2019 IAAF World Championships

Men's 4x100m Relay Smashes American Record For Gold

Men's 4x100m Relay Smashes American Record For Gold

A star-studded quartet ran 37.10 for the gold medal, championship record, American record and third-fastest mark ever recorded.

Oct 5, 2019 by Johanna Gretschel
Men's 4x100m Relay Smashes American Record For Gold

A star-studded quartet of Christian Coleman, Mike Rodgers, Justlin Gatlin and Noah Lyles teamed up to win the gold medal in the 4x100m relay at the IAAF World Championships in 37.10, a new American record, championship record and the third-fastest mark ever recorded. 



The American record is particularly significant given that the previous record was set at the 2012 Olympic Games, when the Americans competed against Team Jamaica and Usain Bolt. Prior to today, Bolt-led squads accounted for the top six fastest times ever recorded. Now, they own just two: 37.04 from 2011, and the 36.84 world record set in 2012.

The gold is sweet redemption for Team USA, who were defeated by Great Britain two years go in London. The addition of Noah Lyles, this year's 200m world champion, was the game-changer as the three other men all competed for the U.S. on the relay in 2017.

Coleman, the 100m world champion, got the squad out well with the opening leg before handing off to Gatlin, then Rodgers, who by then clearly had a solid lead on the field. Lyles did what Lyles does and broke things open, despite serious challenges from Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Great Britain, who anchored the gold medal relay in 2017, and Adbul Hakim Sani Brown of Japan.

Great Britain would take the silver medal in 37.36, a new European record, while Japan's bronze medal performance of 37.43 set an Asian record.