| Event: | Mixed 4 × 400 metres relay |
| Games: | 2024 Summer |
| Venue: | Stade de France, Paris, France |
| Teams: | 16 |
| Win Value: | 3:07.43 min |
| Gold: | Eugene Omalla, Lieke Klaver, Isaya Klein Ikkink, Femke Bol, Cathelijn Peeters* |
| Goldnoc: | NED |
| Silver: | Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, Kaylyn Brown |
| Silvernoc: | USA |
| Bronze: | Samuel Reardon, Laviai Nielsen, Alex Haydock-Wilson, Amber Anning, Nicole Yeargin* *Indicates the athlete only competed in the preliminary heats. |
| Bronzenoc: | GBR |
| Prev: | 2020 |
| Next: | 2028 |
The mixed 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held in two rounds at the Stade de France in Paris, France, on 2 and 3 August 2024. This was the second time that the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay was contested at the Summer Olympics. A total of 16 teams qualified for the event through the 2024 World Athletics Relays or the World Athletics top list.
Round 1 was held in two heats on 2 August. The three fastest teams of each heat and the two fastest of the rest qualified for the finals. The United States set a new world record of 3:07.41 minutes. The teams of France, Great Britain, Belgium, Jamaica, Nigeria, and Switzerland all broke their national records in round 1.
The final was held on 3 August. The Netherlands won the gold medal in 3:07.43 minutes, setting a new European record, ahead of the United States in 3:07.74 minutes, and Great Britain in 3:08.01 minutes, setting a new national record. The team of Belgium also set a national record and the French team was disqualified in the final.
The mixed 4 × 400 metres relay is the newest addition to the Olympic athletics programme, being introduced in 2020.
| Nation (Athletes) | Time in | Location | Date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World record | (Justin Robinson, Rosey Effiong, Matthew Boling, Alexis Holmes) | 3:08.80[1] | Budapest, Hungary | 19 August 2023 | |
| Olympic record | (Karol Zalewski, Natalia Kaczamarek, Justyna Święty-Ersetic, Kajetan Duszyński) | 3:09.87[2] | Tokyo, Japan | 31 July 2021 | |
| World leading | (Christopher O'Donnell, Rhasidat Adeleke, Thomas Barr, Sharlene Mawdsley) | 3:09.92[3] | Rome, Italy | 7 June 2024 |
| Record | Nation (Athletes) | Time in | |
|---|---|---|---|
| African record | (Zablon Ekwam, Mary Moraa,, Mercy Chebet) | 3:11.88 | |
| Asian record | (Musa Isah, Aminat Yusuf Jamal, Salwa Eid Naser, Abbas Abubakar Abbas) | 3:11.82 | |
| European record | (Karol Zalewski, Natalia Kaczamarek, Justyna Święty-Ersetic, Kajetan Duszyński) | 3:09.87 | |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | (Justin Robinson, Rosey Effiong, Matthew Boling, Alexis Holmes) | 3:08.80 | |
| Oceanian record | (Bendere Oboya, Anneliese Rubie-Renshaw,, Alex Beck) | 3:17.00 | |
| South American record | (Jhon Perlaza, Lina Licona,, Evelis Aguilar) | 3:14.48 |
For the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay event, fourteen teams qualified through the 2024 World Athletics Relays. The remaining two spots were awarded to the teams with the highest ranking on the World Athletics Top List. The qualification period was held between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024.[5] [6]
| Qualification event | Nations | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 World Athletics Relays | 14 | ||
| World Athletics Top List (as of June 30, 2024) | 2 | ||
| Total | 16 |
The heats were held on 2 August, and started at 19:10 (UTC+2) in the evening.[7] Qualification: first 3 in each heat and next 2 fastest advanced to the final.[8]
