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 ...

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 1 and 2 September. Thursday and Friday. 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. This was the fastest qualifying round in the history of the World Championships. All eight qualifying teams were faster than the fastest qualifier two years before. All but final qualifier Kenya were faster than the Bronze medal team at that championship. United States ran the world leading time, which sounds more impressive than it really was since the previous leading time was by an American collegiate team (though only seven of these national teams were better than that mark in this entire competition). The South African team set their National Record, led off by double amputee Oscar Pistorius. After the heat, South Africa elected not to include Pistorius in the final. In the finals, none of the medal winning teams matched their times from the qualifying heats.

Jonathan Borlée Jonathan Borlée (; born 22 February 1988) is a Belgian sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres. He is a member of the Borlée family. He qualified for the finals of the 400 metres at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was a semi-finalist at ...

put Belgium in the early lead. After the first handoff, they were passed quickly by

Ofentse Mogawane Ofentse Mogawane (born 20 February 1982) is a former South African sprinter who specialized in the 400 meters. Career He finished sixth in the 2006 African Championships. He also competed at the 2005 World Championships and the 2006 Commonweal ...

putting South Africa into the lead followed by

Jermaine Gonzales Jermaine Gonzales (born 26 November 1984) is a Jamaican 400 metres runner. He is currently being coached by Glen Mills and Bertland Cameron. He had a successful start to international athletics in the young age categories, taking the 400 ...

of Jamaica. Five time defending champion United States, running hurdlers

Bershawn Jackson Bershawn D. Jackson (born May 8, 1983) is an American athlete, who mainly competes in the 400 m hurdles, but also is a 400 m runner. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Bershawn "Batman" Jackson won a bronze medal in the 400 m hurdles ...

and

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 ...

, was a slow third place behind South Africa's

Willem de Beer Willem Frederik Andries de Beer (born 14 March 1988) is a South African sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres. He won a silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu. At the 2012 Summer Oly ...

watching Jamaican

Riker Hylton Riker Hylton (born 13 December 1988) is a Jamaican sprinter, competing in the 400 metres. Riker Hylton won a bronze medal as part of the Jamaican team in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu. He al ...

separate from the field, but Hylton tied up on the home stretch and the race tightened going into the final handoff. Taking the baton in the unfamiliar third place, Silver medalist

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 ...

ran a controlled race in lane one moving into position for one final surge on the home stretch. Merritt was actually too close to the runners ahead of him and had to dart to the right to go around to pass the two teams in green and yellow to the finish. South Africa anchor, hurdler L. J. van Zyl, held off Jamaica's

Leford Green Leford Green (born 14 November 1986, St. Mary, Jamaica) is a former Jamaican track and field athlete who specialised in the 400 metre hurdles and 400 metres. He is an alumnus of Johnson C. Smith University Johnson C. Smith University (JCS ...

for the silver medal.

Medalists

Records

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 con ...

Final

References

External links

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