2011 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 4 × 400 metres relay

Official Video

The Women's 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on 2 and 3 September. Friday and Saturday. This is a change in schedule from previous years when all the relays were at the end of the program. This might necessitate a change in strategy to allow for team members involved in other events.

The United States held the two fastest relay times before the championships and had won the 2007 and 2009 world titles, as well as the 2008 Olympic gold medals. Jamaica and Russia – the only other nations to have won a world title since 2000 – were the other primary contenders. A Brazilian team had broken the South American record a month before the championships and was the third fastest qualifying nation. Great Britain, Ukraine and Germany comprised the other major nations at the competition.^[1]

Twenty teams, instead of the normal sixteen, started this event, necessitating three heats instead of two. United States was an easy winner in heat one, with Ukraine edging out neighboring Belarus for the second automatic qualifying spot, but Belarus qualified on time. Russia, with the fastest time, was an easy winner in heat two with Nigeria taking the second automatic spot and Czech Republic taking the second time qualifier. Jamaica and Great Britain separated cleanly from their competitors in heat three.

In the final, the United States led off with previous world champion Sanya Richards-Ross, who handed off to silver medalist Allyson Felix in the lead. Felix extended the lead with Russian Natalya Antyukh and then Jamaica 's Davita Prendergast chasing about 5 metres back. Prendergast passed a fading Antyukh, who had charged after Felix and was slowing, just before the handoff. Novlene Williams-Mills solidified Jamaica's hold on second place during the third leg. On the anchor leg, Francena McCorory burst away from the handoff, extending the lead to 10 metres and discouraging a challenge. McCorory paid for that burst on the home stretch, but still maintained the 5 metre lead at the finish. Jamaica knocked a second off their National record.

On 21 June 2017, Russia forfeited the bronze medal following the disqualification of Kapachinskaya. The medal was reallocated by IAAF to Great Britain.

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
United States (USA) Sanya Richards-Ross Allyson Felix Jessica Beard Francena McCorory Natasha Hastings* Keshia Baker*	Jamaica (JAM) Rosemarie Whyte Davita Prendergast Novlene Williams-Mills Shericka Williams Shereefa Lloyd* Patricia Hall*	Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) Perri Shakes-Drayton Nicola Sanders Christine Ohuruogu Lee McConnell

Records

World record	Soviet Union (Tatyana Ledovskaya, Olga Nazarova, Mariya Kulchunova, Olga Bryzgina)	3:15.17	Seoul, South Korea	1 October 1988
Championship record	United States (Gwen Torrence, Maicel Malone-Wallace, Natasha Kaiser-Brown, Jearl Miles Clark)	3:16.71	Stuttgart, Germany	22 August 1993
World leading	United States Red (Debbie Dunn, Allyson Felix, Natasha Hastings, Sanya Richards-Ross)	3:22.92	Philadelphia, United States	30 April 2011
African record	Nigeria (Olabisi Afolabi, Fatima Yusuf, Charity Opara, Falilat Ogunkoya)	3:21.04	Atlanta, GA, United States	3 August 1996
Asian record	Hebei province (Xiaohong An, Xiaoyun Bai, Chunying Cao, Yuqin Ma)	3:24.28	Beijing, China	13 September 1993
North, Central American and Caribbean record	United States (Denean Howard-Hill, Diane Dixon, Valerie Brisco-Hooks, Florence Griffith-Joyner)	3:15.51	Seoul, South Korea	1 October 1988
South American record	BM&F Bovespa (Geisa Aparecida Coutinho, Bárbara de Oliveira, Joelma Sousa, Jailma de Lima)	3:26.68	São Paulo, Brazil	7 August 2011
European record	Soviet Union (Tatyana Ledovskaya, Olga Nazarova, Mariya Kulchunova, Olga Bryzgina)	3:15.17	Seoul, South Korea	1 October 1988
Oceanian record	Australia (Nova Peris, Tamsyn Manou, Melinda Gainsford-Taylor, Cathy Freeman)	3:23.81	Sydney, Australia	30 September 2000

Qualification standards

A time	B time
3:32.00

Schedule

Date	Time	Round
2 September 2011	12:10	Heats
3 September 2011	20:40	Final

Results

KEY:	q	Fastest non-qualifiers	Q	Qualified	NR	National record	PB	Personal best	SB	Seasonal best

Heats

Qualification: First 2 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) advance to the final.

