Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay explained

Event:	Men's 4 × 100 metres relay
Games:	2008 Summer
Venue:	Beijing National Stadium
Dates:	August 21 August 22 (final)
Teams:	16
Gold:	Keston Bledman Marc Burns Emmanuel Callender Richard Thompson Aaron Armstrong*
Goldnoc:	TRI
Silver:	Naoki Tsukahara Shingo Suetsugu Shinji Takahira Nobuharu Asahara
Silvernoc:	JPN
Bronze:	Vicente de Lima Sandro Viana Bruno de Barros José Carlos Moreira
Bronzenoc:	BRA
Win Value:	38.06
Prev:	2004
Next:	2012

The men's 4 × 100 metre relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 21 and 22 August at the Beijing National Stadium.^[1]

There were 16 NOCs competing at this event. These 16 NOCs were selected by the average of the two best marks at the qualifying period. Australia was 14th but withdrew and the Netherlands was invited instead.^[2] The final was won by Jamaica in the new world-record time 37.10.

On 25 January 2017, the Jamaican team was stripped of the gold medal place due to Nesta Carter testing positive for the prohibited substance methylhexaneamine.^[3] ^[4] ^[5] The IOC requested that the IAAF modify the results, and, after CAS dismissed the appeal of the Jamaican team,^[6] the medals were redistributed accordingly.^[7] Trinidad and Tobago team was advanced to gold, Japan to silver, and Brazil to bronze.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

Qualification summary

Pos	NOC	2 races		1	2
Pos	NOC	Total	Average	1	2
1		75.88	37.94	37.78	38.10
2		75.91	37.96	37.89	38.02
3		76.20	38.10	37.90	38.30
4		76.24	38.12	38.03	38.21
5		76.26	38.13	37.99	38.27
6		77.12	38.56	38.56	38.56
7		77.18	38.59	38.40	38.78
8		77.23	38.62	38.61	38.62
9		77.34	38.67	38.43	38.91
10		77.53	38.77	38.72	38.81
11		77.56	38.78	38.54	39.02
12		77.56	38.78	38.54	39.02
13		77.80	38.90	38.75	39.05
		77.82	38.91	38.73	39.09
14		77.85	38.93	38.81	39.04
15		77.89	38.95	38.94	38.95
16		77.95	38.98	38.92	39.03
Reserves
17		78.01	39.01	38.99	39.02
18		78.08	39.04	38.91	39.17
19		78.45	39.23	39.08	39.37

Results

All times shown are in seconds.

Q denotes automatic qualification.
q denotes fastest losers.
DNS denotes did not start.
DNF denotes did not finish.
DSQ denotes disqualified
AR denotes area record.
NR denotes national record.
PB denotes personal best.
SB denotes season's best.

Heats

First 3 in each heat(Q) and the next 2 fastest(q) advance to the Final.

Heat 1

width=6%	Lane	width=20%	Nation	width=60%	Competitors	width=6%	Time	width=8%	Notes
8		Keston Bledman, Marc Burns, Aaron Armstrong, Richard Thompson	38.26	Q
4		Naoki Tsukahara, Shingo Suetsugu, Shinji Takahira, Nobuharu Asahara	38.52	Q, SB
3		Maarten Heisen, Guus Hoogmoed, Patrick van Luijk, Caimin Douglas	38.87	Q, SB
2		José Carlos Moreira, Bruno de Barros, Vicente de Lima, Sandro Viana	39.01	q
6		Onyeabor Ngwogu, Obinna Metu, Chinedu Oriala, Uchenna Emedolu
9		Marcin Nowak, Łukasz Chyła, Marcin Jędrusiński, Dariusz Kuć
5		Hannes Dreyer, Leigh Julius, Ishmael Kumbane, Thuso Mpuang
7		Rodney Martin, Travis Padgett, Darvis Patton, Tyson Gay

Heat 2

width=6%	Lane	width=20%	Nation	width=60%	Competitors	width=6%	Time	width=8%	Notes
6		Dwight Thomas, Michael Frater, Nesta Carter, Asafa Powell	38.31	Disqualified
2		Hank Palmer, Anson Henry, Jared Connaughton, Pierre Browne	38.77	Q
3		Tobias Unger, Till Helmke, Alexander Kosenkow, Martin Keller	38.93	Q
9		Wen Yongyi, Zhang Peimeng, Lu Bin, Hu Kai	39.13	q
7		Apinan Sukaphai, Siriroj Darasuriyong, Sompote Suqannarangsri, Sittichai Suwonprateep	39.40
4		Yannick Lesourd, Martial Mbandjock, Manuel Reynaert, Samuel Coco-Viloin	39.53
5		Simeon Williamson, Tyrone Edgar, Marlon Devonish, Craig Pickering
8		Fabio Cerutti, Simone Collio, Emanuele Di Gregorio, Jacques Riparelli

Final

width=5%	Rank	width=5%	Lane	width=20%	Nation	width=60%	Competitors	width=5%	Time	width=5%	Notes
	4		Keston Bledman, Marc Burns, Emmanuel Callender, Richard Thompson, Aaron Armstrong*	38.06
	7		Naoki Tsukahara, Shingo Suetsugu, Shinji Takahira, Nobuharu Asahara	38.15	SB
	3		Vicente de Lima, Sandro Viana, Bruno de Barros, José Carlos Moreira	38.24	SB
4	9		Tobias Unger, Till Helmke, Alexander Kosenkow, Martin Keller	38.58
5	6		Hank Palmer, Anson Henry, Jared Connaughton, Pierre Browne	38.66	SB
	8		Maarten Heisen, Guus Hoogmoed, Patrick van Luijk, Caimin Douglas	45.81
	5		Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell	DSQ 37.10	Disqualified (doping)
	2		Wen Yongyi, Zhang Peimeng, Lu Bin, Hu Kai

Note: * Indicates athletes who ran in heats and also received medals.

References

Web site: Best Relay Performances . 2008-07-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120901062449/http://www.iaaf.org/mm/Document/Statistics/Standards/04/49/21/20080729023920_httppostedfile_BeijingRelayTeams29July2008_4435.pdf . 2012-09-01 . dead .

Notes and References

Web site: Olympic Athletics Competition Schedule . 2008-08-04 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20080913131714/http://www.iaaf.org/OLY08/results/eventCode%3D3659/bydiscipline/index.html . 13 September 2008 . dead .
Web site: Australia, Finland, Cuba relay teams withdraw from Beijing Olympics | Singapore Athletics . 2008-08-20 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080820133834/http://www.singaporeathletics.com/world-news/australia-finland-cuba-relay-teams-withdraw-from-beijing-olympics . 2008-08-20 .
Web site: IOC sanctions two athletes for failing anti-doping test at Beijing 2008. IOC. 25 January 2017.
News: Usain Bolt stripped of 2008 Olympic relay gold after Nesta Carter fails drug test. Ingle. Sean. 2017-01-25. The Guardian. en-GB. 0261-3077. 2017-01-25.
News: Usain Bolt loses one Olympic gold medal as Nesta Carter tests positive. 2017-01-25. BBC Sport. en-GB. 2017-01-25.
Web site: Media Release 4984 Decision. . 1 October 2018.
Web site: The XXIX Olympic Games – Results – 4 × 100 metres relay men. . 1 October 2018.