4 x 200 m
1:18.68
Santa Monica Track Club (USA)
(Michael Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Floyd Wayne Heard, Carl Lewis)
Walnut, California, USA
17 April 1994

The relay race originated in the United States, around 1880, based along the lines of the charity races organized by New York firemen who handed on a red pennant every 300 yards. The baton was a wooden cylinder (later metallic) one foot (30.48 cm) long. The relay was first brought to the Olympic Games in 1908, where it was divided into legs of 200 m, 200 m, 400 m and 800 m. The United States team won the race, with team member John Taylor becoming the first black athlete ever to win a gold medal. In 1912 the 4 x 100 m and 4 x 400 m were introduced to the Stockholm Olympic Games. The former, a European invention, involved handing over the baton in a 20-metre zone, which limited the speed of take-over. This was later modified in 1963 so the receiver could wait ten metres behind the limit of the take-over zone. Subsequent years saw the introduction of 4 x 200-m, 4 x 800-m, and 4 x 1,500-m relays.