Rank	Heat	Nation	Athletes	Time	Notes
1	2	Russia (RUS)	Kseniya Vdovina, Ksenia Zadorina, Lyudmila Litvinova, Antonina Krivoshapka	3:20.94	Q, WL
2	3	Jamaica (JAM)	Rosemarie Whyte, Shereefa Lloyd, Patricia Hall, Davita Prendergast	3:22.01	Q, SB
3	3	Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)	Christine Ohuruogu, Nicola Sanders, Lee McConnell, Perri Shakes-Drayton	3:23.05	Q, SB
4	1	United States (USA)	Natasha Hastings, Jessica Beard, Francena McCorory, Keshia Baker	3:23.57	Q
5	1	Belarus (BLR)	Hanna Tashpulatava, Yulyana Yushchanka, Ilona Usovich, Sviatlana Usovich	3:24.28	q, SB
6	2	Nigeria (NGR)	Omolara Omotosho, Muizat Ajoke Odumosu, Margaret Etim, Bukola Abogunloko	3:25.59	Q, SB
7	2	Czech Republic (CZE)	Denisa Rosolová, Zuzana Bergrová, Jitka Bartoničková, Zuzana Hejnová	3:26.01	q, SB
8	3	Italy (ITA)	Chiara Bazzoni, Maria Enrica Spacca, Libania Grenot, Marta Milani	3:26.48	SB
9	2	Cuba (CUB)	Aymée Martínez, Diosmely Peña, Susana Clement, Daisurami Bonne	3:26.74	SB
10	1	Germany (GER)	Janin Lindenberg, Esther Cremer, Lena Schmidt, Claudia Hoffmann	3:27.31	SB
11	3	Ireland (IRL)	Marian Andrews-Heffernan, Joanne Cuddihy, Claire Bergin, Michelle Carey	3:27.48	NR
12	2	Canada (CAN)	Adrienne Power, Esther Akinsulie, Jenna Martin, Lemlem Bereket	3:27.92	SB
13	1	France (FRA)	Phara Anacharsis, Muriel Hurtis-Houairi, Marie Gayot, Floria Gueï	3:28.02	SB
14	3	Turkey (TUR)	Nagihan Karadere, Birsen Engin, Meliz Redif, Pınar Saka	3:32.15
15	1	Australia (AUS)	Caitlin Sargent, Caitlin Willis-Pincott, Lauren Boden, Anneliese Rubie	3:32.27	SB
16	3	China (CHN)	Chen Yanmei, Tang Xiaoyin, Zheng Zhihui, Chen Jingwen	3:32.39	SB
17	2	Brazil (BRA)	Geisa Coutinho, Bárbara de Oliveira, Joelma Sousa, Jailma de Lima	3:32.43
18	3	South Korea (KOR)	Woo Yu-jin, Lee Ha-nee, Park Seongmyun, Oh Se-ra	3:43.22	SB
	1	Kazakhstan (KAZ)	Alexandra Kuzina, Viktoriya Yalovtseva, Marina Maslenko, Tatyana Khadjimuradova	DNF
	1	Ukraine (UKR)	Nataliya Pyhyda, Olha Zavhorodnya, Hanna Yaroshchuk, Antonina Yefremova	(3:24.13)	DQ¹

Final

Rank	Lane	Nation	Athletes	Time	Notes
	6	United States (USA)	Sanya Richards-Ross, Allyson Felix, Jessica Beard, Francena McCorory	3:18.09	WL
	4	Jamaica (JAM)	Rosemarie Whyte, Davita Prendergast, Novlene Williams-Mills, Shericka Williams	3:18.71	NR
	3	Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)	Perri Shakes-Drayton, Nicola Sanders, Christine Ohuruogu, Lee McConnell	3:23.63
4	1	Belarus (BLR)	Hanna Tashpulatava, Yulyana Yushchanka, Ilona Usovich, Sviatlana Usovich	3:25.64
5	2	Czech Republic (CZE)	Denisa Rosolová, Zuzana Bergrová, Jitka Bartoničková, Zuzana Hejnová	3:26.57
6	8	Nigeria (NGR)	Omolara Omotosho, Muizat Ajoke Odumosu, Margaret Etim, Bukola Abogunloko	3:29.82
	5	Russia (RUS)	Antonina Krivoshapka, Natalya Antyukh, Lyudmila Litvinova, Anastasiya Kapachinskaya	3:19.36	DQ¹
	7	Ukraine (UKR)	Nataliya Pyhyda, Anastasiya Rabchenyuk, Hanna Yaroshchuk, Antonina Yefremova	3:23.86	DQ²

¹ Positive drug test of Kapachinskaya ² Positive drug test of Yefremova

References

^ Rowbottom, Mike (21 August 2011). Women's 4x400m Relay – PREVIEW Archived 2012-08-01 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 25 August 2011.

External links

Relay results at IAAF website

[1] Rowbottom, Mike (21 August 2011). Women's 4x400m Relay – PREVIEW Archived 2012-08-01 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 25 August 2011.

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