
Central America and Caribbean champions 2008	Cuba William Collazo , Yunier Pérez, Omar Cisneros , Yeimer López	3: 02.10 min	Cali 2008
South America Champion 2007	Brazil Raphael Fernandes, Eduardo Vasconcelos, Rodrigo Bargas, Fernando de Almeida	3: 04.36 min	São Paulo 2007
Asian champion 2007	Saudi Arabia Yonas Al-Hosah, Mohammed Shaween, Ismail Al-Sabani, Mohammed Obeid Al-Salhi	3: 05.96 min	Amman 2007
Africa Champion 2008	South Africa	3: 03.58 min	Addis Ababa 2008
Oceania Champion 2008	Competition not in the championship program		Saipan 2008

Existing records

World record	2: 54.29 min	USA ( Andrew Valmon , Quincy Watts , Harry Reynolds , Michael Johnson )	Stuttgart , Germany	22nd August 1992
Olympic record	2: 55.74 min	USA ( Andrew Valmon , Quincy Watts , Michael Johnson , Steve Lewis )	Final of Barcelona , Spain	August 8, 1992

Prelims

There were two preliminary runs. The first three teams - highlighted in light blue - and the two fastest seasons - highlighted in light green - qualified for the final.

Due to the later disqualification of the Russian relay because of the doped runner Denis Alexejew, the eliminated relay from South Africa would have had the right to start the final. However, this could no longer be achieved and South Africa could not be repaired.

Forward 1

August 22, 2008 , 8:10 p.m.

space	nation	occupation	time	annotation
1	United States	David Neville Kerron Clement Reggie Witherspoon Angelo Taylor	2: 59.98 min
2	Belgium	Cédric Van Branteghem Jonathan Borlée Arnaud Ghislain Kevin Borlée	3: 00.67 min	NO
3	Australia	Joel Milburn Mark Ormrod John Steffensen Clinton Hill	3: 00.68 min
4th	Poland	Marek Plawgo Piotr Klimczak Piotr Kędzia Rafał Wieruszewski	3: 00.74 min
5	South Africa	Pieter Smith Ofentse Mogawane Alwyn Myburgh Louis Jacobus van Zyl	3: 01.26 min	actually qualified for the final
6th	Cuba	Yunier Perez Yunior Díaz William Collazo Omar Cisneros	3: 02.24 min
7th	France	Teddy Venel Ydrissa M'Barke Brice Panel Richard Maunier	3: 03.19 min
DOP	Russia	Maxim Dyldin Wladislaw Frolow Anton Kokorin Denis Alexejew	3:00, 14 min	Denis Alexejew doped, but in the final

Forward 2

August 22, 2008 , 8:22 pm

space	nation	occupation	time	annotation
1	Great Britain	Andrew Steele Robert Tobin Michael Bingham Martyn Rooney	2: 59.33 min
2	Bahamas	Michael Mathieu Avard Moncur Ramon Miller Andrae Williams	2: 59.88 min
3	Jamaica	Michael Blackwood Allodin Fothergill Sanjay Ayre Ricardo Chambers	3:00:09 min
4th	Germany	Simon Kirch Kamghe Gaba Ruwen Faller Bastian Swillims	3: 03.49 min
5	Trinidad and Tobago	Ato Modibo Jovon Toppin Cowin Mills Stann Waithe	3: 04.12 min
6th	Japan	Mitsuhiro Abiko Dai Tamesue Yoshihiro Horigome Kenji Narisako	3: 04.18 min
7th	Greece	Stelios Dimotsios Dimitrios Gravalos Pantelis Melachroinoudis Konstadinos Anastasiou	3: 04.30 min
8th	Dominican Republic	Carlos Yohelin Santa Arismendy Peguero Pedro Mejía Yoel Tapia	3: 04.31 min

