The men's 4 x 400 metres relay at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

was held at the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

on August 22 and August 23. Britain's Conrad Williams looked to be leading the stagger on the first leg, but a late rush by

Arismendy Peguero Arismendy Peguero Matos (born 2 August 1980) is a sprinter from the Dominican Republic who specializes in the 400 metres. He was born in La Romana. Peguero finished fifth in 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2006 World Indoor Championships, toget ...

had the Dominican Republic making the handoff even, while USA put hurdler

Angelo Taylor Angelo F. Taylor (born December 29, 1978) is an American track and field athlete, coach, and winner of 400-meter hurdles at the 2000 and 2008 Summer Olympics, who has been suspended by the United States Center for SafeSport for sexual miscon ...

on the first leg, so they started with a slight deficit.

Jeremy Wariner Jeremy Matthew Wariner (born January 31, 1984) is a retired American track athlete specializing in the 400 meters. He has won four Olympic medals (three gold, one silver) and six World Championships medals. He is the fourth fastest competitor in ...

had won the previous two world championships in the open 400 metres, but lost his title a few days earlier. He had something to prove, flying through the turn, Wariner put the USA into the lead by the break. After he passed

Yon Soriano Yon Manuel Soriano (born 2 January 1987) is a Dominican Republic sprinter. He competed in the 4 × 400 m relay event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Soriano was born in Guaymate, La Romana Province La Romana () is a province of the Dominican Re ...

on the inside, Soriano accelerated to challenge Wariner for the pole position. Warner held the pole, behind Soriano,

Ben Offereins Ben Offereins (born 12 March 1986) is an Australian track & field athlete. He became national 400 m champion and also represented Australia internationally. Biography Born in Sydney, Offereins' family moved to Perth in 1987. He has been runni ...

was able to sneak Australia into third while

Michael Bingham Michael Bingham (born 13 April 1986) is a British 400 metres track and field athlete. He is one of five children born to British citizen Norris Bingham and Mollissie in Sylva, North Carolina. His parents separated when he was young, and he wa ...

was being challenged by

Piotr Klimczak Piotr Klimczak (born 18 January 1980, in Nowy Sącz) is a Polish former sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. He represented his country in the 4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletic ...

for Poland. Bingham was able to get around Thomas and then Soriano, putting Great Britain into a solid second place by the straightaway, but Wariner was running away from the pack. Soriano paid for his exuberance and slowed down the home stretch as all the other teams passed him by the exchange. Warner had opened up a 15-metre gap, the USA had completed their exchange before the other teams arrived. Because of the change in positions, Bingham had to cross in front of several teams to make their exchange, and Kévin Borlée ran Belgium from last to fourth on the straight.

Kerron Clement Kerron Stephon Clement (born October 31, 1985) is a Trinidadian-born American track and field athlete who competes in the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter sprint. He held the indoor world record in the 400-meter sprint, having broken Michael Jo ...

for USA and far behind him Robert Tobin for Great Britain had clear sailing, behind them Australia and Belgium came out of the exchange best. Tobin ran conservatively down the backstretch while Tristan Thomas accelerated to go around him on the turn. Coming off the turn, Tobin regained second position and was gaining on Clement. USA had new world champion

LaShawn Merritt LaShawn Merritt (born June 27, 1986) is an American track and field athlete who competes in sprinting events, specializing in the 400 metres. He is a former Olympic champion over the distance and his personal best of 43.65 seconds makes him th ...

on the anchor he immediately started widening the gap on

Martyn Rooney Martyn Joseph Rooney (born 3 April 1987) is an English Sprint (running), sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres event. He reached the 400 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics and won bronze in the 4×400 metres relay. A mainstay on the a ...

for Britain. Australia's

Sean Wroe Sean Wroe (born 19 March 1985) is an Australian sprint (running), sprinter. He was born in Melbourne to a Japanese Australians, Japanese Australian mother and is a fluent Japanese language, Japanese speaker. Wroe competed at the 2008 Summer Olym ...

had a significant gap on Belgium, while

Yannick Fonsat Yannick Fonsat (born 16 June 1988 in Paris, France) is a French sprinter who specialises in the 400 meters. He was the 2007 European Junior Champion at 400 metres. As French junior champion, he had run at the 2006 World Junior Championships in A ...

brought France from dead last to almost even with Belgium at the exchange. As Merritt kept widening the gap, Wroe was gaining on Rooney coming off the turn Wroe was perfectly positioned to punch for the silver medal position, but Rooney held him off, looking back to be sure he was holding clear. USA finished with a 25-metre lead.

Medalists

* Runners who participated in the heats only and received medals.

Records

Prior to the competition, the following records were as follows. No new world or championship record was set during this competition.

Qualification standards

Schedule

Results

Heats

Qualification: First 3 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 ...

. Key: DQ = Disqualified, Q = qualification by place in heat, q = qualification by overall place, SB = Seasonal best

Final

Key: SB = Seasonal best, WL = World leading (in a given season)

References

Men's 4 x 400 metres relay qualification from IAAFArchived
2009-09-08).

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 2009-08-27.
Men's 4 x 400 metres relay final results from IAAF

. Retrieved on 2009-08-27. {{DEFAULTSORT:2009 World Championships In Athletics - Men's 4 X 400 Metres Relay 4x400 Relays at the World Athletics Championships