Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay

The men's 4 × 400 metres relay competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was held at the Estádio Olímpico João Havelange on 19–20 August.[1]

Men's 4 × 400 metres relay
at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad
Verburg (USA) leading from Francis (JAM) during the heats of the men's 4 × 400 metres relay
VenueEstádio Olímpico João Havelange
Date19–20 August 2016
Competitors from 16 nations
Teams16
Winning time2:57.30
Medalists
Arman Hall
Tony McQuay
Gil Roberts
LaShawn Merritt
Kyle Clemons*
David Verburg*
 United States
Peter Matthews
Nathon Allen
Fitzroy Dunkley
Javon Francis
Rusheen McDonald*
 Jamaica
Alonzo Russell
Michael Mathieu
Steven Gardiner
Chris Brown
Demetrius Pinder*
Stephen Newbold*
 Bahamas
'Video on YouTube Official Video]

Summary

The Bahamas entered as the defending Olympic champions while United States had won both the 2013 and 2015 World Championships since then. Louisiana State University held the world leading time of 3:00.38 minutes prior to the event. The American college team was anchored by Fitzroy Dunkley who ran for Jamaica here. Trinidad and Tobago, medallists at the both last Olympics and World Championships, were the next strongest team. Other teams entering with fast quartets were Jamaica, Great Britain and 2016 European champions Belgium.[2]

As in 2012, the heats produced some drama. During the first handoff, in lanes, Trinidad and Tobago leadoff leg, Jarrin Solomon stepped inside of the lane line. He had already let go of the baton to Lalonde Gordon but the team was disqualified.[3] In the second semi-final both Great Britain and India were disqualified for starting their leg with a foot outside of the passing zone.[4]

The final began with Botswana's Isaac Makwala, the seventh fastest man in history and Jamaica's Peter Matthews taking it out hard. Matthews had passed Belgium's Julien Watrin at the head of the stretch, but Watrin pulled it back as Matthews slowed. Botswana made the handoff first. USA's Arman Hall also pulled back some ground from Matthews as USA exchanged even with Jamaica. Tony McQuay ran the turn hard to get the jump on Botswana's fifth place open sprinter, 18 year old Karabo Sibanda at the break. Michael Mathieu also put Bahamas ahead of Jamaica's Nathon Allen who was in a battle with Jonathan Borlée, the first of three successive Borlée brothers for Belgium.

Coming off the turn, Sibanda put the move on McQuay, putting Botswana into the lead, 5 metres back, Allen put the same move on Mathieu to put Jamaica into third. Because USA had the lead at the half way mark of the lap, Sibanda had to move back out to lane 2 to find his teammate Onkabetse Nkobolo. McQuay used the opening to move back even with Sibanda. After receiving the handoff Nkobolo ran into the back of American Gil Roberts who was still in the process of receiving the baton, Nkobolo lost all forward momentum and Roberts gained the edge coming out of the handoff. A meter down, Nkobolo stuck behind Roberts as if there was a rope between them. Behind them, Jamaica's Fitzroy Dunkley was closing the gap. Coming off the turn, unimpeded, Roberts stumbled and lost his balance, throwing his baton hand high in the air to right himself and avert a disaster by stepping inside of the curb. Dunkley slowed down the stretch, Steven Gardiner pulling Bahamas back even.

The final handoff, Roberts to bronze medalist LaShawn Merritt, Botswana to Leaname Maotoanong was clean. Bahamas' "Fireman" Chris Brown gained the edge over Jamaica's Javon Francis on their handoff three metres up on the Borlée brothers. Down the backstretch and into the final turn, Maotoanong stayed consistently about 2 metres behind Merritt as Brown, Francis and Kevin Borlée crept closer. Francis went for the pass during the turn but Brown held him off to the straightaway. Merritt began to pull away from Maotoanong. Running in lane 2, Francis got past Brown then squeezed him out of running space as he passed Maotoanong. Brown had to move into lane 2. Getting passed, Maotoanong began to struggle, flailing his arms but running backward. Brown went by on the outside, Borlée went by on the inside. Merritt crossed the finish line seven metres up on Francis to give America gold over Jamaica's silver. Three more metres back, Borlée was making a mighty rush at Brown, dipping and diving too late to get the bronze as Bahamas held on while Borlée crashed to the track.

Belgium and Botswana both set national records in the heats and finals. McQuay's leg was timed as 43.2, tied for the fourth fastest relay splits in history.[5]

The medals for the competition were presented by Angela Ruggiero, IOC member, and the gifts were presented by Alberto Juantorena, IAAF Council Member.

