# Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay

The men's 4 × 100 metres relay event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 5 and 6 August 2021 at the Olympic Stadium. There were 16 competing relay teams, with each team having 5 members from which 4 were selected in each round.

## Summary

During the final, Chijindu Ujah gave Great Britain the lead out of the blocks, Japan's Shuhei Tada and Canada's Aaron Brown also gaining relative to the stagger. At the first handoff, Ujah passed efficiently to Zharnel Hughes, pulling away from Jamaica to their inside. On the outside, Ryota Yamagata left too early for Tada to catch him inside the zone, Japan unable to make the handoff and ending their race. Down the backstretch, 100 metres champion Marcell Jacobs received the baton from Lorenzo Patta and opened up space on Xie Zhenye to his inside, pulling Italy into contention, with Canada's pass from Jerome Blake to Brendon Rodney keeping them in the mix. China loaded up their third leg with ace Su Bingtian pulling back some ground on GBR's Richard Kilty, while Jamaica had Yohan Blake, the second fastest man in history, running the bend. Kilty passed efficiently to Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, while Wu Zhiqiang had to slow down and look back to find Su with the baton, costing China the chance to battle for gold. Italy passed from Fausto Desalu to Filippo Tortu about metre down from team GB. Behind China, Jamaica and Germany, Rodney passed to Canada's star Andre De Grasse almost 5 metres behind. From there De Grasse took off, passing three teams to move into third place, while over the final 50 metres Tortu produced a burst of speed combined with a perfectly executed final dip to take gold on the line. Italy had set a new national record with a time of 37.50, the 19th fastest performance ever and the 2021 world lead. China equalled their national record with 37.79, while Ghana was disqualified from 7th place because of a faulty baton pass.
During the Olympics, British athlete CJ Ujah tested positive for anabolic agent ostarine and steroid-like S-23 (drug), and was provisionally suspended, confirmed on 14 September by B-sample. On 18 February 2022, the British team was disqualified and officially stripped of the silver medal. The International Olympic Committee requested all members of Great Britain's relay team to return their medals. Canada's relay team was upgraded to silver, and China's relay team was upgraded to bronze. This was also the first ever medal for Team China in an Olympic athletics relay event. The medal reallocation ceremony of the bronze medal was held at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium on 4 October 2023 after all the events of the Asian Games ended on that day, along with the medal reallocation ceremony of women's 20 km walk of London 2012.

## Background

This was the 25th 4 x 100 relay; it has been run every Olympics since 1912.

## Qualification

National Olympic Committees (NOCs) could qualify one relay team in one of three following ways:
* The top 8 NOCs at the 2019 World Athletics Championships qualified a relay team.
* The top 8 NOCs at the 2021 World Athletics Relays qualified a relay team.
* Where an NOC placed in the top 8 at both the 2019 World Championships and the 2021 World Relays, the quota place was allocated to the world top list as of 29 June 2021. In this case, 4 teams did so, so there are 4 places available through the world rankings.
A total of five athletes may be entered for a relay team. Should a NOC have also entered individual athletes in the corresponding individual event (100 m), the entered individual athletes must be included in the total of five (5) athletes entered for the relay event. In addition of five, NOCs can nominate a maximum of one alternate athlete for each team.
The qualifying period was originally from 1 May 2019 to 29 June 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the period was suspended from 6 April 2020 to 30 November 2020, with the end date extended to 29 June 2021. The qualifying time standards could be obtained in various meets during the given period that have the approval of the IAAF. Both indoor and outdoor meets are eligible. The most recent Area Championships may be counted in the ranking, even if not during the qualifying period.

