Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay
| Men's 4 × 400 metres relay at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
|
|
|---|---|
| Venue | Olympic Stadium |
| Date | 9–10 August |
| Teams | 16 |
| Winning time | 2:56.72 |
| Medalists | |
The Men's 4 × 400 metres relay competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 9–10 August. It was won by the Bahamas.
The qualifying round experienced more drama than is normal in these affairs. In the first heat, on the second leg, Kenya's Vincent Mumo Kiilu was boxed in near the back of the pack, with South Africa's Ofentse Mogawane on his shoulder. Coming into the home straight, Kiilu tried to step to the outside, tripping Mogawane, leaving him injured on the track. The much awaited return of Oscar Pistorius waiting to run the third leg never materialized. South Africa filed a protest in which Kenya was disqualified and South Africa was allowed to run in the final. Conveniently, the London Olympic Stadium track has 9 lanes to accommodate such a circumstance, while normally only 8 lanes are used in Championship meets.
At the finish of the first heat, Trinidad and Tobago won the heat, setting their National Record, but host Great Britain was given exactly the same time.
In the second heat the United States led off with Manteo Mitchell. Halfway around the track, Mitchell heard a crack and felt pain.
“It felt like somebody literally just snapped my leg in half. I felt it break.’’
Mitchell continued to the hand off, running a sub-par 46.1 split. It was later revealed that Mitchell did break his left fibula. His American teammates continued on, running three sub 45 splits. Bahamas won the heat, but the Americans qualified, credited with exactly the same time as Bahamas, the fastest time in 2012. Both heats ending with the first and second place teams running the same times.
Also during the second heat, the Dominican Republic failed to make the second exchange between Felix Sánchez and Joel Mejía within the zone and were disqualified. Then halfway through the third leg, Jamaica's Jermaine Gonzales pulled a muscle and was unable to continue.
...
Wikipedia