2015 IAAF World Relays – Men's 4 × 200 metres relay

The men's 4 × 200 metres relay at the 2015 IAAF World Relays was held at the Thomas Robinson Stadium on 3 May.

Men's 4 × 200 metres relay
at the 2014 IAAF World Relays
VenueThomas Robinson Stadium
Dates3 May (heats & final)
Nations21
Winning time1:20.97
Medalists
gold medal 
silver medal 
bronze medal 
← 2014
2017 →

On paper this race looked like a Jamaican record attempt with the American team their closest competitor. Jamaica brought all its guns, and strategically held out Usain Bolt and Nickel Ashmeade from the qualifying round. But when it came time for the final, Bolt was nowhere to be seen. A minor hamstring injury earlier in the meet kept the world record holder in the locker room listening to music when the finals were held.[1] The first two legs went as scripted with Jamaica taking a significant lead, but at the second handoff, Jason Livermore seemed completely unprepared to take a handoff, standing flatfooted as Rasheed Dwyer passed him and handed the baton backward. Still the Jamaican handoff was legal, just costing the team valuable seconds. In the adjacent lane, the American team saw Curtis Mitchell line up in the wrong spot and while Isiah Young came in on the inside of his lane, Mitchell performed first a lane violation then after being passed by Young, a pirouette to drop the baton outside of the end of the zone. Mitchell picked up the baton to continue now well back in the field. Out of this chaos, the well trained French squad was left in the lead through the final turn. It was only the difference in Warren Weir's superior speed that allowed him to pass Ben Bassaw on the home stretch to take Jamaica to victory. USA crossed the line in third, but were disqualified for the handoff violation.

Records

Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:

World record  Jamaica
(Nickel Ashmeade, Warren Weir, Jermaine Brown, Yohan Blake)
1:18.63 Nassau, Bahamas24 May 2014
Championship record
World Leading  United States
(Joseph Morris, Maurice Mitchell, Ameer Webb, Wallace Spearmon)
1:20.64 Philadelphia, United States25 April 2015
African Record  South Africa
(Marcus la Grange, Mathew Quinn, Josef van der Linde, Paul Gorries)
1:22.06 Port Elizabeth, South Africa1 March 2002
Asian Record Waseda University1:22.12 Yokohama, Japan14 September 2014
North, Central American and Caribbean record  Jamaica
(Nickel Ashmeade, Warren Weir, Jermaine Brown, Yohan Blake)
1:18.63 Nassau, Bahamas24 May 2014
South American Record  Guyana
(Adam Harris, Winston George, Jeremy Bascom, Stephan James)
1:24.42 Philadelphia, United States25 April 2015
European Record  France
(Christophe Lemaitre, Yannick Fonsat, Ben Bassaw, Ken Romain)
1:20.66 Nassau, Bahamas24 May 2014
Oceanian record  Australia
(Scott Vassella, Shem Hollands, Dean Capobianco, Peter Vassella)
1:23.04 Sydney, Australia6 December 1998

Schedule

DateTimeRound
3 May 201419:00Heats
3 May 201421:20Final

All times are local times (UTC−4)

Results

KEY:qFastest non-qualifiersQQualifiedWLWorld leadingNRNational recordSBSeasonal best

Heats

Qualification: First 2 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) advanced to the final.[2][3]

RankHeatLaneNationAthletesTimeNotes
117  JamaicaRasheed Dwyer, Jason Livermore, Jermaine Brown, Warren Weir1:20.19Q, WL
222  United StatesJoseph Morris, Isiah Young, Justin Walker, Wallace Spearmon1:20.78Q
315  FrancePierre Vincent, Teddy Tinmar, Pierre-Alexis Pessonneaux, Ben Bassaw1:21.41Q, SB
413  GermanyRobin Erewa, Sven Knipphals, Aleixo-Platini Menga, Alexander Kosenkow1:21.46q, NR
525  Saint Kitts and NevisAntoine Adams, Lestrod Roland, Brijesh Lawrence, Allistar Clarke1:22.36Q, SB
628  PolandJakub Adamski, Remigiusz Olszewski, Karol Zalewski, Adam Pawłowski1:22.38q, SB
737  BahamasDeneko Brown, Andretti Bain, Alfred Higgs, Blake Bartlett1:22.86Q, SB
723  BarbadosNicholas Deshong, Ramon Gittens, Levi Cadogan, Fallon Forde1:22.86SB
924  TurkeyYavuz Can, Ramil Guliyev, Fatih Aktaş, Ali Ekber Kayaş1:23.55NR
1038  SwitzerlandSteven Gugerli, Pascal Mancini, Reto Schenkel, Suganthan Somasundaram1:24.55Q, NR
1127  United States Virgin IslandsTabarie Henry, Leslie Murray, David Walters, Leon Hunt1:25.31SB
12  Antigua and BarbudaRai Benjamin, Daniel Bailey, Tahir Walsh, Miguel FrancisDNF
14  Cayman IslandsKemar Hyman, Tyrell Cuffy, Gerome Bodden, Jamal WaltonDNF
32  KenyaMike Mokamba Nyang'Au, Carvin Nkanata, Collins Omae Gichana, Pius Muiya MusyokiDQ170.7
16  NigeriaEjowvokoghene Oduduru, Nicholas Imhoaperamhe, Orukpe Eraiyokan, Robert SimmonsDQ170.7
26  ChinaWu Zhiqiang, Mo Youxue, Yang Yang, Xie ZhenyeDQ170.7
18  NamibiaJesse Urikhob, Hitjivirue Kaanjuka, Gilbert Hainuca, Adiel Van WykDQ163.3
35  CanadaGavin Smellie, Aaron Brown, Oluwasegun Makinde, Dontae Richards-KwokDQ170.6
34  Papua New GuineaTheo Piniau, Kevin Kapmatana, Richard Dotaona, Paul PokanaDQ170.18
36  ItalyDNS
33  Trinidad and TobagoDNS

Final

The final was started at 21:29.[4]

RankLaneNationAthletesTimeNotes
6  JamaicaNickel Ashmeade, Rasheed Dwyer, Jason Livermore, Warren Weir1:20.97
4  FranceTeddy Tinmar, Christophe Lemaitre, Pierre-Alexis Pessonneaux, Ben Bassaw1:21.49
1  GermanyRobin Erewa, Sven Knipphals, Aleixo-Platini Menga, Alexander Kosenkow1:22.65
42  PolandJakub Adamski, Remigiusz Olszewski, Kamil Masztak, Karol Zalewski1:22.85
53  BahamasDeneko Brown, Andretti Bain, Alfred Higgs, Blake Bartlett1:22.91
67  Saint Kitts and NevisAntoine Adams, Lestrod Roland, Brijesh Lawrence, Allistar Clarke1:22.92
78  SwitzerlandSteven Gugerli, Pascal Mancini, Reto Schenkel, Suganthan Somasundaram1:24.37NR
5  United StatesWallace Spearmon, Isiah Young, Curtis Mitchell, Justin GatlinDQ170.7

References