# 2017 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 4 × 400 metres relay

The women's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics was held at the London Olympic Stadium on 12–13 August.

## Summary

In the final, the early leader was Nigeria as Patience Okon George made up the stagger on Botswana to her outside as they entered the far turn. Chrisann Gordon pulled Jamaica close to Nigeria on the inside but lost some ground coming off the turn. Down the home stretch, George faded while Quanera Hayes brought USA into the lead at the handoff to Allyson Felix. Felix ran a fast turn to put some separation on the field by the break. Further outside, Jamaica's Anneisha McLaughlin-Whilby was the next in contention until about 50 metres into her leg she McLaughlin-Whilby began to hop and lean back in pain. The entire field passed her as she tried to continue to the break line before collapsing to the track. Felix and USA had a 20-metre lead over the next best, Nigeria, a metre ahead of Great Britain.
Felix continued to expand the lead. Down the homestretch, Laviai Nielsen ran GBR past Nigeria's Abike Funmilola Egbeniyi, but USA had already passed to Shakima Wimbley almost four seconds before the other teams arrived. Iga Baumgart ran around the outside and after the handoff Aleksandra Gaworska, Poland was behind GBR's Eilidh Doyle breaking away from the other teams. 25 metres behind USA, Doyle opened up almost five metres on Gaworska but on the home stretch Doyle began to fade, Gaworska came back while Wimbley was speeding away. USA passed to world champion Phyllis Francis for their anchor. Over five seconds later, GBR passed to Emily Diamond slightly ahead of Poland's pass to Justyna Święty. Francis continued to expand the lead. Behind her Diamond opened up as much as a 10-metre gap on Święty while Nigeria's Yinka Ajayi and France's Elea-Mariama Diarra almost catching her from behind by the half way mark. Francis finished six seconds ahead of Diamond, a virtual walkover gold for USA, with Święty closing rapidly on the homestretch to get Poland close to GBR by the finish.
The 5.98 second margin of victory was the largest in World Championship 4 × 400 metres history.

## Records

Before the competition records were as follows:
| Record | Perf. | Team | Date | Location |
| World | 3:15.17 | Soviet Union Tatyana Ledovskaya, Olga Nazarova, Mariya Kulchunova, Olga Bryzgina | 1 Oct 1988 | Seoul, South Korea |
| Championship | 3:16.71 | United States Gwen Torrence, Maicel Malone-Wallace, Natasha Kaiser-Brown, Jearl Miles Clark | 22 Aug 1993 | Stuttgart, Germany |
| World leading | 3:23.13 | University of Oregon Makenzie Dunmore, Deajah Stevens, Elexis Guster, Raevyn Rogers | 10 Jun 2017 | Eugene, United States |
| African | 3:21.04 | Nigeria Olabisi Afolabi, Fatima Yusuf, Charity Opara, Falilat Ogunkoya | 3 Aug 1996 | Atlanta, United States |
| Asian record | 3:24.28 | China Hebei Province An Xiaohong, Bai Xiaoyun, Cao Chunying, Ma Yuqin | 13 Sep 1993 | Beijing, China |
| NACAC | 3:15.51 | United States Denean Howard-Hill, Diane Dixon, Valerie Brisco-Hooks, Florence Griffith-Joyner | 1 Oct 1988 | Seoul, South Korea |
| South American | 3:26.68 | Brazil BM&F Bovespa Geisa Aparecida Coutinho, Bárbara de Oliveira, Joelma Sousa, Jailma de Lima | 7 Aug 2011 | São Paulo, Brazil |
| European | 3:15.17 | Soviet Union Tatyana Ledovskaya, Olga Nazarova, Mariya Kulchunova, Olga Bryzgina | 1 Oct 1988 | Seoul, South Korea |
| Oceanian | 3:23.81 | Australia Nova Peris, Tamsyn Manou, Melinda Gainsford-Taylor, Cathy Freeman | 30 Sep 2000 | Sydney, Australia |
The following records were set at the competition:
| Record | Perf. | Team | Date |
| World leading | 3:21.66 | United States Quanera Hayes, Kendall Ellis, Shakima Wimbley, Natasha Hastings | 12 Aug 2017 |
| World leading | 3:19.02 | United States Quanera Hayes, Allyson Felix, Shakima Wimbley, Phyllis Francis | 13 Aug 2017 |
| Botswanan | 3:26.90 | Botswana Christine Botlogetswe, Lydia Jele, Galefele Moroko, Amantle Montsho | 12 Aug 2017 |

## Qualification criteria

The first eight placed teams at the 2017 IAAF World Relays and the host country qualify automatically for entry with remaining places being filled by teams with the fastest performances during the qualification period.

