4 x 400 meters relay race
Rules
The 4 x 400 metres relay is a team discipline in the athletics program. A team of 4 athletes must, passing the baton, run 1600 meters and get ahead of their rivals at the finish line. It is held in the summer (400 meter track) and winter season (200 meter track). At an outdoor stadium, the relay starts from the starting positions of the 400-meter run, and each team runs the first stage along its own track. After that, the runners, as well as at the 800-meter distance, move to a common track and after about 115 meters they switch to a common run along the edge of the stadium. The transfer from the first to the second stage takes place along the start line of the 800-meter distance, in the following stages at the finish line of the 400-meter distance. The transfer of the wand should be carried out in a 20-meter corridor. Unlike the 4×100-meter relay, the baton transfer does not play such a key role, but a well-coordinated transfer is very important.
History
The 4 x 400 metres relay has been included in the Olympic Games program for men since 1912 and for women since 1972. The program of the summer World and European Championships includes from the very beginning of their holding. Michael Johnson (USA) won the relay twice at the Olympic Games (1992, 2000) and won the relay three times as a member of the national team at the Summer World Championships (1993, 1995, 1999).
Interesting facts
The coaches of the team have extensive tactical capabilities, distributing athletes at the stages. So at the first stage it is better to put a specialist of a good start, who runs a short sprint of 60 meters well, at the straight and longest second stage a specialist in running 100 meters can perform well, at the third stage it is advantageous to put a specialist in running 200 meters, who passes the turn well. It is usually customary to put the strongest athlete at the last stage, but sometimes his capabilities are used at the first stage.
A record
In an outdoor stadium. Men: Team USA with a time of 2:54.29. Stuttgart, Germany 1993. Women: USSR team with a time of 3:15.17. Seoul, South Korea in 1988.
Indoors. Men: Team USA with a time of 3:02.83. Maebashi, Japan 1999. Women: Russian team with a time of 3:23.37. Glasgow, Scotland 2006