### Qualified teams

A total of 16 NOCs qualified. Entry number: 16 teams of 5 athletes each (80), plus alternates.
| Qualification standard | No. of teams | Qualified teams |
| 2019 World Championships in Athletics Finalists | 8 | Brazil China France Great Britain Japan Netherlands South Africa United States |
| 2021 World Athletics Relays Further finalists | 4 | Denmark Germany Ghana Italy |
| World Athletics Top List (as of 29 June 2021) | 4 | Canada Jamaica Trinidad and Tobago Turkey |

## Top list before competition

Source: 4x100 Metres Relay - men - senior - outdoor - 2021
* 38.27 Great Britain, 1st in Gateshead (GBR), on 13 July 2021
* 38.29 China, 1st in Shenzhen (CHN), on 20 March 2021
* 38.29 Canada, 2nd in Gateshead, on 13 July 2021
* 38.32 Germany, 1st at Sportanlage am Weinweg, Regensburg (GER) 20 June 2021
* 38.33 Jamaica, 1st at GC Foster College, Spanish Town (JAM) 8 May 2021
* 38.45 Brazil, 1h2 at Stadion Śląski, Chorzów (POL) 1 May 2021
* 38.45 Italy, 1h3 at Stadion Śląski, Chorzów (POL) 1 May 2021
* 38.49 South Africa, 2h3 at Stadion Śląski, Chorzów (POL) 1 May 2021 (DQ)
* 38.53 Nigeria, 1st at Yabatech Sport Complex, Lagos (NGR) 27 June 2021, first non-qualifier
* 38.56 Netherlands, 1st at Centre sportif du Bout-du-Monde, Genève (SUI) 12 June 2021
* 38.60 Florida State Seminoles ( United States), 3rd at Hayward Field, Eugene (USA) 11 June 2021
Season's bests for the other qualified teams:
* 38.79 Ghana, 2h1 at Stadion Śląski, Chorzów (POL), on 1 May 2021
* 38.94 Turkey, 2f1 in Cluj-Napoca (ROU), on 19 June 2021
* 38.98 Japan, 3h2 at Stadion Śląski, Chorzów (POL), on 1 May 2021
* 39.06 Denmark, 4h2 at Stadion Śląski, Chorzów (POL), on 1 May 2021
* 39.08 France, 3h3 at Stadion Śląski, Chorzów (POL), on 1 May 2021
* 39.63 Trinidad and Tobago, 2nd at The Bahamas National Stadium, Nassau (BAH) 28 June 2021

## Competition format

The event continued to use the two-round format introduced in 2012.

## Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world, Olympic, and area records were as follows.
| World record | Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake, Usain Bolt (JAM) | 36.84 | London, United Kingdom | 11 August 2012 |
| Olympic record | Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake, Usain Bolt (JAM) | 36.84 | London, United Kingdom | 11 August 2012 |
| Area | Time (s) | Athlete | Nation |
| Africa (records) | 37.65 | Thando DlodloSimon MagakweClarence MunyaiAkani Simbine | South Africa |
| Asia (records) | 37.43 | Shuhei TadaKirara ShiraishiYoshihide KiryūAbdul Hakim Sani Brown | Japan |
| Europe (records) | 37.36 | Adam GemiliZharnel HughesRichard KiltyNethaneel Mitchell-Blake | Great Britain |
| North, Central America and Caribbean (records) | 36.84 WR | Nesta CarterMichael FraterYohan BlakeUsain Bolt | Jamaica |
| Oceania (records) | 38.17 | Paul HendersonTim JacksonSteve BrimacombeDamien Marsh | Australia |
| Oceania (records) | 38.17 | Anthony AlozieIsaac NtiamoahAndrew McCabeJoshua Ross | Australia |
| South America (records) | 37.72 | Rodrigo do NascimentoVitor Hugo dos SantosDerick SilvaPaulo André de Oliveira | Brazil |
The following national records were established during the competition:
| Country | Athlete | Round | Time | Notes |
| Italy | Lorenzo Patta, Marcell Jacobs, Fausto Desalu, Filippo Tortu | Heats | 37.95 | |
| Italy | Lorenzo Patta, Marcell Jacobs, Fausto Desalu, Filippo Tortu | Final | 37.50 | WL |
| Ghana | Sean Safo-Antwi, Benjamin Azamati-Kwaku, Emmanuel Yeboah, Joseph Amoah | Heats | 38.08 | |
| Denmark | Simon Hansen, Tazana Kamanga-Dyrbak, Kojo Musah, Frederik Schou-Nielsen | Heats | 38.16 | |
| China | Tang Xingqiang, Xie Zhenye, Su Bingtian, Wu Zhiqiang | Final | 37.79 | =NR |

## Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
The men's 4 × 100 metres relay took place over two consecutive days.
| Date | Time | Round |
| Thursday, 5 August 2021 | 11:30 | Heats |
| Friday, 6 August 2021 | 22:50 | Final |

## Results

Results are from World Athletics:

### Heats

Qualification Rules: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the Final

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Lane | Nation | Competitors | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Jamaica | Jevaughn Minzie, Julian Forte, Yohan Blake, Oblique Seville | .146 | 37.82 | Q, WL |
| 2 | 4 | Japan | Shuhei Tada, Ryota Yamagata, Yoshihide Kiryū, Yuki Koike | .147 | 38.16 | Q, SB |
| 3 | 9 | France | Mouhamadou Fall, Jimmy Vicaut, Méba-Mickaël Zeze, Ryan Zeze | .156 | 38.18 | SB |
| 4 | 2 | Brazil | Rodrigo do Nascimento, Felipe Bardi dos Santos, Derick Silva, Paulo André de Oliveira | .140 | 38.34 | SB |
| 5 | 8 | Trinidad and Tobago | Kion Benjamin, Eric Harrison Jr., Akanni Hislop, Richard Thompson | .150 | 38.63 | SB |
| – | 6 | Netherlands | Joris van Gool, Taymir Burnet, Chris Garia, Churandy Martina | .146 | | DNF |
| – | 7 | South Africa | Clarence Munyai, Shaun Maswanganyi, Chederick van Wyk, Akani Simbine | .150 | | DNF |
| – | 3 | Great Britain | CJ Ujah, Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake | .152 | DQ (38.02) | R 41.1 |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Lane | Nation | Competitors | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | China | Tang Xingqiang, Xie Zhenye, Su Bingtian, Wu Zhiqiang | .152 | 37.92 (37.916) | Q, SB |
| 2 | 9 | Canada | Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney, Andre De Grasse | .177 | 37.92 (37.918) | Q, SB |
| 3 | 5 | Italy | Lorenzo Patta, Marcell Jacobs, Fausto Desalu, Filippo Tortu | .170 | 37.95 | Q, NR |
| 4 | 6 | Germany | Julian Reus, Joshua Hartmann, Deniz Almas, Lucas Ansah-Peprah | .134 | 38.06 | q, SB |
| 5 | 8 | Ghana | Sean Safo-Antwi, Benjamin Azamati-Kwaku, Emmanuel Yeboah, Joseph Amoah | .137 | 38.08 | q, NR |
| 6 | 3 | United States | Trayvon Bromell, Fred Kerley, Ronnie Baker, Cravon Gillespie | .148 | 38.10 | SB |
| 7 | 7 | Denmark | Simon Hansen, Tazana Kamanga-Dyrbak, Kojo Musah, Frederik Schou-Nielsen | .143 | 38.16 | NR |
| – | 2 | Turkey | Ertan Özkan, Jak Ali Harvey, Kayhan Özer, Ramil Guliyev | .146 | | DQ |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Nation | Competitors | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| | 8 | Italy | Lorenzo Patta, Marcell Jacobs, Fausto Desalu, Filippo Tortu | 0.154 | 37.50 | WL, NR |
| | 4 | Canada | Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney, Andre De Grasse | 0.148 | 37.70 | SB |
| | 7 | China | Tang Xingqiang, Xie Zhenye, Su Bingtian, Wu Zhiqiang | 0.153 | 37.79 | =NR |
| 4 | 5 | Jamaica | Jevaughn Minzie, Julian Forte, Yohan Blake, Oblique Seville | 0.158 | 37.84 | |
| 5 | 3 | Germany | Julian Reus, Joshua Hartmann, Deniz Almas, Lucas Ansah-Peprah | 0.136 | 38.12 | |
| – | 9 | Japan | Shuhei Tada, Ryota Yamagata, Yoshihide Kiryū, Yuki Koike | 0.139 | | DNF |
| – | 2 | Ghana | Sean Safo-Antwi, Benjamin Azamati-Kwaku, Emmanuel Yeboah, Joseph Amoah | 0.160 | DQ | R 170.7 |
| DQ | 6 | Great Britain | CJ Ujah, Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake | 0.141 | DQ (37.51) | R 41.1 |