Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay

The men's 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program was held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 27 to 28.[1] The sixteen teams competed in a two-heat qualifying round in which the first three teams from each heat, together with the next two fastest teams, were given a place in the final race.

Men's 4 × 100 metres relay
at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
Olympic Athletics
VenueAthens Olympic Stadium
Dates27–28 August 2004
Competitors65 from 16 nations
Winning time38.07
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Jason Gardener
Darren Campbell
Marlon Devonish
Mark Lewis-Francis
 Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Shawn Crawford
Justin Gatlin
Coby Miller
Maurice Greene
Darvis Patton*
* only competed in
the preliminary heats.
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Olusoji Fasuba
Uchenna Emedolu
Aaron Egbele
Deji Aliu
 Nigeria
← 2000
2008 →
Official Video

The Great Britain quartet of Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, Mark Lewis-Francis, and Marlon Devonish produced superior exchanges to beat the United States team by 0.01 seconds in a time of 38.07 seconds.[2] The final also saw the U.S. team struggling with their relay duties, when Justin Gatlin and Coby Miller botched their baton handoff after the second leg, leaving the British team to command their lead towards the final bend. By the time Greene received the baton from Miller on the anchor leg, he burst down the home stretch to chase Lewis-Francis at the finish line, but could not get ahead despite his lower leg and head having crossed the line first, as the Americans fell short by just a hundredth of a second.[3][4]

Records

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

World record   United States (USA)
Michael Marsh
Leroy Burrell
Dennis Mitchell
Carl Lewis
37.40 s Barcelona, Spain 6 August 1992
Olympic record   United States (USA)
Michael Marsh
Leroy Burrell
Dennis Mitchell
Carl Lewis
37.40 s Barcelona, Spain 6 August 1992

No new records were set during the competition.

Qualification

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The qualification period for athletics was 1 January 2003 to 9 August 2004. A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter one qualified relay team per relay event, with a maximum of six athletes. For this event, an NOC would be invited to participate with a relay team if the average of the team's two best times, obtained in IAAF-sanctioned meetings or tournaments, would be among the best sixteen, at the end of this period.

Schedule

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All times are Greece Standard Time (UTC+2)

Date Time Round
Friday, 27 August 2004 20:10 Round 1
Saturday, 28 August 2004 21:45 Final

Results

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Round 1

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Qualification rule: The first three teams in each heat (Q) plus the next two fastest overall (q) moved on to the final.[5]

Heat 1

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Rank Lane Nation Competitors Time Notes
1 2   Nigeria Olusoji Fasuba, Uchenna Emedolu, Aaron Egbele, Deji Aliu 38.27 Q, SB
2 1   Poland Zbigniew Tulin, Łukasz Chyła, Marcin Jędrusiński, Marcin Urbaś 38.47 Q, SB
3 7   Australia Adam Basil, Paul di Bella, Patrick Johnson, Josh Ross 38.49 Q, SB
4 3   Trinidad and Tobago Nicconnor Alexander, Marc Burns, Ato Boldon, Darrel Brown 38.53 q, =NR
5 4   Japan Hiroyasu Tsuchie, Shingo Suetsugu, Shinji Takahira, Nobuharu Asahara 38.53 q
6 5   Germany Ronny Ostwald, Tobias Unger, Alexander Kosenkow, Till Helmke 38.64
7 8   Canada Nicolas Macrozonaris, Anson Henry, Charles Allen, Pierre Browne 38.64 SB
8 6   Russia Aleksandr Ryabov, Oleg Sergeyev, Sergey Bychkov, Andrey Yepishin 39.19

Heat 2

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Rank Lane Nation Competitors Time Notes
1 6   United States Shawn Crawford, Darvis Patton, Coby Miller, Maurice Greene 38.02 Q
2 1   Great Britain Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish, Mark Lewis-Francis 38.53 Q, SB
3 8   Brazil Cláudio Roberto Souza, Édson Ribeiro, André da Silva, Vicente de Lima 38.64 Q
4 2   Jamaica Dwight Thomas, Patrick Jarrett, Winston Smith, Michael Frater 38.71 SB
5 5   Italy Marco Torrieri, Simone Collio, Massimiliano Donati, Maurizio Checcucci 38.79
6 7   Ghana Christian Nsiah, Tanko Braimah, Aziz Zakari, Leonard Myles-Mills 38.88 SB
7 4   France Issa-Aimé Nthépé, Ronald Pognon, Frédéric Krantz, David Alerte 38.93
3   Netherlands Timothy Beck, Troy Douglas, Patrick van Balkom, Caimin Douglas DNF

Final

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[6]

Rank Lane Nation Competitors Time Notes
  3   Great Britain Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish, Mark Lewis-Francis 38.07 SB
  5   United States Shawn Crawford, Justin Gatlin, Coby Miller, Maurice Greene 38.08
  4   Nigeria Olusoji Fasuba, Uchenna Emedolu, Aaron Egbele, Deji Aliu 38.23 SB
4 7   Japan Hiroyasu Tsuchie, Shingo Suetsugu, Shinji Takahira, Nobuharu Asahara 38.49
5 6   Poland Zbigniew Tulin, Łukasz Chyła, Marcin Jędrusiński, Marcin Urbaś 38.54
6 1   Australia Adam Basil, Paul di Bella, Patrick Johnson, Josh Ross 38.56
7 8   Trinidad and Tobago Nicconnor Alexander, Marc Burns, Ato Boldon, Darrel Brown 38.60
8 2   Brazil Cláudio Roberto Souza, Édson Ribeiro, André da Silva, Vicente de Lima 38.67

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 2004 Athens Summer Games: Men's 4 × 100 metres Relay". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Gold for GB sprint four". BBC Sport. 28 August 2004. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  3. ^ Bagchi, Rob (22 February 2012). "50 stunning Olympic moments No15: Great Britain's 2004 relay victory". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  4. ^ Robbins, Liz (28 August 2004). "Summer 2004 Games – Track and Field: Men's 4×100-Meter Relay; An American Relay Effort Again Gets Out of Hand". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  5. ^ "IAAF Athens 2004: Men's 4×100m Relay Heats". Athens 2004. IAAF. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  6. ^ "IAAF Athens 2004: Men's 4×100m Relay Final". Athens 2004. IAAF. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
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