# 2023 World Athletics Championships – Mixed 4 × 400 metres relay

The mixed 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2023 World Athletics Championships was held at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on 19 August 2023.

## Summary

With Femke Bol, who had taken the World Indoor Record in the 400 metres earlier in the season, as their anchor leg, Netherlands came in as a favorite. Defending champion Poland had a rougher time getting into the final, their anchor leg Patrycja Wyciszkiewicz-Zawadzka finding herself on the deck at the beginning of her leg in a multi-athlete collision on the exchange. After finishing last, Poland was added as a 9th finalist by the referee.
With only one substitution allowed between the heats and the final, Netherlands put their fresh athlete Liemarvin Bonevacia on the first leg. He did what was asked of him, holding his own against USA's Justin Robinson to hand off barely behind. Netherlands' other 400 star, Lieke Klaver, pushed the turn to barely beat Rosey Effiong to the break. Effiong didn't go away until the final metres, Klaver handing off with a slight lead. GBR was 5 metres back with France another 10 metres back. USA's next runner was their substitute, Matthew Boling, a step behind Klein Ikkink. Boling ran on the outside of lane 1 to pass Ikkink by the end of the first turn. Ikkink stuck to Boling until the final straight when he edged by to hand off to the star, Bol. With a personal best a full second slower than Bol, Alexis Holmes ran a step behind and wouldn't go away. Coming off the final turn, Holmes tried to put a kick on Bol and was gaining down the home stretch. The gap narrowed and narrowed as Holmes pulled even. Ten metres from the finish, Bol started to lean for the finish and crashed to the track, Holmes completing the final steps for a USA victory. Bol righted herself, but before she could cross the finish line, Yemi Mary John passed Bol to give GBR silver, the British four having maintained a third place position from the first leg, and running their second national record of the day. Bol was able to get across the line in third place, but in the fall she had dropped the baton, which landed inside the track across the finish line. Crossing the finish line without the baton made NED officially a DNF, did not finish. The Czech Republic took the bronze medal.
Almost lost in the finish line drama, the USA set a new World Record in the relatively new event, taking over a half second off the time set by another American winning team at the inaugural mixed relay in 2019.

## Records

Before the competition records were as follows:
| Record | Athlete & Nat. | Perf. | Location | Date |
| World Record | United States Wilbert London, Allyson Felix, Courtney Okolo, Michael Cherry | 3:09.34 | Doha, Qatar | 29 September 2019 |
| Championship Record | United States Wilbert London, Allyson Felix, Courtney Okolo, Michael Cherry | 3:09.34 | Doha, Qatar | 29 September 2019 |
| World Leading | Czech Republic Matěj Krsek, Tereza Petržilková, Vít Müller, Lada Vondrová | 3:12.34 | Chorzów, Poland | 25 June 2023 |
| African Record | Nigeria Ifeanyi Ojeli, Imaobong Uko, Samson Nathaniel, Patience Okon George | 3:13.60 | Tokyo, Japan | 30 July 2021 |
| Asian Record | Bahrain Musa Isah, Aminat Jamal, Salwa Eid Naser, Abbas Abubakar Abbas | 3:11.82 | Doha, Qatar | 29 September 2019 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean Record | United States Wilbert London, Allyson Felix, Courtney Okolo, Michael Cherry | 3:09.34 | Doha, Qatar | 29 September 2019 |
| South American Record | Colombia Jhon Perlaza, Lina Licona, Anthony Zambrano, Evelis Aguilar | 3:14.79 | São Paulo, Brazil | 28 July 2023 |
| European Record | Poland Karol Zalewski, Natalia Kaczmarek, Justyna Święty-Ersetic, Kajetan Duszyński | 3:09.87 | Tokyo, Japan | 31 July 2021 |
| Oceanian Record | Australia Bendere Oboya, Anneliese Rubie-Renshaw, Tyler Gunn, Alex Beck | 3:17.00 | Gold Coast, Australia | 12 June 2021 |
The following records were matched or set at the competition:
| Record | Perf. | Team | Date |
| World Record | 3:08.80 | United States Justin Robinson, Rosey Effiong, Matthew Boling, Alexis Holmes | 19 August 2023 |
| Championship Record | 3:08.80 | United States Justin Robinson, Rosey Effiong, Matthew Boling, Alexis Holmes | 19 August 2023 |
| World Leading | 3:08.80 | United States Justin Robinson, Rosey Effiong, Matthew Boling, Alexis Holmes | 19 August 2023 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean Record | 3:08.80 | United States Justin Robinson, Rosey Effiong, Matthew Boling, Alexis Holmes | 19 August 2023 |

## Qualification standard

The standard to qualify automatically for entry was to finish in the first 8 at 2022 World Athletics Championships, completed by 8 top lists' teams.

