World Athletics Championships 1997/4 × 400 m men

6th World Athletics Championships
discipline	4 × 400 m relay
gender	Men
Attendees	19 relays with 79 athletes
venue	Athens
Competition location	Olympic Stadium
Competition phase	August 9th (preliminary) August 10th (final)
Medalist  Great Britain  Jamaica  Poland

The men's 4 x 400 meter relay at the 1997 World Athletics Championships was held on August 9 and 10, 1997 in the Olympic Stadium in the Greek capital, Athens .

World champion Britain in the occupation Iwan Thomas , Roger Black , Jamie Baulch and Mark Richardson (final) and the also used in the forward Mark Hylton .
Second place went to Jamaica with Michael McDonald (final), Gregory Haughton , Danny McFarlane and Davian Clarke as well as Linval Laird, who was also used in the preliminary run .
The battle for bronze was particularly close. Two teams crossed the finish line at the same time, down to a hundredth of a second. A decision could only be made by using the target photograph. Poland prevailed over South Africa by a few thousandths of a second . The Poles ran in the line-up of Tomasz Czubak , Piotr Rysiukiewicz , Piotr Haczek and Robert Maćkowiak .

The runners only used in the run-up were given corresponding precious metal. In contrast, only the athletes actually running were entitled to records.

Existing records

World record	2: 54.29 min	USA ( Andrew Valmon , Quincy Watts , Harry Reynolds , Michael Johnson )	World Cup in 1993 in Stuttgart , Germany	22nd August 1993
World Cup record

The Athens Olympic Stadium in 2014

The existing world championship record was not set and not improved at these world championships.

• Seven seasons set eight national records:
  • 3: 02.95 min - Austria ( Christoph Pöstinger , Thomas Griesser , Andreas Rechbauer , Rafik Elouardi ), 1st lead
  • 3: 05.96 min - Botswana ( Justice Dipeba , Lulu Basinyi , Rampa Mosweu , Johnson Kubisa ), 1st lead
  • 2: 59.91 min - Poland ( Tomasz Czubak , Piotr Rysiukiewicz , Piotr Haczek , Robert Maćkowiak ), 2nd preliminary
  • 3: 00.58 min - South Africa ( Arnaud Malherbe , Hezekiél Sepeng , Hendrick Mokganyetsi , Llewellyn Herbert ), 2nd preliminary
  • 3: 00.26 min - South Africa (Arnaud Malherbe, Hezekiél Sepeng, Hendrick Mokganyetsi, Llewellyn Herbert), final
  • 3: 05.43 min - Greece ( Panagiotis Sarris , Konstantinos Moumoulidis , Giorgios Batsikas , Periklis Iakovakis ), 2nd lead
  • 3: 00.79 min - Zimbabwe ( Tawanda Chiwira , Phillip Mukomana , Savieri Ngidhi , Ken Harnden ), 3rd lead
  • 2: 56.75 min - Jamaica ( Michael McDonald , Gregory Haughton , Danny McFarlane , Davian Clarke ), final

doping

There was a doping case in this competition.

The American Antonio Pettigrew confessed to having obtained doping substances from Angel Heredia, a Mexican dealer, from 1997, including erythropoietin , also known as EPO, and growth hormones. As a result, he was stripped of some results, including his gold medal in the 4 × 400 m with the US relay.

As a result, there were disadvantages for some affected athletes:

• The British runners received their gold medal with considerable delay.
• The team from Poland also got the bronze medal significantly late. The athletes could not attend the award ceremony.
• The three teammates of the doped Pettigrew had to surrender their gold medals again.
• The relay from Austria was no longer there after the preliminary round, although they had actually fought for the right to participate in the finals.

Preliminary round

The preliminary round was carried out in three runs. The first three seasons per run - highlighted in light blue - as well as the two fastest teams - highlighted in light green - qualified for the final.

