The Men's 4 × 100 metres relay event at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on 4 September 2011.
The winning margin was 1.16 seconds which as of 2024 remains the only time the men's 4 x 100 metres relay has been won by more than a second at these championships.
USA won the first semi-final with deliberate handoffs, setting the world leader. France followed them into the final. The second semi-final was won by Trinidad and Tobago, ahead of favored Jamaica. Saint Kitts and Nevis set their national record in making the time qualifier in third. The third semi-final was much closer as Great Britain led Poland, with Italy making the final time qualifier.
In the final, Nesta Carter put Jamaica out into the lead, but Justin Gatlin ran down Michael Frater to put the USA even with Jamaica. On the third leg, Yohan Blake again edged Jamaica into the lead. Going into the final handoff, Darvis Patton of USA clipped Britain's Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and fell into a forward roll. American anchor Walter Dix never saw the baton and the British team also did not finish the race.[1] In addition, Patton's fall seriously impeded Richard Thompson, Trinidad and Tobago's anchor, which caused his team to finish last.[2] Meanwhile Usain Bolt took the baton and pulled away. Jamaica bettered their own World Record to finish in a time of 37.04.[3] It was the only world record to be set at the championships. France finished second with Saint Kitts and Nevis third.
| width=200 bgcolor=gold | Gold | width=200 bgcolor=silver | Silver | width=200 bgcolor=CC9966 | Bronze | |
| valign=top | Nesta Carter Michael Frater Yohan Blake Usain Bolt Dexter Lee | valign=top | Teddy Tinmar Christophe Lemaitre Yannick Lesourd Jimmy Vicaut | valign=top | Jason Rogers Kim Collins Antoine Adams Brijesh Lawrence |
Prior to the competition, the established records were as follows.
| Date | Time | Round | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 September 2011 | 19:00 | Heats | |
| 4 September 2011 | 21:00 | Final |
Qualification: First 2 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) advance to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Nation | Athletes | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 37.79 | Q, WL | |||
| 2 | 2 | 37.91 | Q, SB | |||
| 3 | 2 | 38.07 | Q, SB | |||
| 4 | 3 | 38.29 | Q, SB | |||
| 5 | 3 | 38.37 | Q, SB | |||
| 6 | 1 | 38.38 | Q, SB | |||
| 7 | 3 | 38.41 | q, SB | |||
| 8 | 2 | 38.47 | q, NR | |||
| 9 | 2 | 38.66 | SB | |||
| 10 | 3 | 38.69 | SB | |||
| 11 | 2 | 38.72 | SB | |||
| 12 | 2 | 38.87 | SB | |||
| 13 | 2 | 39.04 | NR | |||
| 14 | 1 | 39.09 | SB | |||
| 15 | 1 | 39.17 | ||||
| 16 | 1 | 39.30 | ||||
| 17 | 3 | 39.28 | ||||
| 18 | 3 | 39.54 | SB | |||
| 1 | ||||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 2 | ||||||
| 1 |
| Rank | Lane | Nation | Athletes | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 37.04 | WR | ||||
| 8 | Teddy Tinmar, Christophe Lemaitre, Yannick Lesourd, Jimmy Vicaut | 38.20 | SB | |||
| 1 | Jason Rogers, Kim Collins, Antoine Adams, Brijesh Lawrence | 38.49 | ||||
| 4 | 7 | 38.50 | ||||
| 5 | 2 | 38.96 | ||||
| 6 | 5 | 39.01 * | ||||
| 4 | ||||||
| 3 |
* Trinidad and Tobago's Aaron Armstrong tripped over USA's falling Darvis Patton, causing them to finish last.
Australia