Running in the first heat, USA started off with 44.1 Vernon Norwood ran an evenly paced 44.52 which looked like a fast close to handoff a step ahead of France's Muhammad Kounta. Shamier Little had lined up at the wrong end of the passing zone, the markings on the Paris track being faint "chevrons" instead of the large triangles more common in the USA. An official noticed her out of place and signaled for her to move. Little quickly skipped, possibly past the correct mark, seconds before the handoff. With a 49.68, Little took the lead at the break, challenged by Louise Maraval. As they came off the turn, Little's strength from running 400 metres hurdles allowed her to separate from the challenger. Little's split was 49.32 as she handed off to Bryce Deadmon, a 44.22 runner, with a 5-metre lead. Deadmon's 44.17 split expanded the American lead to 15 metres over Belgium, represented by Kévin Borlée. With that big of a lead, American anchor runner Kaylyn Brown could have cruised to a qualifying position. Instead, Brown kept the pedal to the metal and ran a 49.45 final anchor. The cumulative USA time was 3:07.41, almost a second and a half faster than the World Record set the previous year by a US team at the World Championships.[9]
The final was held on 3 August, and started at 20:55 (UTC+2) in the evening.[10]
The USA ran the same four athletes as in round 1, but other teams subbed in their rested best athletes. Belgium added World Indoor Champion Alexander Doom, France added European U23 Champion Fabrisio Saïdy and the Netherlands added world indoor record holder Femke Bol. In the rain, the race started off similar to the first heat, with Norwood looking behind the field but closing strong, but Doom handed off to Helena Ponette a step ahead. Little reached the break line first, but she was followed closely by Ponette and world indoor silver medalist Lieke Klaver. Klaver ran the turn almost in lane 2, but Little never let her by, opening up a 3-metre gap as Klaver slowed. Deadmon continued Little's lead, with Belgium's Jonathan Sacoor gaining second place as the Dutch had a poor handoff from Klaver to Isaya Klein Ikkink. Down the backstretch Sacoor pulled in the gap with Alex Haydock-Wilson bringing Great Britain into contention. Deadmon held the small gap until nearing the handoff, when Sacoor pulled even. Starting even with Belgium's Naomi Van den Broeck, through the first turn Brown opened up a 5-metre lead, with Britain's Amber Anning, Kaylyn Brown's teammate at the University of Arkansas, a step behind Van den Broeck. Still further back, 12 metres behind Brown was the Netherlands' ace, Bol. Down the backstretch, Anning got around Van den Broeck and was gaining on Brown. Around the turn, Bol moved to lane 2 to pass Van den Broeck, then on the home stretch, Bol caught Anning and didn't stop, passing Brown 18 metres out.
Brown's final lap was 49.23 s, Anning 48.86 s, but they were no match to Bol's 48.00 s.[11] The Netherlands' winning time was 3:07.43 min, just 2 hundredths short of the world record set the day before. It became the European Record, while Great Britain and Belgium also set national records.[11]
| Rank | Lane | Nation | Competitors | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Eugene Omalla, Lieke Klaver, Isaya Klein Ikkink, Femke Bol | 3:07.43 | |||
| 5 | Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, Kaylyn Brown | 3:07.74 | |||
| 8 | Samuel Reardon, Laviai Nielsen, Alex Haydock-Wilson, Amber Anning | 3:08.01 | |||
| 4 | 4 | Alexander Doom, Helena Ponette, Jonathan Sacoor, Naomi Van den Broeck | 3:09.36 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Reheem Hayles, Junelle Bromfield, Zandrion Barnes, Stephenie Ann McPherson | 3:11.67 | ||
| 6 | 9 | Luca Sito, Giancarla Trevisan, Edoardo Scotti, Alice Mangione | 3:11.84 | ||
| 7 | 3 | Maksymilian Szwed, Justyna Święty-Ersetic, Karol Zalewski, Alicja Wrona-Kutrzepa | 3:12.39 | ||
| 6 | Muhammad Abdallah Kounta, Louise Maraval, Fabrisio Saidy, Amandine Brossier | ||||