USA wins the mixed 4x400m in Tokyo (© Getty Images)
Final: Sunday 13 Sep, 19:53
Contenders:
United States (USA) 🌍
Netherlands (NED) 🏅
Jamaica (JAM)
Norway (NOR)
Great Britain & NI (GBR)
Kenya (KEN)
Italy (ITA)
Belgium (BEL)
Hungary (HUN)
World lead: 3:07.47 United States, Gaborone, 3 May
2026 world list | World Relays final results
World record: 3:07.41 United States (Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, Kaylyn Brown), Paris, 2 Aug 2024
world all-time list | world record progression
- World champions USA came within 0.06 of their own world record when winning the World Relays in 3:07.47
- Jamaica moved to fourth on the world all-time list with their 3:08.24 national record in Gaborone
- Olympic champions Netherlands and European champions Norway add further strength to a deep nine-team final
The United States have repeatedly set the standard in the mixed 4x400m, and they arrive in Budapest having come tantalisingly close to rewriting the record books once again.
The world champions dominated the World Relays final in Gaborone in May, Bryce Deadmon, Paris Peoples, Jenoah McKiver and Bailey Lear combining for 3:07.47. It was a championship record and just 0.06 shy of the world record the USA set at the Paris Olympics two years ago.
Jamaica produced an equally significant performance behind them. Their 3:08.24 national record moved them to fourth on the world all-time list and established them as one of the leading threats heading into Budapest.
The World Relays provided the main qualification route for the Ultimate, with the first six teams in Gaborone earning automatic invitations before further places were decided through the top lists. Host nation Hungary joins the field through an exceptional invitation.
But the strongest challenge to the two Gaborone front-runners may come from teams with considerably more championship pedigree.
Netherlands are the Olympic champions. Femke Broeders-Bol produced a remarkable anchor leg to overhaul the USA in Paris, with the Dutch clocking a European record of 3:07.43 – just 0.02 outside the world record. They then finished second to the USA at last year's World Championships in Tokyo.
Great Britain & NI took Olympic bronze in Paris with 3:08.01 and have remained among the world's leading nations, while Norway have emerged as a major force this season. Karsten Warholm and Henriette Jæger helped them to European gold in Birmingham last month in a national record of 3:09.62, ahead of Britain and Netherlands.
Belgium also possess recent global pedigree, having taken world bronze outdoors in Tokyo before winning the mixed 4x400m short track title at the World Indoor Championships earlier this year.
Kenya and Italy both earned their Ultimate places through strong World Relays performances, while hosts Hungary complete a final in which team selection could prove every bit as important as individual form.
With no heats and no second chances, the first Ultimate mixed 4x400m title will come down to one race – and recent history suggests the world record could again be within reach.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
Title key: 🏅 Olympic champion, 🌍 world champion
