The US team on the way to a mixed 4x400m world record at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)
As the year draws to a close, we look back at the key moments of 2024 in each area of the sport.
The series concludes with a review of the relay disciplines.
Men’s 4x100m
Season top list
| 37.40 | United States (USA) | Nassau | 5 May |
| 37.50 | Canada (CAN) | Paris | 9 August |
| 37.57 | South Africa (RSA) | Paris | 9 August |
| 37.61 | Great Britain & NI (GBR) | Paris | 9 August |
| 37.68 | Italy (ITA) | Paris | 9 August |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Canada (CAN) | 37.50 SB |
| 🥈 | South Africa (RSA) | 37.57 AR |
| 🥉 | Great Britain & NI (GBR) | 37.61 SB |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Canada (CAN) 37.50
World Relays: United States (USA) 37.40
European Championships: Italy (ITA) 37.82
African Championships: Ghana (GHA) 38.63
Oceanian Championships: Papua New Guinea (PNG) 41.31
World U20 Championships: Jamaica (JAM) 39.18
Season snapshot
- The USA’s torturous history with the men’s 4x100m continued in 2024. Courtney Lindsey, Kenny Bednarek, Kyree King and Noah Lyles ran a world-leading 37.40 to win at the World Relays in May. The time remains the year’s fastest.
- In Paris, Jamaica suffered from multiple hand-off problems and failed to advance out of the preliminary round by 0.06, the first time the country had not made an Olympic final since 2004.
- In the final, Canada earned the country’s second Olympic gold medal in the 4x100m, and first since 1996. Andre de Grasse ran the anchor leg and was joined by teammates Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake and Brendon Rodney; Brown, Rodney and De Grasse have all been part of teams that have earned 4x100m medals at the past three Olympics.
The men's 4x100m final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)
- The US ran the final without Lyles, who had dropped out after testing positive for Covid days earlier. Problems with hand-offs hurt the US from the first baton pass; they finished seventh but were later disqualified for an exchange that occurred out of the zone. Since 1995, the US has failed to earn a medal at 11 consecutive global championships either because of bans, disqualifications or dropped batons.
Women’s 4x100m
Season top list
| 41.55 | Great Britain & NI (GBR) | London | 20 July |
| 41.78 | United States (USA) | Paris | 9 August |
| 41.97 | Germany (GER) | Paris | 9 August |
| 42.03 | Team International (INT) | Walnut | 20 April |
| 42.10 | France (FRA) | London | 20 July |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | United States (USA) | 41.78 SB |
| 🥈 | Great Britain & NI (GBR) | 41.85 |
| 🥉 | Germany (GER) | 41.97 SB |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: United States (USA) 41.78
World Relays: United States (USA) 41.85
European Championships: Great Britain & NI (GBR) 41.91
African Championships: Nigeria (NGR) 43.01
Oceanian Championships: New Zealand (NZL) 46.07
World U20 Championships: Jamaica (JAM) 43.39
Season snapshot
- The US team of Tamari Davis, Gabby Thomas, Celera Barnes and Melissa Jefferson set the expectation for gold in May at the World Relays by winning in 41.85, with a margin of 0.90 over France and Great Britain.
Sha'Carri Richardson anchors the USA to 4x100m victory in Paris (© Getty Images)
- At the Wanda Diamond League meeting in London on 20 July, the British team of Dina Asher-Smith, Imani Lansiquot, Amy Hunt and Daryll Neita served notice they, too, were in gold-medal contention by equalling the national record of 41.55, which stood as the year’s fastest time.
- For a third consecutive Olympics, the United States and Great Britain both earned medals. The US team of Jefferson, Twanisha Terry, Thomas and Sha’Carri Richardson won the country’s third Olympic gold medal in this discipline from the past four summer Olympics. That marks a turnaround after the US failed to win gold, and won just one medal combined, between 2000-2008.
Men’s 4x400m
Season top list
| 2:54.43 | United States (USA) | Paris | 10 August |
| 2:54.53 | Botswana (BOT) | Paris | 10 August |
| 2:55.83 | Great Britain & NI (GBR) | Paris | 10 August |
| 2:57.75 | Belgium (BEL) | Paris | 10 August |
| 2:58.12 | South Africa (RSA) | Paris | 10 August |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | United States (USA) | 2:54.43 SB |
| 🥈 | Botswana (BOT) | 2:54.53 AR |
| 🥉 | Great Britain & NI (GBR) | 2:55.83 AR |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: United States (USA) 2:54.43
World Indoor Championships: Belgium (BEL) 3:02.54
World Relays: Botswana (BOT) 2:59.11
European Championships: Belgium (BEL) 2:59.84
African Championships: Botswana (BOT) 3:02.23
Oceanian Championships: Fiji (FIJ) 3:19.74
World U20 Championships: United States (USA) 3:03.56
Season snapshot
- With a tremendous kick by Alexander Doom, Belgium stormed to a gold medal in Glasgow at the World Indoor Championships by 0.06 over the United States. In the process, Doom became the first man to win gold in the 400m and 4x400m at the same World Indoor Championships.
- In a preview of their blistering Olympic performance, Botswana opened their season in May by winning the World Relays in 2:59.11, just ahead of South Africa (3:00.75) and Belgium (3:01.16).
