The IAAF World Road Relay Championships was a biennial international

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

competition in

long-distance Long distance or Long-distance may refer to: *Long-distance calling * Long-distance operator * Long-distance relationship * Long-distance train *Long-distance anchor pylon, see dead-end tower Footpaths * Long-distance trail *European long-d ...

relay running. First organised by the

International Association of Athletics Federations 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 ...

(IAAF) in 1992, the championship ran for four editions, with its last one occurring in 1998.IAAF World Road Relay Championships

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

(2004-03-27). Retrieved on 2013-09-30. The relay format was based on the

ekiden is a long-distance running multi-stage relay race, mostly held on roads.Otake, Tomoko. ''One for All.'' Dec. 28, 200The Japan Times accessed Feb. 19, 2009. The original Japanese term had nothing to do with a sport or a competition, but it sim ...

races native to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, where six runners team up for legs of varying length to cover the classic 42.195 km

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

distance. The first, third and fifth legs were of 5 km each, the second and fourth legs were 10 km each, and the final leg covered the remaining 7.195 km. The first edition saw the Kenyan men's team break the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

for the ekiden relay with a run of 2:00:02 hours. The Moroccan team at the following edition improved this further with a world and championship record time of 1:57:56 hours. The Ethiopian women's team set the championship record of 2:16:04 hours in 1996 and retained their title the following year. Kenya and Ethiopia were the most successful nations at the event – Kenya took three men's titles, as well as a women's silver and a men's bronze, while Ethiopia had two women's titles, three silver medals and one bronze medal. The competition was preceded by the IAAF World Challenge Road Relay – a one-off race held in 1986 in

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

.IAAF World Road Relay Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2013-09-30.

Editions

Medallists

Men

Women

Medal table

*NB: Excludes World Challenge Road Relay medals

References

;List of medallists

(2004-03-27). Retrieved on 2013-09-30.

External links

1998 official website
{{defunct athletics competitions Road Relay Defunct athletics competitions Road Relay Championships Long-distance relay races Recurring sporting events established in 1992 Recurring events disestablished in 1998 Biennial athletics competitions