World record: United States (Michael Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell, Carl Lewis) 37.40s Barcelona, Spain, 8 August 1992
World record: United States (Jon Drummond, Andre Cason, Dennis Mitchell, Leroy Burrell) 37.40s Stuttgart, Germany, 21 August 1993
Olympic record: United States (Michael Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell, Carl Lewis) 37.40s Barcelona, Spain, 8 August 1992
The first of the two heats saw four of the eight teams failing to finish,
with the USA the shock casualties. Leading into the final exchange,
Darvis Patton failed to get the baton to Tyson Gay, while Nigeria,
Poland and South Africa followed suit. Trinidad were easy winners in
38.26, while Japan, with three of its Athens squad still intact, were sec-
ond in 38.52. In the second heat, Jamaica, resting Bolt, made 38.31
look easy, while Britain, challenging for second place, were disquali-
fied when Craig Pickering set off too early on the anchor leg, and took
the baton beyond the exchange zone.
In the final, Jamaica took a slight lead from Japan on the first leg,
and Frater increased the lead to about a metre with his 9.01 carry. Burns
moved Trinidad into second place ahead of Japan. Bolt changed the
tenor of the race, running what was probably the first ever sub-9 second
third leg despite a baton change which could be politely described as
very safe. A similarly careful exchange to Powell followed, and show-
ing his true quality the former world record holder took a four-metre
lead and turned it into one of 10m, covering his stint in a breathtaking
8.70. Whereas the 2004 title was decided by one hundredth, the win-
ning margin here was almost a full second as the long-standing world
record was lowered from 37.40 to 37.10.
Trinidad had momentarily dropped behind Japan and Brazil after the
last exchange, but then Thompson raced clear to claim his second
Beijing silver.
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