Forward 1

August 9, 1997, 7:40 p.m.

space	Season	occupation	Time (min)
1	Great Britain	Mark Hylton (forward) Roger Black Jamie Baulch Iwan Thomas	3: 00.19
2	France	Jean-Louis Rapnouil Marc Foucan Fred Mango Stéphane Diagana	3: 01.76
3	Austria	Christoph Pöstinger Thomas Griesser Andreas Rechbauer Rafik Elouardi	3: 02.95 NR actually qualified for the final
4th	Nigeria	Ayuba Make Mathias Ogbeta Udeme Ekpenyong Clement Chukwu	3: 04.19
5	Algeria	Samir Nobility Louahla Camel Talhaouï Malik Louahla Amar Hecini	3: 05.22
6th	Spain	Cesar Martínez Antonio Andrés Pablo Vallejo David Canal	3: 05.40
7th	Botswana	Justice Dipeba Lulu Basinyi Rampa Mosweu Johnson Kubisa	3: 05.96 NO

Forward 2

August 9, 1997, 7:49 pm

space	Season	occupation	Time (min)
1	Poland	Tomasz Czubak Piotr Rysiukiewicz Piotr Haczek Robert Maćkowiak	2: 59.91 NO
2	Jamaica	Linval Laird (forward) Davian Clarke Gregory Haughton Danny McFarlane	2: 59.98
3	South Africa	Arnaud Malherbe Hezekiél Sepeng Hendrik Mokganyetsi Llewellyn Herbert	3: 00,58 NO
4th	Russia	Mikhail Vdovin Innokenti Zarow Dmitri Golowastov Ruslan Mashchenko	3: 03.35
5	Latvia	Sergejs Inšakovs Egis Tebelis Einars Tupuritis Inguns Sviklinš	3: 04.30
6th	Greece	Panagiotis Sarris Konstantinos Moumoulidis Giorgios Batsikas Periklis Iakovakis	3: 05.43 NO

Forward 3

August 9, 1997, 7:58 pm

space	Season	occupation	Time (min)
1	Zimbabwe	Tawanda Chiwira Phillip Mukomana Savieri Ngidhi Ken Harnden	3: 00.79 NO
2	Italy	Ashraf Saber Marco Vaccari Andrea Nuti Fabrizio Mori	3: 01.75
3	Japan	Shunji Karube Seiji Inagaki Hiroyuki Hayashi Shigekazu Omori	3: 03.85
4th	Switzerland	Laurent Clerc Kevin Widmer Mathias Rusterholz Marcel Schelbert	3: 05.34
5	Czech Republic	Jan Podbradský Jiří Svenek Jan Stejfa Jiří Mužík	3: 05.65
DOP	United States	Jerome Young Antonio Pettigrew Chris Jones Allen Johnson (preliminary)	admitted to the finals

final

August 10, 1997, 8:50 pm

space	Season	occupation	Time (min)
1	Great Britain	Iwan Thomas Roger Black Jamie Baulch Mark Richardson (final) in the preliminary run also: Mark Hylton	2: 56.65
2	Jamaica	Michael McDonald (final) Gregory Haughton Danny McFarlane Davian Clarke in the preliminary run also: Linval Laird	2: 56.75 NO
3	Poland	Tomasz Czubak Piotr Rysiukiewicz Piotr Haczek Robert Maćkowiak	3: 00.26
4th	South Africa	Arnaud Malherbe Hezekiél Sepeng Hendrik Mokganyetsi Llewellyn Herbert	3: 00.26 NO
5	France	Jean-Louis Rapnouil Marc Foucan Fred Mango Stéphane Diagana	3: 01.06
6th	Zimbabwe	Tawanda Chiwira Phillip Mukomana Savieri Ngidhi Ken Harnden	3: 01.43
7th	Italy	Ashraf Saber Marco Vaccari Andrea Nuti Fabrizio Mori	3: 01.52
DOP	United States	Jerome Young Antonio Pettigrew Chris Jones Tyree Washington (final) in the preliminary also: Allen Johnson

Video

• Men's 4x400m Relay World Athletics Championships Athens 1997 on youtube.com, accessed June 13, 2020

Web links

• 6th IAAF World Championships In Athletics , accessed June 19, 2020
• Men 4x400m Relay Athletics VI World Championship 1997 Athens (GRE) on todor66.com, accessed June 19, 2020
• Results in the IAAF Statistics Handbook for the 2019 World Cup in Doha, Men 4x400m Relay, Athens 1997, p. 238f (PDF; 10.3 MB), English, accessed on June 19, 2020

References and comments

1. ↑ IAAF world records. 4 × 400 m men , accessed June 19, 2020
2. ↑ US runner Pettigrew receives severe punishment , Handelsblatt November 21, 2008, accessed June 19, 2020