Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay
| Men's 4×400 metres relay at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
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| Venue | Athens Olympic Stadium | |||||||||
| Dates | 27–28 August | |||||||||
| Competitors | 68 from 16 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 2:55.91 | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
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 United States (USA)Otis Harris, Derrick Brew, Jeremy Wariner, Darold Williamson, Andrew Rock*, Kelly Willie* |
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 Australia (AUS)John Steffensen, Mark Ormrod, Patrick Dwyer, Clinton Hill |
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*Indicates the athlete only competed in the preliminary heats. |
Nigeria (NGR)
James Godday, Musa Audu, Saul Weigopwa, Enefiok Udo-Obong
The men's 4×400 metres relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program was held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 27 to 28. The sixteen teams competed in a two-heat qualifying round in which the first three teams from each heat, together with the next two fastest teams, were given a place in the final race.
The American dominance in this relay event had become increasingly clear, having swept the medals in the 400 metres five days earlier. From an explosive start in the final, Otis Harris led off for the U.S. team and gave them a relentless lead over the rest of the field throughout the race. With no other team aiming to chase the Americans on the home stretch, the foursome of Harris, Derrick Brew, Olympic 400 metres champion Jeremy Wariner, and Darold Williamson stormed away to an effortless triumph in a time of 2:55.91, nearly five seconds ahead of the silver-winning Aussie squad. Meanwhile, the Nigerians stayed much closer with Japan and Great Britain on the final bend, until they outlasted the rivals in a desperately tight finish for the bronze.
The victory also helped the Americans compensate for the surprising runner-up finish of their team in the earlier sprint relay.
Prior to the competition[update], the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
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