USA on the way to the mixed 4x400m world title in Tokyo (© Getty Images)
As the year draws to a close, we look back at the key moments of 2025 in each area of the sport.
The series concludes with a review of the relay disciplines.
Men’s 4x100m
Season top list
| 37.29 | United States (USA) | Tokyo | 21 September |
| 37.55 | Canada (CAN) | Tokyo | 21 September |
| 37.61 | South Africa (RSA) | Guangzhou | 11 May |
| 37.79 | Ghana (GHA) | Tokyo | 20 September |
| 37.80 | Jamaica (JAM) | London | 19 July |
World Championships medallists
| 🥇 | United States (USA) | 37.29 WL |
| 🥈 | Canada (CAN) | 37.55 SB |
| 🥉 | Netherlands (NED) | 37.81 NR |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
World Championships: United States (USA) 37.29
World Relays: South Africa (RSA) 37.61
World Relays (mixed): Canada (CAN) 40.30
South American Championships: Colombia (COL) 39.58
Asian Championships: Korea (KOR) 38.49
NACAC Championships: Canada (CAN) 38.05
Season snapshot
- Prior to the 4x100m final at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25, Noah Lyles had posted on social media the details of the athlete after party as if safe in the knowledge there would be something for him to celebrate deep into the Tokyo night. And so it was, as he anchored home a US quartet, including Christian Coleman, Kenny Bednarek and Courtney Lindsey, in a world-leading 37.29.
- Canada’s Jerome Blake briefly threatened to claw back the rapid US line-up with his second-leg run, but their North American rivals had too much speed in the end, leaving a Canadian team also made up of Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney and Andre de Grasse to come away with the silver.
- Going into the championships, a Netherlands four consisting of Nsikak Ekpo, Taymir Burnet, Xavi Mo-Ajok and Elvis Afrifa were not fancied to come away a medal, but they picked up the bronze. It was a final missing the Jamaican, British and South African teams after earlier mishaps in their respective heats.
- It was a case of what might have been for the South Africans, having set the early-season benchmark in winning at the World Athletics Relays Guangzhou 25 with Bayanda Walaza, Sinesipho Dambile, Bradley Nkoana and Akani Simbine. In China, they edged out the US team by five hundredths of a second with two of the contingent, Bednarek and Lindsey, who would run in Tokyo.
Women’s 4x100m
Season top list
| 41.60 | United States (USA) | Tokyo | 20 September |
| 41.69 | Great Britain & NI (GBR) | London | 19 July |
| 41.79 | Jamaica (JAM) | Tokyo | 21 September |
| 41.86 | Germany (GER) | Tokyo | 20 September |
| 42.02 | Netherlands (NED) | Madrid | 28 June |
World Championships medallists
| 🥇 | United States (USA) | 41.75 |
| 🥈 | Jamaica (JAM) | 41.79 SB |
| 🥉 | Germany (GER) | 41.87 |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
World Championships: United States (USA) 41.75
World Relays: Great Britain (GBR) 42.21
World Relays (mixed): Canada (CAN) 40.30
South American Championships: Brazil (BRA) 44.35
Asian Championships: China (CHN) 43.28
Season snapshot
- US athlete Melissa Jefferson-Wooden capped a remarkable World Championships as she clinched a third gold of the event in the 4x100m, emulating Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce in the process. Jefferson-Wooden ran the opening leg in pouring rain and Sha’Carri Richardson anchored the US quartet home in 41.75 following stints by Twanisha Terry and Kayla White.
- Individual 100m and 200m champion Jefferson-Wooden may have set the sprint benchmark in Tokyo but she was still slower than Fraser-Pryce on leg one. However, in what was the Jamaican sprint great’s career swansong 18 years after her first World Championship medal, it was apt it should be a silver as it was back in 2007 – at an event that was also in Japan but in Osaka on that occasion.
- The battle was tight for the bronze medal between Germany and Great Britain but a fast-finishing Gina Lückenkemper proved to have just enough in the tank for a podium finish. In the end, just 0.12 separated the top three quartets and the GB team had to make do with fourth place.
- There was a consolation of sorts from the 2025 season from the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, China, back in May. At the seventh edition of the event, a British quartet of Nia Wedderburn-Goodison, Amy Hunt, Bianca Williams and Success Eduan were victorious. Hunt was the only of those four to run in the final come Tokyo.
Men’s 4x400m
Season top list
| 2:57.50 | South Africa (RSA) | Guangzhou | 11 May |
| 2:57.68 | Botswana (BOT) | Tokyo | 20 September |
| 2:57.83 | United States (USA) | Tokyo | 21 September |
| 2:57.98 | Belgium (BEL) | Tokyo | 20 September |
| 2:58.11 | Great Britain & NI (GBR) | Tokyo | 20 September |
World Championships medallists
| 🥇 | Botswana (BOT) | 2:57.76 |
| 🥈 | United States (USA) | 2:57.83 SB |
| 🥉 | South Africa (RSA) | 2:57.83 |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
World Championships: Botswana (BOT) 2:57.76
World Indoor Championships: United States (USA) 3:03.13
World Relays: South Africa (RSA) 2:57.50
South American Championships: Brazil (BRA) 3:07.40
Asian Championships: Qatar (QAT) 3:03.52
NACAC Championships: Jamaica (JAM) 3:02.86
Season snapshot
- On a rain-soaked final night of the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25, the eight quartets were sodden before the race had even started. The United States set the benchmark throughout the final, but it was Botswana who won the day as individual 400m champion Collen Kebinatshipi eclipsed 400m hurdles champion Rai Benjamin in the final metres of a thrilling finish. The African nation had earlier had three team members in the final of the individual event.
