# 2013 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 4 × 400 metres relay

The women's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Luzhniki Stadium on 16–17 August.

## Summary

After giving up .08 in reaction time at the start, Jessica Beard split 50.79 to give the United States the early lead. By the time Natasha Hastings broke, she had a clear lead of more than 10 meters over the Tatyana Firova from Russia in second place. But after a 49.88 lap by Hastings (Firova obviously much faster than that), the Russian team had pulled even at the handoff. Kseniya Ryzhova went around the outside of Ashley Spencer and into the lead. Ryzhova opened up as much as a 2-meter lead, but by the home stretch, Spencer had gained that back and passed Ryzhova on the inside. But Ryzhova fought back to a slight lead. With the American team in second place coming off the turn, Francena McCorory was waiting in lane 2. Spencer had to cross behind Ryzhova to hand off. It was 400-meter bronze medalist Antonina Krivoshapka against 6th placer Francena McCorory, with Great Britain anchored by gold medalist Christine Ohuruogu a distant third. Krivoshapka opened up about a 5-meter lead on the back stretch, but McCorory looked to run within herself and came back to pass Krivoshapka on the home stretch. But Krivoshapka fought back, retaking the lead and holding it across the finish. Ohuruogu found herself challenged by Floria Gueï on the backstretch but ran away from her on the home stretch for a clear third place.
In 2016, Russia's anchor runner Antonina Krivoshapka's samples from the 2012 Olympics were retested and found to contain turinabol. In 2017 she was given a two-year ban including this race and Russia was disqualified. All teams advanced one place. The IAAF conducted the medal ceremony at the 2017 World Championships.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:
| World record | Soviet Union (Tatyana Ledovskaya, Olga Nazarova, Mariya Kulchunova, Olga Bryzgina) | 3:15.17 | Seoul, South Korea | 1 October 1988 |
| Championship record | United States (Gwen Torrence, Maicel Malone-Wallace, Natasha Kaiser-Brown, Jearl Miles Clark) | 3:16.71 | Stuttgart, Germany | 22 August 1993 |
| World leading | United States Red (Jessica Beard, Natasha Hastings, DeeDee Trotter, Francena McCorory) | 3:22.66 | Philadelphia, United States | 27 April 2013 |
| African record | Nigeria (Olabisi Afolabi, Fatima Yusuf, Charity Opara, Falilat Ogunkoya) | 3:21.04 | Atlanta, United States | 3 August 1996 |
| Asian record | Hebei Province (An Xiaohong, Bai Xiaoyun, Cao Chunying, Ma Yuqin) | 3:24.28 | Beijing, People's Republic of China | 13 September 1993 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | United States (Denean Howard-Hill, Diane Dixon, Valerie Brisco-Hooks, Florence Griffith Joyner) | 3:15.51 | Seoul, South Korea | 1 October 1988 |
| South American record | BM&F Bovespa (Geisa Aparecida Coutinho, Bárbara de Oliveira, Joelma Sousa, Jailma de Lima) | 3:26.68 | São Paulo, Brazil | 7 August 2011 |
| European record | Soviet Union (Tatyana Ledovskaya, Olga Nazarova, Mariya Kulchunova, Olga Bryzgina) | 3:15.17 | Seoul, South Korea | 1 October 1988 |
| Oceanian record | Australia (Nova Peris, Tamsyn Manou, Melinda Gainsford-Taylor, Cathy Freeman) | 3:23.81 | Sydney | 30 September 2000 |

## Qualification standards

* Time
* 3:33:00

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| 16 August 2013 | 11:30 | Heats |
| 17 August 2013 | 19:30 | Final |
All times are local times (UTC+4)

## Results

| KEY: | Q | Qualified | q | Fastest non-qualifiers | NR | National record | PB | Personal best | SB | Seasonal best |

