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Mike Hurst is probably the best known Coach-Journalist combo out there. But Pierre-Jean Vazel is a close second, as you probably know his name either as an Elite Coach or as a Journalist. Or both.
As a coach, he coached 2 sprinters under 10.00 seconds (Nigeria’s Olusoji Fasuba 9.85 100m). The other sprinter is Ronald Pognon of France with PRs of 6.45 and 9.99 for 60m & 100m respectively.
As a writer, he is a sports reporter for LeMonde.fr and the IAAF website correspondent for France since 2004. You can read more about Pierre-Jean Vazel in my Freelap Friday Five interview last year.
Fastest 4x100m Relay Splits (short list)
Up until today, I only had a handful of “Unofficial” Fastest Relay Splits in 4×100, with sources varying by different people and analysis techniques:
- 8.70, Usain Bolt, 2012 London Olympics
- 8.70, Asafa Powell, 2008 Beijing Olympics
- 8.71, Usain Bolt, 2010 Penn Relays
- 8.85, Carl Lewis, 1992 Barcelona Olympics
- 8.5 (hand time), Bob Hays, 1964 Tokyo Olympics
This article was written by Pierre-Jean Vazel.
Complete Stats of 4x100m Fastest Anchor Leg Splits
by Pierre-Jean Vazel
IAAF World Relays are going strong this week-end but even if it’s unlikely there will be any world record in the 4x100m, maybe we will see some very fast anchor legs. Compilation of the best times for those anchor legs is a difficult task because not all relay races have been analysed and inaccurate reports have made things worse.
I tried to update a word best all-time list and a progression of world best from competition reports. I have added some performances from my high-speed camera measurements. For each of the performances, I made a point to cite the source in order so that statisticians can use this list, and excluded those for which the source was unknown or unreliable.
Some prominent names are missing, like Maurice Greene, Tyson Gay, Yohan Blake, Florence Griffith-Joyner or Marion Jones, for the reason that their best races were not analysed and some of them mostly ran second or third leg.
For sake of clarity, I didn’t listed times for second and third legs as two methods are used. In the first method, the baton is timed, which means each of the four times match the final 4x100m time. In the second method, used in former East Germany, each runner is timed, which mean the addition of their time don’t add up (the giver and receiver rarely cross the 100m, 200m or 300m lines exactly in the same time).
It’s important to note that there have never been anything such as official relay leg splits. Only the final result is official. However, Omega has had the great idea to use a photofinish device aligned with the last exchange mid-zone in Los Angeles, providing precise and accurate timing. Details and pictures of this apparatus is described in J.-P. Bovay’s book Coliseum ’32-’84 (Omega, 1985).
Any comment, correction, amendment and discussion about the list are welcome!
MEN’s Unofficial Progression of the World Best Anchor Legs for 4x100m relay
| Split Time | Athlete | Country | Relay Time | Event | Location | Date |
| 9.1 | Dave Sime | USA | 39.60 dq | OG | Roma | 8-Sep-60 |
| A. Bouillé, La lettre de l’Athlétisme 06/1991, no details about the original source is given. US team was disqualified | ||||||
| 8.8 | Bob Hayes | USA | Modesto | 25-May-63 | ||
