# Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metres relay

The women's 4 × 100 metres relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 21 and 22 August at the Beijing Olympic Stadium.
There were 16 NOCs competing at this event, selected by the average of the two best marks in the qualifying period. Finland and Cuba qualified but withdrew, and were replaced by Thailand and Nigeria.
Originally, the Russian team won the gold medal but was disqualified in 2016 after Yuliya Chermoshanskaya had her blood and urine samples re-analyzed, and tested positive for two prohibited substances. One of her teammates, Yulia Guschina, was also later sanctioned for doping.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:
| World record | East Germany (GDR) (Silke Gladisch, Sabine Rieger, Ingrid Auerswald, Marlies Göhr) | 41.37 | Canberra, Australia | 6 October 1985 |
| Olympic record | East Germany (GDR) (Romy Müller, Bärbel Wöckel, Ingrid Auerswald, Marlies Göhr) | 41.60 | Moscow, Soviet Union | 1 August 1980 |
No new world or Olympic records were set for this event.

## Qualification summary

| Pos | NOC | 2 races | 2 races | 1 | 2 |
| Pos | NOC | Total | Average | 1 | 2 |
| 1 | United States | 84.22 | 42.11 | 41.98 | 42.24 |
| 2 | Jamaica | 84.71 | 42.36 | 42.01 | 42.70 |
| 3 | Russia | 85.58 | 42.79 | 42.78 | 42.80 |
| 4 | Belgium | 85.60 | 42.80 | 42.75 | 42.85 |
| 5 | Great Britain | 85.69 | 42.85 | 42.82 | 42.87 |
| 6 | Germany | 86.25 | 43.13 | 43.08 | 43.17 |
| 7 | Ukraine | 86.43 | 43.22 | 43.03 | 43.40 |
| 8 | Belarus | 86.46 | 43.23 | 43.16 | 43.30 |
| 9 | Italy | 86.48 | 43.24 | 43.04 | 43.44 |
| 10 | France | 86.58 | 43.29 | 43.09 | 43.49 |
| 11 | China | 86.65 | 43.33 | 43.26 | 43.39 |
| 12 | Poland | 86.78 | 43.39 | 43.25 | 43.53 |
| — | Finland | 86.89 | 43.45 | 43.41 | 43.48 |
| 13 | Brazil | 86.90 | 43.45 | 43.36 | 43.54 |
| 14 | Trinidad and Tobago | 87.19 | 43.60 | 43.43 | 43.76 |
| — | Cuba | 87.26 | 43.63 | 43.46 | 43.80 |
| 15 | Thailand | 87.30 | 43.65 | 43.38 | 43.92 |
| 16 | Nigeria | 87.37 | 43.69 | 43.58 | 43.79 |
| Reserves ||||||
| 17 | Australia | 87.53 | 43.77 | 43.62 | 43.91 |
| 18 | Japan | 87.60 | 43.80 | 43.67 | 43.93 |
| 18 | Ghana | 87.60 | 43.80 | 43.76 | 43.84 |

## Results

All times shown are in seconds:
* Q denotes automatic qualification
* q denotes fastest losers
* DNS denotes did not start
* DNF denotes did not finish
* DSQ denotes disqualified
* AR denotes area record
* NR denotes national record
* PB denotes personal best
* SB denotes season's best

### Round 1

First 3 in each heat(Q) and the next 2 fastest(q) advance to the Final.
| Heat | Lane | Nation | Competitors | Results | Notes |
| 2 | 7 | Jamaica | Shelly-Ann Fraser, Sheri-Ann Brooks, Aleen Bailey, Veronica Campbell-Brown | 42.24 | Q, SB |
| 2 | 3 | Russia | Evgeniya Polyakova, Aleksandra Fedoriva, Yulia Gushchina, Yuliya Chermoshanskaya | 42.87 | DSQ (Q) |
| 1 | 7 | Belgium | Olivia Borlée, Hanna Mariën, Élodie Ouédraogo, Kim Gevaert | 42.92 | Q, SB |
| 1 | 9 | Great Britain | Jeanette Kwakye, Montell Douglas, Emily Freeman, Emma Ania | 43.02 | Q |
| 1 | 5 | Brazil | Rosemar Coelho Neto, Lucimar de Moura, Thaissa Presti, Rosângela Santos | 43.38 | Q |
| 1 | 8 | Nigeria | Franca Idoko, Gloria Kemasuode, Agnes Osazuwa, Oludamola Osayomi | 43.43 | q, SB |
| 1 | 6 | Poland | Ewelina Klocek, Daria Korczyńska, Dorota Jędrusińska, Marta Jeschke | 43.47 | q |
| 2 | 4 | Germany | Anne Möllinger, Verena Sailer, Cathleen Tschirch, Marion Wagner | 43.59 | Q |
| 1 | 3 | Belarus | Yuliya Nestsiarenka, Aksana Drahun, Nastassia Shuliak, Anna Bagdanovich | 43.69 | SB |
| 2 | 5 | China | Tao Yujia, Wang Jing, Jiang Lan, Qin Wangping | 43.78 | |
| 2 | 9 | Thailand | Sangwan Jaksunin, Orranut Klomdee, Jutamass Thavoncharoen, Nongnuch Sanrat | 44.38 | |
| 2 | 2 | France | Myriam Soumare, Muriel Hurtis-Houairi, Lina Jacques-Sebastien, Carima Louami | DNF | |
| 1 | 4 | Italy | Anita Pistone, Vincenza Calì, Giulia Arcioni, Audrey Alloh | DSQ | |
| 2 | 6 | Trinidad and Tobago | Wanda Hutson, Kelly-Ann Baptiste, Ayanna Hutchinson, Semoy Hackett | DNF | |
| 2 | 8 | Ukraine | Nataliya Pyhyda, Nataliya Pohrebnyak, Iryna Shepetyuk, Oksana Shcherbak | DSQ | |
| 1 | 2 | United States | Angela Williams, Mechelle Lewis, Torri Edwards, Lauryn Williams | DSQ | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Nation | Competitors | Results | Notes |
| | 5 | Belgium | Olivia Borlée, Hanna Mariën, Élodie Ouédraogo, Kim Gevaert | 42.54 | NR |
| | 3 | Nigeria | Franca Idoko, Gloria Kemasuode, Halimat Ismaila, Oludamola Osayomi | 43.04 | SB |
| | 8 | Brazil | Rosemar Coelho Neto, Lucimar de Moura, Thaissa Presti, Rosângela Santos | 43.14 | SB |
| 4 | 9 | Germany | Anne Möllinger, Verena Sailer, Cathleen Tschirch, Marion Wagner | 43.28 | |
| DNF | 7 | Great Britain | Jeanette Kwakye, Montell Douglas, Emily Freeman, Emma Ania | DNF | |
| DNF | 6 | Jamaica | Shelly-Ann Fraser, Sherone Simpson, Kerron Stewart, Veronica Campbell-Brown | DNF | |
| DSQ | 2 | Poland | Ewelina Klocek, Daria Korczyńska, Dorota Jędrusińska, Joanna Kocielnik | DSQ | |
| DSQ (1st) | 4 | Russia | Evgeniya Polyakova, Aleksandra Fedoriva, Yulia Gushchina, Yuliya Chermoshanskaya | DSQ (42.31) | Doping case |