## Schedule

The event schedule, in local time (UTC+1), is as follows:
| Date | Time | Round |
| 12 August | 11:20 | Heats |
| 13 August | 20:55 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

The first round took place on 12 August in two heats as follows:
| Heat | 1 | 2 |
| Start time | 11:20 | 11:32 |
| Photo finish | link | link |
The first three in each heat ( Q ) and the next two fastest ( q ) qualified for the final. The overall results were as follows:
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Nation | Athletes | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | 3 | United States (USA) | Quanera Hayes, Kendall Ellis, Shakima Wimbley, Natasha Hastings | 3:21.66 | Q, WL |
| 2 | 2 | 8 | Jamaica (JAM) | Anastasia Le-Roy, Anneisha McLaughlin-Whilby, Chrisann Gordon, Stephenie Ann McPherson | 3:23.64 | Q, SB |
| 3 | 1 | 4 | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | Zoey Clark, Laviai Nielsen, Perri Shakes-Drayton, Emily Diamond | 3:24.74 | Q, SB |
| 4 | 2 | 6 | Nigeria (NGR) | Patience Okon George, Glory Onome Nathaniel, Emerald Egwim, Yinka Ajayi | 3:25.40 | Q, SB |
| 5 | 2 | 9 | Germany (GER) | Ruth Spelmeyer, Nadine Gonska, Svea Köhrbrück, Laura Müller | 3:26.24 | Q, SB |
| 6 | 2 | 9 | Poland (POL) | Małgorzata Hołub, Patrycja Wyciszkiewicz, Martyna Dąbrowska, Iga Baumgart | 3:26.47 | q, SB |
| 7 | 1 | 5 | Botswana (BOT) | Christine Botlogetswe, Lydia Jele, Galefele Moroko, Amantle Montsho | 3:26.90 | Q, NR |
| 8 | 1 | 6 | France (FRA) | Déborah Sananes, Estelle Perrossier, Agnès Raharolahy, Elea-Mariama Diarra | 3:27.59 | q, SB |
| 9 | 2 | 7 | Italy (ITA) | Maria Benedicta Chigbolu, Maria Enrica Spacca, Libania Grenot, Ayomide Folorunso | 3:27.81 | SB |
| 10 | 2 | 5 | Australia (AUS) | Anneliese Rubie, Ella Connolly, Lauren Wells, Morgan Mitchell | 3:28.02 | SB |
| 11 | 1 | 3 | Canada (CAN) | Carline Muir, Aiyanna Stiverne, Travia Jones, Natassha McDonald | 3:28.47 | SB |
| 12 | 2 | 8 | Ukraine (UKR) | Kateryna Klymiuk, Olha Bibik, Tetyana Melnyk, Anastasiia Bryzhina | 3:31.84 | |
| 13 | 2 | 7 | South Africa (RSA) | Justine Palframan, Gena Löfstrand, Ariane Nel, Wenda Nel | 3:37.82 | SB |
| | 1 | 2 | Bahamas (BAH) | Lanece Clarke, Christine Amertil, Anthonique Strachan, Shaquania Dorsett | DNF | |
| | 1 | 2 | India (IND) | Jisna Mathew, M. R. Poovamma, Anilda Thomas, Nirmala Sheoran | DQ | R 163.3 (a) |
| | 1 | 5 | Netherlands (NED) | Madiea Ghafoor, Lisanne de Witte, Laura de Witte, Eva Hovenkamp | DQ | R 170.6 (c) |

### Final

The final took place on 13 August at 20:55. The results were as follows (photo finish):
| Rank | Lane | Nation | Athletes | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | United States (USA) | Quanera Hayes, Allyson Felix, Shakima Wimbley, Phyllis Francis | 3:19.02 | WL |
| | 5 | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | Zoey Clark, Laviai Nielsen, Eilidh Doyle, Emily Diamond | 3:25.00 | |
| | 3 | Poland (POL) | Małgorzata Hołub, Iga Baumgart, Aleksandra Gaworska, Justyna Święty | 3:25.41 | SB |
| 4 | 2 | France (FRA) | Estelle Perrossier, Déborah Sananes, Agnès Raharolahy, Elea-Mariama Diarra | 3:26.56 | SB |
| 5 | 7 | Nigeria (NGR) | Patience Okon George, Abike Funmilola Egbeniyi, Glory Onome Nathaniel, Yinka Ajayi | 3:26.72 | |
| 6 | 9 | Germany (GER) | Ruth Spelmeyer, Laura Müller, Nadine Gonska, Hannah Mergenthaler | 3:27.45 | |
| 7 | 8 | Botswana (BOT) | Christine Botlogetswe, Lydia Jele, Galefele Moroko, Amantle Montsho | 3:28.00 | |
| | 6 | Jamaica (JAM) | Chrisann Gordon, Anneisha McLaughlin-Whilby, Shericka Jackson, Novlene Williams-Mills | DNF | |