The men'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 ...

at the

2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held betw ...

was held at the

Khalifa International Stadium Khalifa International Stadium (, , ) is a multi-purpose stadium located in Al Rayyan, Qatar, around west from the centre of Doha. Its ground comprises a running track and a grass pitch. Opened in 1976, the stadium was named after then-Emir of ...

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

, Qatar, from 5 to 6 October 2019.

Summary

Colombia set a new national record in the qualifying round. In the final event of these championships, USA was able to cast three fresh athletes into the final, with the only holdover Wilbert London. They led off with their bronze medalist

Fred Kerley Fredrick Lee Kerley (born May 7, 1995) is an American track and field sprinter known primarily for competing in the 400 meters distance but more recently the 100 meters and 200 meters. He has earned several medals at the World Championships in ...

, but the early leader was Jamaica's Akeem Bloomfield, with Belgium's

Jonathan Sacoor Jonathan Sacoor (born 1 September 1999) is a Belgian sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. Career He first came to prominence early 2018, winning a bronze medal in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2018 World Indoor Championships in a new n ...

also in the mix. Down the home stretch, Kerley pulled back ground as Bloomfield slowed, by the handoff, USA had a step on Jamaica. Michael Cherry expanded USA's advantage over Jamaica's

Nathon Allen Nathon Allen (born 28 October 1995) is a Jamaican track and field athlete who competes in sprinting events. Allen of St. Jago High School and Twayne Crooks of Kingston College are the two school boys named to represent Jamaica at second staging ...

through the turn to take 3 metres at the break. Behind him, Colombia's

Diego Palomeque Diego Armando Palomeque Echavarría (born 5 December 1993 in Apartadó, Antioquia) is a Colombian sprinter. Career He tied Aldemir da Silva Junior for the 200 metres title at the 2011 South American Junior Championships in Athletics. On 28 ...

also ran a strong turn to pip Belgium's Robin Vanderbemden for third place. Through the final turn, Allen pulled in a metre on Cherry. While losing ground to the leaders, Trinidad and Tobago's

Jereem Richards Jereem Richards (born 13 January 1994) is a Trinidadian track and field sprinter who specializes in the 200 metres and 400 metres events. Richards is from Point Fortin, Trinidad and Tobago, and attended the University of Alabama. He was part of t ...

brought them into a 3-way battle for bronze. Onto the home stretch, Allen started losing ground to Cherry, sliding back toward the battle. With five metres, Cherry handed off to London, wearing a white sweatband on his head. In early strategy sessions, USA probably planned on their new superstar who wears a similar sweatband, Michael Norman, anchoring, but had to rearrange after Norman shut it down during his 400 semi-final. Jamaica's Terry Thomas took off after London, gaining strongly on the backstretch to shadow London through the final turn. Thomas set himself up to pounce coming off the turn, instead London slowly began widening the gap, getting the lead back to 4 metres before he named off to Norman's training partner, hurdler

Rai Benjamin Rai Benjamin (born July 27, 1997) is an American professional hurdler and sprinter specializing in the 400 m and 400 m hurdles. He is the second fastest man in history in the 400 m hurdles with a personal best time of 46.17 ...

. Behind London and Thomas, Belgium's

Dylan Borlée Dylan Borlée (born 20 September 1992) is a Belgian sprinter who competes in the 400 metres. He is a member of the Borlée family. He holds a personal best of 45.57 seconds for the event. He was the silver medallist at the European Athletics ...

put an early gap on Colombia's Jhon Solís and was now free by 3 metres at the handoff to his brother

Kevin Borlée Kevin Borlée (; born 22 February 1988) is a Belgian sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres. He is a member of the Borlée family. Borlée won bronze at the 2011 World Championships in the 400m. He qualified for the finals of the 400 me ...

. Benjamin slowly expanded his lead on Jamaica's Demish Gaye, by the finish it was 11 metres. Another 12 metres behind Jamaica, Borlée was able to hold off Colombia's new find, silver medalist

Anthony Zambrano Anthony José Zambrano de la Cruz (born 17 January 1998) is a Colombian sprinter. He won the silver medal at the 2019 World Championships in the 400 metres, setting the new Colombian national record of 44.15 seconds. He was also a finalist of ...

for bronze. USA's 2:56.69 was the fastest relay in 11 years, number 11 on the all time list. 8 of the 10 times ahead of them are also USA teams. Colombia set a new national record again in the final, a second and a half improvement, going under 3 minutes for the first time and moving their country into #15 on the all time list.

Records

Before the competition records were as follows: The following records were matched or set at the competition:

Schedule

The event schedule, in local time (UTC+3), was as follows:

Results

Heats

The first three in each heat (Q) and the next two fastest (q) qualified for the final.

Final

The final was started on 6 October at 21:36.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2019 World Athletics Championships - Men's 4 x 400 metres relay

4 x 400 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

Relays at the World Athletics Championships