2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay
World record United States ( USA ) Andrew Valmon , Quincy Watts , Butch Reynolds , Michael Johnson 2:54.29 Stuttgart , Germany 22 August 1993
Championship record United States ( USA ) Andrew Valmon , Quincy Watts , Butch Reynolds , Michael Johnson 2:54.29 Stuttgart , Germany 22 August 1993
World Leading Bahamas ( BAH ) Andrae Williams , Michael Mathieu , Nathaniel McKinney , Chris Brown 3:00.29 Philadelphia , United States 25 April 2009
African Record Nigeria ( NGR ) Clement Chukwu , Jude Monye , Enefiok Udo-Obong , Sunday Bada 2:58.68 Sydney , Australia 30 September 2000
Asian Record Japan ( JPN ) Koji Ito , Jun Osakada , Shigekazu Ōmori , Shunji Karube 3:00.76 Atlanta , United States 3 August 1996
North American Record United States ( USA ) Andrew Valmon , Quincy Watts , Butch Reynolds , Michael Johnson 2:54.29 Stuttgart , Germany 22 August 1993
South American record Brazil ( BRA ) Cleverson da Silva , Claudinei da Silva , Eronilde de Araújo , Sanderlei Parrela 2:58.56 Winnipeg , Canada 30 July 1999
European Record Great Britain ( GBR ) Iwan Thomas , Jamie Baulch , Roger Black , Mark Richardson 2:56.60 Atlanta , United States 3 August 1996
Oceanian Record Australia ( AUS ) Darren Clark , Rick Mitchell , Gary Minihan , Bruce Frayne 2:59.70 Los Angeles , United States 11 August 1984
Records
Prior to the competition , the following records were as follows .
The men's 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on August 22 and August 23. Britain's Conrad Williams looked to be leading the stagger on the first leg, but a late rush by Arismendy Peguero had the Dominican Republic making the handoff even, while USA put hurdler Angelo Taylor on the first leg, so they started with a slight deficit. Jeremy Wariner had won the previous two world championships in the open 400 metres, but lost his title a few days earlier. He had something to prove, flying through the turn, Wariner put the USA into the lead by the break. After he passed Yon Soriano on the inside, Soriano accelerated to challenge Wariner for the pole position. Warner held the pole, behind Soriano, Ben Offereins was able to sneak Australia into third while Michael Bingham was being challenged by Piotr Klimczak for Poland. Bingham was able to get around Thomas and then Soriano, putting Great Britain into a solid second place by the straightaway, but Wariner was running away from the pack. Soriano paid for his exuberance and slowed down the home stretch as all the other teams passed him by the exchange. Warner had opened up a 15-metre gap, the USA had completed their exchange before the other teams arrived. Because of the change in positions, Bingham had to cross in front of several teams to make their exchange, and Kévin Borlée ran Belgium from last to fourth on the straight. Kerron Clement for USA and far behind him Robert Tobin for Great Britain had clear sailing, behind them Australia and Belgium came out of the exchange best. Tobin ran conservatively down the backstretch while Tristan Thomas accelerated to go around him on the turn.