4 × 100 m relay, men

What to remember

At the London Olympics on August 11, 2012, Jamaica ran the 4 × 100 m relay in 36.84 s, an average of 39.09 km/h. Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt made up the team. The first runner starts with the same stagger as in the individual 400 m, and each one carries the baton over a 100 m leg.

Nesta Carter, a 100 m specialist, was already part of the Jamaican relay that set a world record at the 2011 World Championships. In August 2010 he had become only the fifth sprinter to run the 100 m in under 9.8 seconds. He later took 100 m bronze at the World Championships in Moscow on August 11, 2013, behind Justin Gatlin and Usain Bolt.

In 1912, the record was 42.3 s. It then went through 40.8 s in 1929, 39.8 s in 1936, 38.2 s in 1968, 37.83 s in 1984, 37.40 s in 1993, 37.31 s in 2009 and 37.04 s in 2011, before the London mark. Over 100 years, the time fell by 12.9%.