- For the USA, usually such a dominant force in the relays, it was a case of what might have been. It had looked like Benjamin’s gold for the taking as he had a two-metre lead home down the home straight, only to miss out on gold and just sneak the bronze by two-thousandths of a second from Zakithi Nene of South Africa. Just seven tenths of a second separated the top three.
- In truth, Nene had been kept in the medal hunt on the final leg for South Africa by Wayde van Niekerk, once the dominant athlete over one lap of the track. Aged 33, he produced a leg three for the ages.
- It was the South African men, this time minus Van Niekerk, who set the benchmark for the World Relays in Guangzhou. Gardeo Isaacs, Udeme Okon, Leendert Koekemoer and Nene setting the fastest time of any single team in the year with their 2:57.50. The Tokyo podium all got close to the time without quite eclipsing it.
Women’s 4x400m
Season top list
| 3:16.61 | United States (USA) | Tokyo | 21 September |
| 3:19.25 | Jamaica (JAM) | Tokyo | 21 September |
| 3:20.18 | Netherlands (NED) | Tokyo | 21 September |
| 3:22.15 | Belgium (BEL) | Tokyo | 21 September |
| 3:22.91 | Poland (POL) | Tokyo | 21 September |
World Championships medallists
| 🥇 | United States (USA) | 3:16.61 CR |
| 🥈 | Jamaica (JAM) | 3:19.25 SB |
| 🥉 | Netherlands (NED) | 3:20.18 SB |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
World Championships: United States (USA) 3:16.61
World Indoor Championships: United States (USA) 3:27.45
World Relays: Spain (ESP) 3:24.13
South American Championships: Colombia (COL) 3:33.29
Asian Championships: India (IND) 3:34.18
Season snapshot
- The previous record by the United States was 14 gold medals at a single World Championships back in 2019. By the end of Tokyo, they had edged that record to 16 and in the women’s 4x400m they were at their dominant best as Isabella Whittaker, Lynna Irby-Jackson, Aaliyah Butler and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won in a championship record of 3:16.61. It was the fifth-quickest time in history and made up for a disqualification in Budapest two years before.
- Such was the US ascendancy, all four of their athletes clocked the fastest time of each leg. It always felt like the other nations would be battling for the other podium places and, in what proved a rapid final, seven of the eight quartets managed a season’s best in Tokyo. Jamaica proved best of the rest with their 3:19.25 thanks to Dejanea Oakley, Stacey-Ann Williams, Andrenette Knight and Nickisha Pryce.
- Femke Bol is a phenomenal athlete but not even she could make up a 10-metre deficit to the Jamaicans going into the final leg. But she managed to take her teammates Eveline Saalberg, Lieke Klaver and Lisanne de Witte to the bronze. It completed a sweep of medals in Tokyo for Bol, with gold in the individual and silver in her mixed relay outing.
- Many of the star names were absent in the 4x400m at the World Relays and yet it was still a surprise to see the United States women pipped to the title by Spain. South Africa finished third, both them and the Spaniards clocking national records – 3:24.13 and 3:24.84, respectively.
Mixed 4x400m
Season top list
| 3:08.80 | United States (USA) | Tokyo | 13 September |
| 3:09.43 | Poland (POL) | Madrid | 29 June |
| 3:09.66 | Italy (ITA) | Madrid | 29 June |
| 3:09.66 | Great Britain & NI (GBR) | Madrid | 29 June |
| 3:09.96 | Netherlands (NED) | Tokyo | 13 September |
World Championships medallists
| 🥇 | United States (USA) | 3:08.80 =CR |
| 🥈 | Netherlands (NED) | 3:09.96 SB |
| 🥉 | Belgium (BEL) | 3:10.61 |
| Full results | ||
Major winners
World Championships: United States (USA) 3:08.80
World Relays: United States (USA) 3:09.54
South American Championships: Brazil (BRA) 3:17.73
Asian Championships: India (IND) 3:18.12
NACAC Championships: Jamaica (JAM) 3:11.10
Season snapshot
- Two years ago, the United States set a championship record of 3:08.80 at the World Championships in Budapest. In a case of history repeating itself, the same nation clocked the same time to again win the gold in the mixed event. Back then, Alexis Holmes had held off a stumbling Femke Bol. This time, Holmes led throughout her final leg for another world title.
- Bol, who stayed on her feet on this occasion, would later reflect on the start to the race being chaotic as is always the case when it comes to the mixed relays. While the Dutch athlete was not quite able to reel in the US just ahead of her, she held on to the silver in 3:09.96.
- Belgium, Poland and Great Britain were all locked in a battle for the bronze behind the US and Dutch contingents. It was Poland – who set the quickest time of the year prior to Tokyo, a 3:09.43 in Madrid in June – that sealed the final medal finish. For GB, it was an improved time on Budapest where they had won silver. This time, they were fourth.
- When the event took place again in Guangzhou, Lynna Irby-Jackson was the only survivor from the US mixed relay line-up who had won gold at the World Relays in Nassau in 2024, and yet the outcome was still the same as she ran the anchor leg on this occasion. It was a championship record 3:09.54 for her, Chris Robinson, Courtney Okolo and Johnnie Blockburger.
- Another mixed event – the mixed 4x100m – made its global debut at the World Relays in Guangzhou and it was won by Canada in 40.30. As well as forming part of the World Relays programme, the mixed 4x100m will be contested at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest next year.
Matt Majendie for World Athletics
