The 4 × 800 metres relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 800 metres or 2 laps on a standard 400 metre track.
The IAAF ratifies world records in the event and it became a world championship event in 2014 as part of the IAAF World Relays.
The men's world record is 7:02.43 by a Kenyan team of Joseph Mutua, William Yiampoy, Ismael Kombich and Wilfred Bungei, set August 25, 2006, at the Memorial Van Damme meet in Brussels, Belgium. The women's world record is 7:50.17, set by a team representing the Soviet Union, Nadiya Olizarenko, Lyubov Gurina, Lyudmila Borisova and Irina Podyalovskaya on August 15, 1984, in Moscow.
The imperial distance analogue to the event is the 4 × 880 yards relay, also known as the two-mile relay, contested at a total of which is slightly longer than the 3200 m metric distance. It was contested at the AIAW Indoor Track and Field Championships and other American and British meets until the switch to metric in the 1980s.
All-time top 15 Men Updated September 2021.
RankTimeTeamNationDatePlace17:02.43Joseph Mutua, William Yiampoy, Ismael Kombich, Wilfred Bungei25 August 2006Brussels27:02.82Santa Monica Track ClubJebreh Harris, Khadevis Robinson, Sam Burley, David Krummenacker25 August 2006Brussels37:03.89Peter Elliott, Garry Cook, Steve Cram, Sebastian Coe30 August 1982London47:04.70Gideon van Oudtshoorn, Hezekiél Sepeng, Jurgens Kotzé, Johan Botha6 June 1999Stuttgart57:04.84Duane Solomon, Eric Sowinski, Casimir Loxsom, Robby Andrews2 May 2015Nassau67:04.89St. Patrick's SchoolDavid Kiptoo Singoei, Joseph Tengelei, William Chirchir, Japheth Kimutai6 June 1999Stuttgart77:06:12BeneluxBram SomDavid FiegenArnoud OkkenThomas Matthys25 August 2006Brussels87:06.5Santa Monica Track ClubJames Robinson, David Mack, Earl Jones, Johnny Gray26 April 1986Walnut97:06.66Majid Saeed Sultan, Salem Amer Al-Badri, Abdulrahman Suleiman, Ali Abubaker Kamal25 August 2006Brussels107:07.1Kericho?, ?, ?, Abraham Kiplagat7 March 2014Nairobi117:07.40Leonid Masunov, Aleksandr Kostyetskiy, Vasiliy Matveyev, Viktor Kalinkin5 August 1984Moscow127:08.0Chicago Track ClubTom Bach, Ken Sparks, Lowell Paul, Rick Wohlhuter12 May 1973Durham137:08.1Vladimir Podolyako, Nikolay Kirov, Vladimir Malozyemlin, Anatoliy Reshetnyak12 August 1978Podolsk147:08.3 Kenya Defence Forces7 March 2014Nairobi157:08.30 Abraham Kiplagat, Robert Biwott, Edward Kemboi, Cornelius Kiplangat26 April 2014Nairobi
Women Updated September 2021.
RankTimeTeamNationDatePlace17:50.17Nadezhda Olizarenko, Lyubov Gurina, Lyudmila Borisova, Irina Podyalovskaya5 August 1984Moscow27:51.62Nina Ruchayeva, Ravilya Agletdinova, Nadezhda Loboyko, Valentina Parkhuta5 August 1984Moscow37:52.24Yekaterina Podkopayeva, Nadezhda Loboyko, Nadezhda Olizarenko, Ravilya Agletdinova4 August 1985Leningrad47:52.3 Tatyana Providokhina, Valentina Gerasimova, Svetlana Styrkina, Tatyana Kazankina16 August 1976Podolsk57:54.10Elfi Zinn, Gunhild Hoffmeister, Anita Weiß, Ulrike Bruns6 August 1976Karl-Marx-Stadt67:56.6RussiaZoya Rigel, Lyubov Gurina, Yekaterina Podkopayeva, Tatyana Mishkel8 September 1980Donetsk77:56:6UkraineLyubov Smolka, Maryna Sheberova, Svetlana Popova, Tamara Koba8 September 1980Donetsk87:56.9LeningradZoya Rigel, Lyubov Gurina, Olga Dvirna, Lyudmila Veselkova8 September 1980Donetsk97:57.08Olga Kuzenkova, Natalya Betekhtina, Olga Burkanova, Svetlana Masterkova5 June 1993Portsmouth107:57.21Liliana Salageanu, Mitica Constantin, Violeta Szekely, Laura Itcou5 June 1993Portsmouth117:58.5LithuaniaAna Ambrazienė, Danguolė Bislytė, Laima Juknavičienė, Laimutė Baikauskaitė8 September 1980Donetsk127:59.6RussiaOlga Mineyeva, Maria Enkina, Nadezhda Olizarenko, Yekaterina Podkopayeva24 July 1979Moscow138:00.62Chanelle Price, Maggie Vessey, Molly Beckwith-Ludlow, Alysia Johnson Montaño3 May 2015Nassau148:00.84RussiaNina Ruchayeva, Nadezhda Loboyko, Olga Nelyubova, Lyubov Gurina19 July 1987Bryansk158:01.58Chanelle Price, Geena Lara, Ajee' Wilson, Brenda Martinez25 May 2014Nassau
References
External links IAAF list of 4x800-metres-relay records in XML