Men's 4 x 400 metres relay world record progression

The first world record in the 4 x 400 metres for men (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as the International Association of Athletics Federations, in 1912.

The IAAF's first record in the event was for a mark set the year before the organization's formation.

To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 15 world records in the event.^[1]

The following table shows the world record progression in the men's 4 x 400 metre relay, as ratified by the IAAF. "y" denotes time for 4 x 440 yards (1609 m), ratified as a record for this event.

Records 1912–present

Time	Auto	Team	Nationality	Location of race	Date
3:18.2y		Irish-American AC	United States	New York City, USA	1911-09-04[1]
3:16.6		United States	United States	Stockholm, Sweden	1912-06-15[1]
3:16.0		United States	United States	Paris, France	1924-07-13[1]
3:14.2		United States	United States	Amsterdam, Netherlands	1928-08-05[1]
3:13.4y		United States	United States	London, UK	1928-08-11[1]
3:12.6y		Stanford University	United States	Fresno, USA	1931-05-08[1]
3:08.2	3:08.14	United States	United States	Los Angeles, USA	1932-08-07[1]
3:03.9	3:04.04	Jamaica	Jamaica	Helsinki, Finland	1952-07-27[1]
3:02.2	3:02.37	United States	United States	Rome, Italy	1960-09-08[1]
3:00.7		United States	United States	Tokyo, Japan	1964-10-21[1]
2:59.6		United States	United States	Los Angeles, USA	1966-07-24[1] [2]
2:56.2	2:56.16[3]	United States	United States	Mexico City, Mexico	1968-10-20[1]
2:56.16	-	United States	United States	Seoul, South Korea	1988-10-01[1]
2:55.74	-	United States	United States	Barcelona, Spain	1992-08-08[1]
2:54.29	-	United States	United States	Stuttgart, Germany	1993-08-22[1]

The IAAF announced 12 August 2008 that they had rescinded the 1998 world record of 2:54.20 after relay team member Antonio Pettigrew admitted to using human growth hormone and EPO between 1997 and 2003.^[4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p} "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009." (pdf). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. Pages 546, 562. http://www.iaaf.org/mm/document/competitions/competition/05/15/63/20090706014834_httppostedfile_p345-688_11303.pdf. Retrieved August 4, 2009. 
2. ^ NewspaperARCHIVE.com - Oelwein Daily Register - 1966-07-25
3. ^ From 1981, the IAAF accepted auto times for events up to and including 10,000 m. Accordingly, the 2:56.2 world record time from 1968 was rendered as 2:56.16.
4. ^ "IAAF Council cancels 4x400m World record". IAAF. Tuesday, 12 August 2008. http://iaaf.org/aboutiaaf/news/newsid=46531.html. Retrieved 21 March 2011.