- Belgium suggested it was not merely an indoor wonder when they won the European Championships in June. In the Olympic final, the Tornados ran a national record of 2:57.75 to finish fourth, but it wasn’t enough to reach the podium in the fastest Olympic final ever as the United States claimed the country’s third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the event.
- Great Britain earned bronze, its first men’s Olympic 4x400m medal since 2008, by establishing a European record of 2:55.83. Botswana earned silver in 2:54.53, an African record; and the United States team of Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Rai Benjamin broke the Olympic record in 2:54.43. Their winning mark is the second-fastest time in history and was merely 0.14 off the world record set by the US in 1993.
The finish of the men's 4x400m at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)
- Letsile Tebogo ran a shocking 43.03-second leg, one of the fastest relay splits of all time, to anchor Botswana’s Olympic relay and threaten Benjamin until the final metre.
Women’s 4x400m
Season top list
| 3:15.27 | United States (USA) | Paris | 10 August |
| 3:17.96 | University of Arkansas (INT) | Eugene | 8 June |
| 3:19.50 | Netherlands (NED) | Paris | 10 August |
| 3:19.72 | Great Britain & NI (GBR) | Paris | 10 August |
| 3:19.90 | Ireland (IRL) | Paris | 10 August |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | United States (USA) | 3:15.27 AR |
| 🥈 | Netherlands (NED) | 3:19.50 NR |
| 🥉 | Great Britain & NI (GBR) | 3:19.72 NR |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: United States (USA) 3:15.27
World Indoor Championships: Netherlands (NED) 3:25.07
World Relays: United States (USA) 3:21.70
European Championships: Netherlands (NED) 3:22.39
African Championships: Nigeria (NGR) 3:27.31
Oceanian Championships: Papua New Guinea (PNG) 4:01.91
World U20 Championships: United States (USA) 3:30.74
Season snapshot
- The Netherlands opened the year by winning the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow in a national record of 3:25.07 over the United States and Great Britain. The same Dutch quartet of Lieke Klaver, Cathelijn Peeters, Lisanne de Witte and Femke Bol would reunite at the Paris Olympics.
- At the World Relays in May, the USA won gold by a margin of nearly three seconds, with Quanera Hayes, Gabby Thomas, Bailey Lear and Alexis Holmes cruising to a win in 3:21.70. Poland was second and Canada third.
- The USA continued its dominance at the Paris Olympics, winning the country’s eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal at the distance. In the final, Shamier Little led off, followed by a decision to use Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone second to add distance on competitors. The plan worked as McLaughlin-Levrone ran a blistering 47.7-second split. Gabby Thomas and Alexis Holmes finished the relay for the US as they recorded 3:15.27 – the second-fastest time in history, a North American record, and just 0.10 shy of a world record that had stood since 1988. Thomas claimed her third Olympic gold medal as a result.
The US 4x400m team celebrates their victory at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© AFP / Getty Images)
- The silver medal earned by the Netherlands was the country’s first in an Olympic 4x400m. The performance gave Femke Bol her third medal of the Olympics. Britain earned bronze in a national record of 3:19.72, just ahead of an inspired Irish team that finished fourth in 3:19.90, also a national record.
Mixed 4x400m
Season top list
| 3:07.41 | United States (USA) | Paris | 2 August |
| 3:07.43 | Netherlands (NED) | Paris | 3 August |
| 3:08.01 | Great Britain & NI (GBR) | Paris | 3 August |
| 3:09.36 | Belgium (BEL) | Paris | 3 August |
| 3:09.92 | Ireland (ITA) | Rome | 7 June |
Olympic medallists
| 🥇 | Netherlands (NED) | 3:07.43 AR |
| 🥈 | United States (USA) | 3:07.74 |
| 🥉 | Great Britain & NI (GBR) | 3:08.01 NR |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
Olympic Games: Netherlands (NED) 3:07.43
World Relays: United States (USA) 3:10.73
European Championships: Ireland (IRL) 3:09.92
African Championships: South Africa (RSA) 3:13.12
Oceanian Championships: New Zealand (NZL) 3:26.12
World U20 Championships: Australia (AUS) 3:19.27
Season snapshot
- From the start of the year, it appeared the Olympic medal race would come down to two teams: the Netherlands and United States. They circled one another at the World Relays, as the US team of Matthew Boling, Lynna Irby-Jackson, Willington Wright and Kendall Ellis won in a competition record of 3:10.73 to edge the Netherlands by less than a second, with Ireland finishing third.
- At the Paris Olympics, the US team of Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Kaylyn Brown and Bryce Deadmon spent little time establishing its intent on gold when it won its preliminary round in a world record of 3:07.41.
- During the Olympic final, the Netherlands came from behind to win gold in 3:07.43, a European record, ahead of the US in 3:07.74. Femke Bol ran the final leg in 47.93 to capture the gold and overtake US anchor leg Brown.
Femke Bol anchors Netherlands to victory in the mixed 4x400m at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (© Getty Images)
- The victory was redemption for the Netherlands and Bol after her fall in the final metres while leading at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest paved the way for a US victory. One year later in Paris, Bol completed her comeback.
- Britain earned bronze in a national record of 3:08.01 – faster than the world record heading into the Games and Belgium placed fifth in 3:09.36, also a national record. Although Ireland didn’t make the Olympic final, they excelled at the World Relays, where they placed a close third behind USA and the Netherlands, and were then victorious at the European Championships.
Andrew Greif for World Athletics