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record  United States
(Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Butch Reynolds, Michael Johnson)
2:54.29 Stuttgart, Germany 22 August 1993
Olympic record  United States
(LaShawn Merritt, Angelo Taylor, David Neville, Jeremy Wariner)
2:55.39 Beijing, China 23 August 2008
2016 World leading Louisiana State University
(LaMar Bruton, Michael Cherry, Cyril Grayson, Fitzroy Dunkley)
3:00.38 Baton Rouge, United States 23 April 2016

The following records were established during the competition:

DateEventCompetitorsNationTimeRecord
19 AugustHeatsRusheen McDonald, Peter Matthews, Nathon Allen, Javon Francis Jamaica2:58.292016 World Leading
20 AugustFinalArman Hall, Tony McQuay, Gil Roberts, LaShawn Merritt United States2:57.30

The following national records were established during the competition:

CountryAthletesRoundTimeNotes
Botswana Isaac Makwala, Karabo Sibanda, Onkabetse Nkobolo, Leaname Maotoanong (BOT)Heats2:59.35
Belgium Julien Watrin, Jonathan Borlée, Dylan Borlée, Kevin Borlée (BEL)Heats2:59.25
Belgium Julien Watrin, Jonathan Borlée, Dylan Borlée, Kevin Borlée (BEL)Final2:58.52
Botswana Isaac Makwala, Karabo Sibanda, Onkabetse Nkobolo, Leaname Maotoanong (BOT)Final2:59.06

Schedule

All times are Brazil time (UTC−3)[6]

Date Time Round
Friday, 19 August 201621:10Heats
Saturday, 20 August 201622:35Finals

Results

Heats

Qualification rule: first 3 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) qualified.

Heat 1

Rank Nation Competitors Time Notes
1 JamaicaRusheen McDonald, Peter Matthews, Nathon Allen, Javon Francis2:58.29Q, WL
2 United StatesArman Hall, Tony McQuay, Kyle Clemons, David Verburg2:58.38Q, SB
3 BotswanaIsaac Makwala, Karabo Sibanda, Onkabetse Nkobolo, Leaname Maotoanong2:59.35Q, NR
4 PolandŁukasz Krawczuk, Michał Pietrzak, Jakub Krzewina, Rafał Omelko2:59.58q, SB
5 FranceMame-Ibra Anne, Teddy Atine-Venel, Mamadou Kassé Hann, Thomas Jordier3:00.82SB
6 ColombiaAnthony Zambrano, Diego Palomeque, Carlos Lemos, Jhon Perlaza3:01.84
7 JapanJulian Walsh, Tomoya Tamura, Takamasa Kitagawa, Nobuya Kato3:02.95
 Trinidad and TobagoJarrin Solomon, Lalonde Gordon, Deon Lendore, Machel CedenioDQR 163.3a

Heat 2

Rank Nation Competitors Time Notes
1 BelgiumJulien Watrin, Jonathan Borlée, Dylan Borlée, Kevin Borlée2:59.25Q, NR
2 BahamasAlonzo Russell, Chris Brown, Steven Gardiner, Stephen Newbold2:59.64Q, SB
3 CubaWilliam Collazo, Adrian Chacón, Osmaidel Pellicier, Yoandys Lescay3:00.16Q, SB
4 BrazilPedro Luiz de Oliveira, Alexander Russo, Peterson dos Santos, Hugo de Sousa3:00.43q, SB
5 Dominican RepublicYon Soriano, Luguelín Santos, Luis Charles, Gustavo Cuesta3:01.76SB
6 VenezuelaArturo Ramírez, Omar Longart, Alberth Bravo, Freddy Mezones3:02.69
 Great BritainNigel Levine, Delano Williams, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Martyn Rooney DQR 170.19
 IndiaKunhu Muhammed, Muhammad Anas, Ayyasamy Dharun, Arokia RajivDQR 170.19

Final

RankLaneNationCompetitorsTimeNotes
5 United StatesArman Hall, Tony McQuay, Gil Roberts, LaShawn Merritt2:57.30WL
3 JamaicaPeter Matthews, Nathon Allen, Fitzroy Dunkley, Javon Francis2:58.16SB
6 BahamasAlonzo Russell, Michael Mathieu, Steven Gardiner, Chris Brown2:58.49SB
44 BelgiumJulien Watrin, Jonathan Borlée, Dylan Borlée, Kevin Borlée2:58.52NR
57 BotswanaIsaac Makwala, Karabo Sibanda, Onkabetse Nkobolo, Leaname Maotoanong2:59.06NR
68 CubaWilliam Collazo, Adrian Chacón, Osmaidel Pellicier, Yoandys Lescay2:59.53SB
72 PolandŁukasz Krawczuk, Michał Pietrzak, Jakub Krzewina, Rafał Omelko3:00.50
81 BrazilPedro Luiz de Oliveira, Alexander Russo, Peterson dos Santos, Hugo de Sousa3:03.28

References

  1. Timetable by discipline The XXXI Olympic Games BRAZIL Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL 05 AUG 2016 - 21 AUG 2016. IAAF. Retrieved on 9 August 2016.
  2. Landells, Steve (6 August 2016). Preview: men’s 4x400m – Rio 2016 Olympic Games. IAAF . Retrieved on 2016-08-09.
  3. "T&T's 4x400m team disqualified". loopsuriname.com. 19 August 2016. Archived from the original on 23 August 2016.
  4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/37140834
  5. "Final Results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  6. "Men's 4 × 400 Metres Relay The XXXI Olympic Games Timetable". IAAF. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
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