The first world record in the 4 × 400 metres for men (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as the International Association of Athletics Federations, in 1912. The IAAF's first record in the event was for a mark set the year before the organization's formation. The men's record has been almost exclusively set by American teams, with one exception by one Jamaican team. To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 15 world records in the event.
Records 1912–present The following table shows the world record progression in the men's 4 × 400 metre relay, as ratified by the IAAF. "y" denotes time for 4 × 440 yards (1609 m), ratified as a record for this event. Time Auto Team Nationality Location of race Date Competition Participants 3:18.2 Irish-American AC New York City, USA 1911-09-04 Harry Schaaf, Mel Sheppard, Harry Gissing, James Rosenberger 3:16.6 United States Stockholm, Sweden 1912-06-15 Mel Sheppard, Charles Reidpath, Ted Meredith, Edward Lindberg 3:16.0 United States Paris, France 1924-07-13 Commodore Cochran, Alan Helffrich, Oliver MacDonald, William Stevenson 3:14.2 United States Amsterdam, Netherlands 1928-08-05 George Baird, Emerson Spencer, Fred Alderman, Ray Barbuti 3:13.4 United States London, UK 1928-08-11 George Baird, Morgan Taylor, Ray Barbuti, Emerson Spencer 3:12.6 Stanford University Fresno, USA 1931-05-08 Maynor Shore, Alvin Hables, Leslie Hables, Ben Eastman 3:08.2 3:08.14 United States Los Angeles, USA 1932-08-07 Ivan Fuqua, Ed Ablowich, Karl Warner, Bill Carr 3:03.9 3:04.04 Jamaica Helsinki, Finland 1952-07-27 Arthur Wint, Leslie Laing, Herb McKenley, George Rhoden 3:02.2 3:02.37 United States Rome, Italy 1960-09-08 Jack Yerman, Earl Young, Glenn Davis, Otis Davis 3:00.7 United States Tokyo, Japan 1964-10-21 Ollan Cassell, Mike Larrabee, Ulis Williams, Henry Carr 2:59.6 United States Los Angeles, USA 1966-07-24NewspaperARCHIVE.com - Oelwein Daily Register - 1966-07-25 Robert Frey, Lee Evans, Tommie Smith, Theron Lewis 2:56.2 2:56.16From 1 January 1981, the IAAF accepted automatic times for events up to and including 10,000 m. Accordingly, the 2:56.2 world record time from 1968 was taken to be 2:56.16. United States Mexico City, Mexico 1968-10-20 Vincent Matthews, Ron Freeman, Larry James, Lee Evans 2:56.16 - United States Seoul, South Korea 1988-10-01 Danny Everett, Steve Lewis, Kevin Robinzine, Butch Reynolds 2:55.74 - United States Barcelona, Spain 1992-08-08 Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Michael Johnson, Steve Lewis 2:54.29 - United States Stuttgart, Germany 1993-08-22 Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Butch Reynolds, Michael Johnson 2:54.20 IAAF Council cancels 4x400m World Record - United States Uniondale, New York 1998-07-22 Jerome Young, Antonio Pettigrew, Tyree Washington, Michael Johnson
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