Round 1 Sixteen teams competed in the first round on 2 August in the evening, starting at 19:10 (
UTC+2). Eight teams, the first three in each of the two heats () and the next two fastest overall (), qualified for the final. In the first heat, the team of the United States led from the first to the last leg and finished in a new
world record () of 3.07.41 min. Consisting of
Vernon Norwood,
Shamier Little,
Bryce Deadmon, and
Kaylyn Brown, the American team was more than a second faster than the previous world record and more than three seconds faster than the other teams. The French team set a
national record () of 3:10.60 min, the Belgian team set a
national record of 3:10.74 min, and the Jamaican team set a
national record of 3:11.06 min. The Swiss team also set a
national record of 3:12.77 min, but they did not advance to the final. Marcus Thompson II of
The New York Times wrote about the American runners: "Judging by the aggression of their legs, the quartet had every intention of going for the world-record mark. It was top of mind heading into the race." In an interview after the race, Deadmon said: "I ain't think we (were) gon' do that today." and "I was running down the back stretch on the last curve, and I was like, ... 'Damn! It's kinda loud in here.' So that was definitely a great experience." In the opening leg,
Alexander Doom of Belgium was the first to hand over the baton, followed by
Vernon Norwood of the United States and
Samuel Reardon of Great Britain;
Eugene Omalla of the Netherlands handed over in sixth position. In the second leg,
Shamier Little of the United States moved into the leading position and handed over ahead of
Helena Ponette of Belgium,
Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands, and
Laviai Nielsen of Great Britain. In the third leg,
Jonathan Sacoor of Belgium brought his team back in the lead at the handover, and he was followed by
Bryce Deadmon of the United States,
Alex Haydock-Wilson of Great Britain, and
Isaya Klein Ikkink of the Netherlands. In the
anchor leg,
Femke Bol of the Netherlands first caught up with
Naomi Van den Broeck of Belgium between 200 and 300 metres, and then Bol also passed
Amber Anning of Great Britain and
Kaylyn Brown of the United States in the last 100 metres. The team of the Netherlands won the race in a
European record () of 3:07.43 min, 0.02 s slower than the world record set the day before, followed by the team of the United States in second place in 3:07.74 min and the team of Great Britain in third place in a
national record () of 3:08.01 min. Outside the medals, the Belgian team set a
national record () of 3:09.36 min. The fastest male runner was Sacoor who had a split time of 44.01 s, and the fastest female runner was Bol with a 48.00 s split. Lori Ewing of
Reuters wrote that "Femke Bol ran a stunning last lap to lead the Netherlands to victory". Jason Henderson of
Athletics Weekly said about Bol: "The tall Dutch athlete was a scintillating sight as she took the Netherlands from a fighting fourth and up into first place." Rohan Nadkarni of
NBC News called Bol's anchor leg overcoming three runners to win gold "one of Paris' signature moments". In an interview after the race, Bol said: "I just went for it. We just wanted a medal this time, we didn't think it would be gold, just a medal. Well, we got gold and are the Olympic champions. It is absolutely crazy for a small country like ours." Norwood said about his relay team: "We did exactly what we needed to do. We are still world record holders and I can't be more proud of us." ==Aftermath==