| Interview with Hayes in A.A.U. News : “They tell me I ran 8.8 for 110 yards with a flying start in that Modesto race) – Report states that Hayes received the baton 10 yards behind the leader and won with a seven yard margin. However accuracy of this hand timing is unknown. | ||||||
| 9.0e | Bob Hayes | USA | 39.06 | OG | Tokyo | 21-Oct-64 |
| Various times were reported for this run, from a 8.5 hand time to a 9.1 estimation by G. Turova (Legkaya Atletika 3/1965) on her technical analysis. From my video analysis of a Polish footage, Hayes ran 9.0e, he took the baton circa 0.15 after Dudziak/POL (10.52 in the individual event) and won by 0.30 over him. | ||||||
| 9.1e | Jim Hines | USA | 38.24 | OG | Mexico | 21-Oct-68 |
| D. Potts, Track & Field News Oct./Nov. 1968 “One watch caught him in 8.2, which if correct is the fastest ever”. My estimation from video and positions of runners from pictures of the last exchange is 9.1e for Hines (times for some other finalists: 9.2 Miller/JAM, 9.3 Bambuck/FRA, 9.5 Figuerola/CUB,9.6 Eggers/GDR) | ||||||
| 9.20 | Pietro Mennea | ITA | 39.14 | OG | München | 10-Sep-72 |
| H. Gundlach, Olympische Leichathletik-Wettkämpfe, video analysis | ||||||
| 9.11 | Steven Riddick | USA | 38.33 | OG | Montreal | 31-Jul-76 |
| D. Lamarre (French chief timekeeper), Résultats complets, AEFA, electric timing | ||||||
| 8.98 | Carl Lewis | USA | 37.86 | WC | Helsinki | 10-Aug-83 |
| M. Butler, Athletics Statistics Book, World Championships (IAAF) | ||||||
| 8.94 | Carl Lewis | USA | 37.83 | OG | Los Angeles | 11-Aug-84 |
| Los Angeles 84, Intermediate and final times all events (Omega, photofinish) | ||||||
| 8.86 | Carl Lewis | USA | 37.90 | WC | Roma | 6-Sep-87 |
| Official results Roma 1987. Biomechanicians Susanka & Moravec timed Lewis in 8.78 (Atletika, 7/89) | ||||||
| 8.85 | Carl Lewis | USA | 37.40 | OG | Barcelona | 8-Aug-92 |
| M. Butler, Athletics Statistics Book, Olympic Games (IAAF) | ||||||
| 8.84 | Asafa Powell | JAM | 37.89 | WC | Osaka | 1-Sep-07 |
| JAF daily biomechanical report for IAAF | ||||||
| 8.68 | Asafa Powell | JAM | 37.10 | OG | Beijing | 22-Aug-08 |
| PJV video analysis 100 fps, same time found by R. Graubner (FGS Halle) | ||||||
WOMAN’s Unofficial Progression of the World Best Anchor Legs for 4x100m relay
| Split Time | Athlete | Country | Relay Time | Event | Location | Date |
| 10.5 | Wilma Rudolph | USA | 44.3 | vURS | Moskva | 15-Jul-61 |
| G. Turova, Legkaya Atletika magazine 8/64, video analysis | ||||||
| 10.16 | Raelene Boyle | AUS | 43.61 | OG | München | 10-Sep-72 |
| H. Gundlach, Olympische Leichathletik-Wettkämpfe 1972, video analysis | ||||||
| 10.15 | Martina Blos | GDR | 42.51 | K.-M.-Stadt | 29-May-76 | |
| FGS Halle, Wettkampfauswertung 1976 | ||||||
| 10.14 | Bärbel Eckert | GDR | 42.55 | OG | Montreal | 31-Jul-76 |
| D. Lamarre (French chief timekeeper), Résultats complets, AEFA, electric timing | ||||||
| 9.96 | Marlies Göhr | GDR | 41.60 | OG | Moskva | 1-Aug-80 |
| D. Lamarre, Résultats complets AEFA n.68/1980 | ||||||
| 9.77 | Evelyn Ashford | USA | 41.65 | OG | Los Angeles | 11-Aug-84 |
| Los Angeles 84, Intermediate and final times all events (Omega, photofinish) | ||||||
| 9.72 | Merlene Ottey | JAM | 41.94 | WC | Tokyo | 22-Aug-91 |
| Y. Sugiura & al. Time analysis of elite sprinters in the 4x100m, NSA 10:3/1995 | ||||||
| 9.67 | Christine Arron | FRA | 42.59 | EC | Budapest | 22-Aug-98 |