## Schedule

The event schedule, in local time (CEST), was as follows:
| Date | Time | Round |
| 19 August | 11:05 | Heats |
| 19 August | 21:49 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

The first three in each heat (Q) and the next two fastest (q) qualified for the final.
| Rank | Heat | Nation | Athletes | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | United States (USA) | Ryan Willie, Rosey Effiong, Justin Robinson, Alexis Holmes | 3:10.41 | Q, WL |
| 2 | 1 | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | Joseph Brier, Laviai Nielsen, Rio Mitcham, Yemi Mary John | 3:11.19 | Q, NR |
| 3 | 1 | Belgium (BEL) | Robin Vanderbemden, Imke Vervaet, Florent Mabille, Camille Laus | 3:11.81 | Q, SB |
| 4 | 2 | Netherlands (NED) | Isaya Klein Ikkink, Lieke Klaver, Terrence Agard, Femke Bol | 3:12.12 | Q, SB |
| 5 | 2 | France (FRA) | Gilles Biron, Louise Maraval, Téo Andant, Amandine Brossier | 3:12.25 | Q, NR |
| 6 | 2 | Czech Republic (CZE) | Matěj Krsek, Tereza Petržilková, Patrik Šorm, Lada Vondrová | 3:12.52 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | Germany (GER) | Manuel Sanders, Alica Schmidt, Jean Paul Bredau, Skadi Schier [de] | 3:13.25 | q, SB |
| 8 | 1 | Ireland (IRL) | Jack Raftery, Sophie Becker, Christopher O'Donnell, Sharlene Mawdsley | 3:13.90 | q, SB |
| 9 | 2 | Jamaica (JAM) | Demish Gaye, Natoya Goule-Toppin, Malik James-King, Stacey Ann Williams | 3:14.05 | SB |
| 10 | 1 | Hungary (HUN) | Attila Molnár, Bianka Kéri, Zoltán Wahl, Janka Molnár | 3:14.08 | NR |
| 11 | 2 | Switzerland (SUI) | Lionel Spitz, Giula Senn, Ricky Petrucciani, Julia Niederberger [de] | 3:14.38 | |
| 12 | 2 | Nigeria (NGR) | Dubem Nwachukwu, Patience Okon George, Ezekiel Nathaniel, Imaobong Nse Uko | 3:14.38 | SB |
| 13 | 1 | Italy (ITA) | Lorenzo Benati, Ayomide Folorunso, Riccardo Meli, Alice Mangione | 3:14.56 | |
| 14 | 2 | Poland (POL) | Karol Zalewski, Marika Popowicz-Drapała, Kajetan Duszyński, Patrycja Wyciszkiewicz-Zawadzka | 3:14.63 | qR |
| 15 | 1 | Kenya (KEN) | Zablon Ekhal Ekwam, Milicent Ndoro, Wyclife Kinyamal, Mercy Oketch | 3:15.47 | |
| 16 | 1 | Portugal (POR) | Omar Elkhatib [de], Cátia Azevedo, Ricardo dos Santos, Fatoumata Binta Diallo | 3:15.75 | |
| | 1 | Dominican Republic (DOM) | | | DNS |

### Final

The final was held at 21:49 on August 19.
| Rank | Lane | Nation | Athletes | Time | Notes |
| | 6 | United States (USA) | Justin Robinson, Rosey Effiong, Matthew Boling, Alexis Holmes | 3:08.80 | WR |
| | 8 | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | Lewis Davey, Laviai Nielsen, Rio Mitcham, Yemi Mary John | 3:11.06 | NR |
| | 4 | Czech Republic (CZE) | Matěj Krsek, Tereza Petržilková, Patrik Šorm, Lada Vondrová | 3:11.98 | NR |
| 4 | 5 | France (FRA) | Gilles Biron, Louise Maraval, Téo Andant, Amandine Brossier | 3:12.99 | |
| 5 | 9 | Belgium (BEL) | Robin Vanderbemden, Imke Vervaet, Jonathan Borlée, Camille Laus | 3:13.83 | |
| 6 | 3 | Ireland (IRL) | Jack Raftery, Sophie Becker, Christopher O'Donnell, Sharlene Mawdsley | 3:14.13 | |
| 7 | 2 | Germany (GER) | Manuel Sanders, Alica Schmidt, Jean Paul Bredau, Elisa Lechleitner [de] | 3:14.27 | |
| 8 | 1 | Poland (POL) | Igor Bogaczyński [es], Patrycja Wyciszkiewicz-Zawadzka, Karol Zalewski, Marika Popowicz-Drapała | 3:15.49 | |
| | 7 | Netherlands (NED) | Liemarvin Bonevacia, Lieke Klaver, Isaya Klein Ikkink, Femke Bol | DNF | DNF |