holding a violet-colored baton at the
2024 Summer Olympics In
athletics, the two standard relays are the
4 × 100 metres relay and the
4 × 400 metres relay. 4 × 200, 4 × 800, and 4 × 1500 m relays exist as well, but they are rarer. Mixed-gendered 4 × 400 metres relays were introduced at the
2017 IAAF World Relays, repeated at the
2018 Asian Games, the
2019 World Championships in Athletics and were added to the
2020 Summer Olympics. In addition, a 2 × 2 × 400 m and shuttle hurdles mixed relay races were introduced at the
2019 IAAF World Relays. Traditionally, the 4 × 400 m relay finals are the last event of a track meet, and is often met with a very enthusiastic crowd, especially if the last leg is a close race. It is hard to measure exact splits in a 4 × 400 (or a 4 × 100) relay. For example, if a team ran a 3-minute 4 × 400, it does not mean every runner on the team has to run a 45-second
open 400, because a person starts accelerating before they have the baton, therefore allowing for slightly slower overall open 400 times. A 4 × 400 relay generally starts in lanes for the first leg, including the handoff. The second leg then proceeds to run in lanes for the first 100 metres, after which point the runners are allowed to break into the first lane on the backstretch, as long as they do not interfere with other runners. A race organizer then puts the third-leg runners into a line depending on the order in which they are running (with the first place closest to the inside). The faster teams pass first, while the slower teams have to slide in to the inside lanes as they come available. According to the IAAF rules, world records in relays can only be set if all team members have the same nationality. Several superior marks were established by teams from a mixture of countries and were thus never ratified. Major USA
Track and field events, f.e. the
Penn Relays,
Drake Relays,
Kansas Relays,
Mt. SAC Relays,
Modesto Relays,
Texas Relays,
West Coast Relays, include different types of relays.
Rules and strategy Each runner must hand off the baton to the next runner within a certain zone, usually marked by triangles on the track. In
sprint relays, runners typically use a "blind handoff", where the second runner stands on a spot predetermined in practice and starts running when the first runner hits a visual mark on the track (usually a smaller triangle). The second runner opens their hand behind them after a few strides, by which time the first runner should be caught up and able to hand off the baton. Usually a runner will give an auditory signal, such as "Stick!" repeated several times, for the recipient of the baton to put out his hand. In middle-distance relays or longer, runners begin by jogging while looking back at the incoming runner and holding out a hand for the baton. A team may be disqualified from a relay for: • Losing the baton (dropping the baton shall not result in disqualification. See IAAF rule no. 170.6) • Making an improper baton pass, especially when not passing in the exchange zone •
False starting (usually once but sometimes twice) • Improperly overtaking another competitor • Preventing another competitor from passing • Willfully impeding, improperly crossing the course, or in any other way interfering with another competitor Based on the speed of the runners, the generally accepted
strategy used in setting up a four-person relay team is: second-fastest, third-fastest, slowest, then fastest (
anchor); however some teams (usually middle school or young high school) use second-fastest, slowest, third-fastest, then the fastest (anchor). But if a runner is better in the starting blocks than the others, they may be moved to the first spot because it is the only spot that uses starting blocks.
Competitions The largest relay event in the world is the
Norwegian Holmenkollstafetten, 2,944 teams of 15 starting and ending at
Bislett Stadium in
Oslo which had a total of 44,160 relay-competitors on May 10, 2014. Another large relay event is the
Penn Relays, which attracts over 15,000 competitors annually on the high-school, collegiate and professional levels, and over its three days attracts upwards of 100,000 spectators. It is credited with popularizing relay racing in the sport of track & field.
Long-distance relays Long-distance relays have become increasingly popular with runners of all skill levels. These relays typically have 5 to 36 legs, each usually between long, though sometimes as long as . The
IAAF World Road Relay Championships was held from 1986 to 1998, with six-member teams covering the classic marathon distance. Races under are run in a day, with each runner covering one or two legs. Longer relays are run overnight, with each runner typically covering three legs. The world's longest relay race was Japan's Prince Takamatsu Cup Nishinippon
Round-Kyūshū Ekiden, which begins in
Nagasaki and continues for .
Cross-country relays For the
2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, a mixed relay race was added (4 × 2 km). The Crusader Team Sprint Cross Country Relay Race is a fun and unique venue specifically designed to get runners familiar with distance running and excited for the rest of the cross country season. Teams will be pairs of runners. The team will run four loops of a 1-mile course. Runner “A” will run loop 1 and hand off to Runner “B.” Runner “B” will run the same loop and hand off back to Runner “A.” “A” runs one more loop, hands off to “B,” and “B” finishes. 3 race categories: boys, girls, and co-ed. Awards will be given in each of the three categories.
Shuttle hurdle relay The
Shuttle hurdle relay is a Men's and Women's competition that is part of Relay meetings like
Drake Relays or
Penn Relays. A mixed version was introduced at the
2019 IAAF World Relays, it consist of a race in which two men and two women on each team, are running a
110 m hurdles.
Medley relay Medley relay events are also occasionally held in track meets, usually consisting of teams of four runners running progressively longer distances. The
distance medley relay consists of four legs run at distances of 1200, 400, 800, and 1,600 metres, in that order. The
sprint medley relay usually consists of four legs run at distances of 400, 200, 200, and 800 metres, though a more uncommon variant of 200, 100, 100 and 400 metres (sometimes called a short sprint medley) also exists. See also
Swedish relay.
Relays on coinage Relay race events have been selected as a main motif in numerous collectors' coins. One of the recent samples is the €10 Greek
Relays commemorative coin, minted in 2003 to commemorate the
2004 Summer Olympics. In the obverse of the coin three modern athletes run, holding their batons while in the background three ancient athletes are shown running a race known as the dolichos (a semi-endurance race of approximately 3,800 metres' distance). ==Relays in skiing==