The Women's

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, th ...

event at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

was held at the

Daegu Stadium Daegu Stadium, also known as the Blue Arc, is a multi-purpose sports stadium located in Daegu, South Korea. It was formerly named Daegu World Cup Stadium but was changed to Daegu Stadium on 5 March 2008. It has a seating capacity for 66,422 peopl ...

on 2 and 3 September. Friday and Saturday. This is a change in schedule from previous years when all the relays were at the end of the program. This might necessitate a change in strategy to allow for team members involved in other events. The United States held the two fastest relay times before the championships and had won the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and 2009 world titles, as well as the 2008 Olympic gold medals.

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and Russia – the only other nations to have won a world title since 2000 – were the other primary contenders. A Brazilian team had broken the South American record a month before the championships and was the third fastest qualifying nation. Great Britain,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and Germany comprised the other major nations at the competition.Rowbottom, Mike (21 August 2011)
Women's 4x400m Relay – PREVIEW
.

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved on 25 August 2011. Twenty teams, instead of the normal sixteen, started this event, necessitating three heats instead of two. United States was an easy winner in heat one, with Ukraine edging out neighboring Belarus for the second automatic qualifying spot, but Belarus qualified on time. Russia, with the fastest time, was an easy winner in heat two with Nigeria taking the second automatic spot and Czech Republic taking the second time qualifier. Jamaica and Great Britain separated cleanly from their competitors in heat three. In the final, the United States led off with previous world champion

Sanya Richards-Ross Sanya Richards-Ross (née Richards; born February 26, 1985) is a retired Jamaican-American track and field athlete, who competed internationally for the United States in the 400-meter sprint. Her notable accolades in this event include being th ...

, who handed off to silver medalist

Allyson Felix Allyson Michelle Felix (born November 18, 1985) is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters. She specialized in the 200 meters from 2003 to 2013, then gradually shifted to the 400 me ...

in the lead. Felix extended the lead with Russian

Natalya Antyukh Natalya Nikolayevna Antyukh (russian: Наталья Николаевна Антюх, born 26 June 1981) is a Russian sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres and 400 metres hurdles. She won the bronze medal in the 400 metres and a silver fo ...

and then Jamaica 's Davita Prendergast chasing about 5 metres back. Prendergast passed a fading Antyukh, who had charged after Felix and was slowing, just before the handoff.

Novlene Williams-Mills Novlene Hilaire Williams-Mills (''maiden name, née'', Williams; born 26 April 1982), is a retired Jamaican track and field athlete. She won the bronze medal in the 400 metres at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, 2007 World Championshi ...

solidified Jamaica's hold on second place during the third leg. On the anchor leg,

Francena McCorory Francena Lynette McCorory (born October 20, 1988) is a retired American track and field athlete, known primarily for running the 400 meters. She was the 2011 World bronze medalist in the 400 meters and was a member of the gold medal-winning 201 ...

burst away from the handoff, extending the lead to 10 metres and discouraging a challenge. McCorory paid for that burst on the home stretch, but still maintained the 5 metre lead at the finish. Jamaica knocked a second off their National record. On 21 June 2017, Russia forfeited the bronze medal following the disqualification of Kapachinskaya. The medal was reallocated by IAAF to Great Britain.

Medalists

Records

Qualification standards

Schedule

Results

Heats

Qualification: First 2 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) advance to the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Final

¹ Positive drug test of Kapachinskaya ² Positive drug test of Yefremova

References

External links

Relay results
at IAAF website {{DEFAULTSORT:2011 World Championships in Athletics - Women's 4 x 400 metres relay Relay 4 x 400 Relays at the World Athletics Championships 2011 in women's athletics