final

space	nation	occupation	time	annotation
1	United States	LaShawn Merritt Angelo Taylor David Neville Jeremy Wariner in advance also: Kerron Clement Reggie Witherspoon	2: 55.39 min	OR
2	Bahamas	Andretti Bain Michael Mathieu Andrae Williams Chris Brown in the lead also: Avard Moncur Ramon Miller	2: 58.03 min
3	Great Britain	Andrew Steele Robert Tobin Michael Bingham Martyn Rooney	2: 58.81 min
4th	Belgium	Kevin Borlée Jonathan Borlée Cédric Van Branteghem Arnaud Ghislain	2: 59.37 min	NO
5	Australia	Sean Wroe John Steffensen Clinton Hill Joel Milburn in the lead also: Mark Ormrod	3:00:02 min
6th	Poland	Rafał Wieruszewski Piotr Klimczak Piotr Kędzia Marek Plawgo	3: 00.32 min
7th	Jamaica	Michael Blackwood Ricardo Chambers Sanjay Ayre Lanceford Spence also: Allodin Fothergill	3: 01.45 min
DOP	Russia	Maxim Dyldin Wladislaw Frolow Anton Kokorin Denis Alexejew	2: 58.06 min

August 23, 2008 , 9:05 pm

The following line-up changes were made for the finale:

• USA - LaShawn Merritt and Jeremy Wariner joined the team. They replaced Kerron Clement and Reggie Witherspoon.
• Bahamas - Instead of Avard Moncur and Ramon Miller, Andretti Bain and Chris Brown ran.
• Australia - Sean Wroe replaced Mark Ormrod.
• Jamaica - Lanceford Spence ran in place of Allodin Fothergill.

The Russian relay was disqualified by the IOC in September 2016 and bronze was subsequently awarded to the British relay because the follow-up control of Denis Alexeyev's doping test was positive.

The United States was the clear favorite for this race. In the 400-meter individual final, the US runners took the first three places. In the previous year, the US team had won the world championship title. Candidates for the other medals were the team of the Vice World Champion Bahamas, the seasons from Poland World Cup -Third, from Russia - but later disqualified due doping, the UK and Belgium with the Borlée brothers.

After the first change, the US season with starting runner LaShawn Merritt was clearly ahead. Angelo Taylor expanded this leadership. Behind it it was tight. Belgium was second ahead of the Bahamas and Great Britain - the Russian relay was also in this chasing pack, but is not considered here because of its disqualification.

In the second move, Belgium continued to hold second position ahead of the Bahamas. Jamaica had moved up to fourth place before Great Britain. Even before the last change, the first five positions remained unchanged, but the gap between Belgium and the Bahamas to the next seasons had increased somewhat. The US season was heading for a sure win with Jeremy Wariner. With regard to the other medals, it now came down to the final runners. The Olympic gold medalist in the 400-meter individual final, Chris Brown, confidently secured the silver medal for his team from the Bahamas. Behind them, the Briton Martyn Rooney managed to intercept the Belgians who had almost escaped. There was bronze for Great Britain, Belgium took fourth place ahead of Australia, Poland and Jamaica.

When they won, the four US runners improved their compatriots' Olympic record from the 1992 Barcelona Games by 35 hundredths of a second and only missed the world record by a good second.

The US relay won the 16th gold medal in the 22nd Olympic final.

The Belgian relay was able to improve its national record twice during the competition.

Web links

• SportsReference 4 × 400 meters , accessed June 5, 2018
• Official Report of the XXVIIIth Olympiad, Results Athletics , English / French (PDF, 3054 kB), accessed on June 5, 2018

Video

• Beijing Olympics 2008 4x400 Men's Relay Final , posted August 1, 2010 on youtube.com, accessed June 5, 2018

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Campeonato CAC de Atletismo 2008 on athlecac.org, accessed on June 5, 2018
2. ↑ Campeonato Sudamericano de Atletismo 2007 on athlecac.org, accessed on June 5, 2018
3. ↑ 17th Asian Athletics Championship 2007 ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at athleticsasia.org (PDF, 417 kB), accessed June 5, 2018 
4. ↑ Oceania Area Championships - 25/06/2008 to 28/06/2008 on athletics-oceania.com (PDF, 130 kB), accessed on June 5, 2018
5. ↑ IAAF, 4 × 400 m men , accessed on June 5, 2018
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Obergföll was awarded silver , Spiegel Online. September 13, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2018.