### Heats

Qualification: First 2 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) advance to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Nation | Athletes | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | 2 | Russia (RUS) | Yuliya Gushchina, Tatyana Firova, Natalya Antyukh, Kseniya Ryzhova | 3:23.51 | Q, SB |
| 2 | 1 | 4 | United States (USA) | Ashley Spencer, Jessica Beard, Joanna Atkins, Francena McCorory | 3:25.18 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | 5 | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | Eilidh Child, Shana Cox, Margaret Adeoye, Christine Ohuruogu | 3:25.39 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | 2 | Nigeria (NGR) | Patience Okon George, Bukola Abogunloko, Omolara Omotosho, Regina George | 3:27.29 | Q, SB |
| 5 | 2 | 3 | France (FRA) | Marie Gayot, Muriel Hurtis-Houairi, Phara Anacharsis, Floria Gueï | 3:27.75 | q, SB |
| 6 | 1 | 5 | Italy (ITA) | Chiara Bazzoni, Marta Milani, Maria Benedicta Chigbolu, Libania Grenot | 3:29.62 | Q, SB |
| 6 | 3 | 3 | Romania (ROM) | Alina Andreea Panainte, Adelina Pastor, Sanda Belgyan, Bianca Răzor | 3:29.62 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 3 | Ukraine (UKR) | Daryna Prystupa, Olha Zemlyak, Alina Lohvynenko, Nataliya Pyhyda | 3:29.63 | q |
| 9 | 3 | 7 | Poland (POL) | Małgorzata Hołub, Patrycja Wyciszkiewicz, Iga Baumgart, Justyna Święty | 3:29.75 | |
| 10 | 3 | 6 | Belarus (BLR) | Hanna Reishal, Iryna Khliustava, Yuliya Yurenia, Ilona Vusovich | 3:30.28 | SB |
| 11 | 1 | 2 | Czech Republic (CZE) | Denisa Rosolová, Jitka Bartoničková, Jana Slaninová, Zuzana Hejnová | 3:30.48 | |
| 12 | 3 | 5 | Canada (CAN) | Alicia Brown, Sarah Wells, Noelle Montcalm, Jenna Martin | 3:31.09 | SB |
| 13 | 2 | 7 | Bahamas (BAH) | Amara Jones, Lanece Clarke, Shakeitha Henfield, Cotrell Martin | 3:32.91 | |
| 14 | 2 | 4 | Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) | Shawna Fermin, Sparkle McKnight, Domonique Williams, Romona Modeste | 3:33.50 | |
| 15 | 1 | 6 | India (IND) | Nirmala, Tintu Luka, Anu Mariam Jose, M. R. Poovamma | 3:38.81 | |
| 16 | 2 | 6 | Botswana (BOT) | Goitseone Seleka, Lydia Mashila, Oarabile Babolayi, Amantle Montsho | 3:38.96 | SB |
| | 3 | 4 | Jamaica (JAM) | Rosemarie Whyte, Kaliese Spencer, Anastasia Le-Roy, Christine Day | DQ | 163.3(a) |

### Final

The final was started at 19:30.
| Rank | Lane | Nation | Athletes | Time | Notes |
| | 5 | United States (USA) | Jessica Beard, Natasha Hastings, Ashley Spencer, Francena McCorory | 3:20.41 | SB |
| | 6 | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | Eilidh Child, Shana Cox, Margaret Adeoye, Christine Ohuruogu | 3:22.61 | SB |
| | 1 | France (FRA) | Marie Gayot, Lénora Guion-Firmin, Muriel Hurtis-Houairi, Floria Gueï | 3:24.21 | SB |
| 4 | 2 | Ukraine (UKR) | Daryna Prystupa, Olha Lyakhova, Alina Lohvynenko, Nataliya Pyhyda | 3:27.38 | SB |
| 5 | 3 | Nigeria (NGR) | Omolara Omotosho, Patience Okon George, Bukola Abogunloko, Regina George | 3:27.57 | |
| 6 | 8 | Romania (ROM) | Adelina Pastor, Elena Mirela Lavric, Sanda Belgyan, Bianca Răzor | 3:28.40 | SB |
| | 7 | Italy (ITA) | Chiara Bazzoni, Marta Milani, Maria Enrica Spacca, Libania Grenot | DQ | 170.6 |
| DSQ | 4 | Russia (RUS) | Yuliya Gushchina, Tatyana Firova, Kseniya Ryzhova, Antonina Krivoshapka | DQ | AD 11.1 |