Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay

Men's 4 × 100 metres relay at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Venue	Beijing National Stadium
Dates	August 21 August 22 (final)
Teams	16
Winning time	37.10 WR
Medalists
Nesta Carter Michael Frater Usain Bolt Asafa Powell   Jamaica   Keston Bledman Marc Burns Emmanuel Callender Richards Thompson   Trinidad and Tobago   Naoki Tsukahara Shingo Suetsugu Shinji Takahira Nobuharu Asahara   Japan

Official Video Highlights
@ 1:50

Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m		men		women
200 m		men		women
400 m		men		women
800 m		men		women
1500 m		men		women
5000 m		men		women
10,000 m		men		women
100 m hurdles				women
110 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men		women
3000 m steeplechase		men		women
4 × 100 m relay		men		women
4 × 400 m relay		men		women
Road events
Marathon		men		women
20 km walk		men		women
50 km walk		men
Field events
Long jump		men		women
Triple jump		men		women
High jump		men		women
Pole vault		men		women
Shot put		men		women
Discus throw		men		women
Javelin throw		men		women
Hammer throw		men		women
Combined events
Heptathlon				women
Decathlon		men

The Men's 4 × 100 metre relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 21 and 22 August at the Beijing National Stadium.^[1]

There were 16 NOCs competing at this event. These 16 NOCs were selected by the average of the two best marks at the qualifying period. Australia was 14th but withdrew and the Netherlands was invited instead.^[2] The final was won by Jamaica in the new World record time 37.10.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record	United States Michael Marsh Leroy Burrell Dennis Mitchell Carl Lewis  United States Jon Drummond Andre Cason Dennis Mitchell Leroy Burrell	37.40 s	Barcelona Stuttgart	8 August 1992 21 August 1993
Olympic record	United States (USA) Michael Marsh Leroy Burrell Dennis Mitchell Carl Lewis	37.40 s	Barcelona	8 August 1992

The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

Date	Event	Name	Nationality	Time	OR	WR
22 August	Final	Nesta Carter Michael Frater Usain Bolt Asafa Powell	Jamaica	37.10	OR	WR

Qualification summary

Pos	NOC	2 races		1	2
		Total	Average
1	United States	75.88	37.94	37.78	38.10
2	Jamaica	75.91	37.96	37.89	38.02
3	Great Britain	76.20	38.10	37.90	38.30
4	Japan	76.24	38.12	38.03	38.21
5	Brazil	76.26	38.13	37.99	38.27
6	Germany	77.12	38.56	38.56	38.56
7	France	77.18	38.59	38.40	38.78
8	Poland	77.23	38.62	38.61	38.62
9	Nigeria	77.34	38.67	38.43	38.91
10	Canada	77.53	38.77	38.72	38.81
11	Italy	77.56	38.78	38.54	39.02
12	Trinidad and Tobago	77.56	38.78	38.54	39.02
13	South Africa	77.80	38.90	38.75	39.05
	Australia	77.82	38.91	38.73	39.09
14	China	77.85	38.93	38.81	39.04
15	Thailand	77.89	38.95	38.94	38.95
16	Netherlands	77.95	38.98	38.92	39.03
Reserves
17	Switzerland	78.01	39.01	38.99	39.02
18	Ghana	78.08	39.04	38.91	39.17
19	Russia	78.45	39.23	39.08	39.37

Results

All times shown are in seconds.

• Q denotes automatic qualification.
• q denotes fastest losers.
• DNS denotes did not start.
• DNF denotes did not finish.
• DSQ denotes disqualified
• AR denotes area record.
• NR denotes national record.
• PB denotes personal best.
• SB denotes season's best.

Heats

First 3 in each heat(Q) and the next 2 fastest(q) advance to the Final.

Heat 1

Lane	Nation	Competitors	Time	Notes
8	Trinidad and Tobago	Keston Bledman, Marc Burns, Aaron Armstrong, Richard Thompson	38.26	Q
4	Japan	Naoki Tsukahara, Shingo Suetsugu, Shinji Takahira, Nobuharu Asahara	38.52	Q, SB
3	Netherlands	Maarten Heisen, Guus Hoogmoed, Patrick van Luijk, Caimin Douglas	38.87	Q, SB
2	Brazil	Jose Carlos Moreira, Bruno de Barros, Vicente Lima, Sandro Viana	39.01	q
6	Nigeria	Onyeabor Ngwogu, Obinna Metu, Chinedu Oriala, Uchenna Emedolu	DNF
9	Poland	Marcin Nowak, Łukasz Chyła, Marcin Jędrusiński, Dariusz Kuć	DNF
5	South Africa	Hannes Dreyer, Leigh Julius, Ishmael Kumbane, Thuso Mpuang	DNF
7	United States	Rodney Martin, Travis Padgett, Darvis Patton, Tyson Gay	DNF

Heat 2

Lane	Nation	Competitors	Time	Notes
6	Jamaica	Dwight Thomas, Michael Frater, Nesta Carter, Asafa Powell	38.31	Q, SB
2	Canada	Hank Palmer, Anson Henry, Jared Connaughton, Pierre Browne	38.77	Q
3	Germany	Tobias Unger, Till Helmke, Alexander Kosenkow, Martin Keller	38.93	Q
9	China	Wen Yongyi, Zhang Peimeng, Lu Bin, Hu Kai	39.13	q
7	Thailand	Apinan Sukaphai, Siriroj Darasuriyong, Sompote Suqannarangsri, Sittichai Suwonprateep	39.40
4	France	Yannick Lesourd, Martial Mbandjock, Manuel Reynaert, Samuel Coco-Viloin	39.53
5	Great Britain	Simeon Williamson, Tyrone Edgar, Marlon Devonish, Craig Pickering	DSQ
8	Italy	Fabio Cerutti, Simone Collio, Emanuele Di Gregorio, Jacques Riparelli	DSQ

Final

Rank	Lane	Nation	Competitors	Time	Notes
	5	Jamaica	Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell	37.10	WR
	4	Trinidad and Tobago	Keston Bledman, Marc Burns, Emmanuel Callender, Richard Thompson	38.06
	7	Japan	Naoki Tsukahara, Shingo Suetsugu, Shinji Takahira, Nobuharu Asahara	38.15	SB
4	3	Brazil	Vicente Lima, Sandro Viana, Bruno de Barros, Jose Carlos Moreira	38.24	SB
5	9	Germany	Tobias Unger, Till Helmke, Alexander Kosenkow, Martin Keller	38.58
6	6	Canada	Hank Palmer, Anson Henry, Jared Connaughton, Pierre Browne	38.66	SB
7	8	Netherlands	Maarten Heisen, Guus Hoogmoed, Patrick van Luijk, Caimin Douglas	45.81
	2	China	Wen Yongyi, Zhang Peimeng, Lu Bin, Hu Kai	DSQ

References

1. "Olympic Athletics Competition Schedule". IAAF. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2008-08-20.

• "Best Relay Performances" (PDF).