The Women's 4 × 100 metres relay event at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on 4 September.
Runners from the United States had provided the fastest times before the competition, but bad baton exchanges had seen their teams disqualified at both the 2008 Olympics and the 2009 World Championships. The Americans and Jamaica, the defending world relay champions, were seen as the primary contenders for the title. Ukraine and Russia (the Olympic title holder) were the next fastest entrants into the championships.[1]
The first semi-final was won by a ragged looking Jamaican team. France followed Jamaica into the final. In third place, Brazil set the South American record and qualified for the final by time. China false started out of the event. The second semi-final was won by Trinidad and Tobago, setting their national record, with Ukraine following them into the final. Russia also qualified on time. In the third semi-final, the USA, running in lane 2 ran the world leader to qualify, along with Nigeria. In lane 3, Bahamas' Anthonique Strachan fell as the modern version of the golden girls tried to qualify. Bahamas eventually finished while Germany was unable to complete their first handoff.
In the final, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce put Jamaica into the lead, but strong legs from Allyson Felix and Marshevet Myers brought the United States back into contention. Despite their recent history of poor handoffs, the United States executed their final baton exchange perfectly, gaining a couple of metres on Jamaica. Given the lead, Carmelita Jeter was able to hold off a closing Veronica Campbell-Brown for the win. Jamaica set their national record in second. Ukraine's Hrystyna Stuy in lane 8 ran down France and Trinidad and Tobago to finish a distant third.
| width=200 bgcolor=gold | Gold | width=200 bgcolor=silver | Silver | width=200 bgcolor=CC9966 | Bronze | |
| valign=top | Bianca Knight Allyson Felix Marshevet Myers Carmelita Jeter Shalonda Solomon | valign=top | Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Kerron Stewart Sherone Simpson Veronica Campbell-Brown Jura Levy | valign=top | Olesya Povh Nataliya Pohrebnyak Mariya Ryemyen Hrystyna Stuy |
| Date | Time | Round | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 September 2011 | 18:30 | Heats | |
| 4 September 2011 | 20:35 | 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 | 3 | 41.94 | Q, WL | |||
| 2 | 1 | 42.23 | Q, SB | |||
| 3 | 1 | 42.60 | Q, SB | |||
| 4 | 2 | 42.63 | Q, SB | |||
| 5 | 3 | 42.74 | Q, SB | |||
| 6 | 2 | 42.78 | q, SB | |||
| 7 | 1 | 42.92 | q, AR | |||
| 8 | 3 | 43.44 | NR | |||
| 9 | 1 | 43.53 | SB | |||
| 10 | 2 | 43.79 | ||||
| 11 | 1 | 43.83 | ||||
| 12 | 2 | 43.95 | ||||
| 13 | 3 | 44.04 | ||||
| 14 | 3 | 44.38 | ||||
| 15 | 2 | 46.14 | SB | |||
| 16 | 1 | 46.24 | ||||
| 17 | 3 | 50.62 | ||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 2 | ||||||
| 1 | FS | |||||
| 2 | Semoy Hackett's Drug Test |
| Rank | Lane | Nation | Athletes | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 41.56 | WL | ||||
| 6 | 41.70 | NR | ||||
| 8 | 42.51 | SB | ||||
| 4 | 5 | 42.70 | ||||
| 5 | 1 | Yuliya Gushchina, Natalia Rusakova, Elizabeta Savlinis, Aleksandra Fedoriva | 42.93 | |||
| 6 | 7 | 42.93 | ||||
| 7 | 2 | 43.10 | ||||
| 3 | Semoy Hackett's Drug Test |
United States
Nigeria
China
Brazil
Australia