| PJV video analysis 50 fps, other source gives 9.66 | ||||||
MEN’s Unofficial World All-time List for the Best Anchor Legs for 4×100 m relay
| Split Time | Athlete | Country | Relay Time | Event | Location | Date |
| 8.68 | Asafa Powell | JAM | 37.1 | OG | Beijing | 22-Aug-08 |
| PJV video analysis 100 fps, same time found by R. Graubner (FGS Halle) | ||||||
| 8.69 | Usain Bolt | JAM | 37.34 | WC | Moskva | 18-Aug-13 |
| PJV high-speed video analysis 210 fps | ||||||
| 8.85 | Carl Lewis | USA | 37.4 | OG | Barcelona | 8-Aug-92 |
| M. Butler, Athletics Statistics Book, Olympic Games (IAAF) | ||||||
| 8.92 | Leroy Burrell | USA | 37.4 | WC | Stuttgart | 21-Aug-93 |
| R. Graubner (FGS Halle) video analysis – biomechanical analysis for IAAF | ||||||
| 8.93 | Donovan Bailey | CAN | 39.36 | OG | Atlanta | 2-Aug-96 |
| Official results Atlanta 1996 | ||||||
| 8.94 | Richard Thompson | TRI | 37.62 | WC | Berlin | 22-Aug-09 |
| R. Graubner (FGS Halle) video analysis – biomechanical analysis for IAAF | ||||||
| 8.95 | Linford Christie | GBR | 38.28 | OG | Seoul | 1-Oct-88 |
| Athletics full results Seoul’88 (Omega) | ||||||
| 8.95 | Ryan Bailey | USA | 37.04 | OG | London | 11-Aug-12 |
| PJV high-speed video analysis 210 fps | ||||||
| 8.97 | Dwain Chambers | GBR | 37.80 dq | WC | Moskva | 18-Aug-13 |
| PJV high-speed video analysis 210 fps | ||||||
| 8.98 | Dennis Mitchell | USA | 37.96 | OG | Atlanta | 2-Aug-96 |
| Official results Atlanta 1996 | ||||||
WOMAN’s Unofficial World All-time List for the Best Anchor Legs for 4×100 m relay
| Split Time | Athlete | Country | Relay Time | Event | Location | Date |
| 9.67 | Christine Arron | FRA | 42.59 | EC | Budapest | 22-Aug-98 |
| PJV video analysis 50 fps, other source gives 9.66 | ||||||
| 9.70 | Carmelita Jeter | USA | 40.82 | OG | London | 10-Aug-12 |
| R. Graubner (FGS Halle) video analysis | ||||||
| 9.72 | Merlene Ottey | JAM | 41.94 | WC | Tokyo | 22-Aug-91 |
| Y. Sugiura & al. Time analysis of elite sprinters in the 4x100m, NSA 10:3/1995 | ||||||
| 9.73 | Gwen Torrence | USA | 42.11 | OG | Barcelona | 8-Aug-92 |
| M. Butler, Athletics Statistics Book, Olympic Games (IAAF) | ||||||
| 9.76 | S.-A. Fraser-Pryce | JAM | 41.29 | WC | Moskva | 18-Aug-13 |
| PJV high-speed video analysis 210 fps | ||||||
| 9.77 | Evelyn Ashford | USA | 41.65 | OG | Los Angeles | 11-Aug-84 |
| Los Angeles 84, Intermediate and final times all events (Omega) | ||||||
| 9.83 | Kerron Stewart | JAM | 42.06 | WC | Berlin | 22-Aug-09 |
| R. Graubner (FGS Halle) video biomechanical analysis for IAAF | ||||||
| 9.84 | Gail Devers | USA | 41.49 | WC | Stuttgart | 22-Aug-93 |
| R. Graubner (FGS Halle) video biomechanical analysis for IAAF (revised result from the 9.86 originally published) | ||||||
| 9.86 | V. Campbell-Brown | JAM | 41.70 | WC | Daegu | 4-Sep-11 |
| PJV high-speed video analysis 210 fps | ||||||
| 9.87 | Irina Privalova | RUS | 41.49 | WC | Stuttgart | 22-Aug-93 |
| R. Graubner (FGS Halle) video analysis – biomechanical analysis for IAAF (revised result from the 9.89 originally published) | ||||||
| Note: Ekaterini Thanou (GRE) probably ran under 9.80 in Budapest’98 but her team was left behind at the last exchange and no estimation of her time was possible as she was out of the screen. | ||||||
Jimson Lee
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