Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 400 metres relay

Athletics at the
2000 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m   men   women
200 m men women
400 m men women
800 m men women
1500 m men women
5000 m men women
10,000 m men women
100 m hurdles women
110 m hurdles men
400 m hurdles men women
3000 m
steeplechase		 men
4×100 m relay men women
4×400 m relay men women
Road events
Marathon men women
20 km walk men women
50 km walk men
Field events
Long jump men women
Triple jump men women
High jump men women
Pole vault men women
Shot put men women
Discus throw men women
Javelin throw men women
Hammer throw men women
Combined events
Heptathlon women
Decathlon men
Wheelchair races

The Women's 4 x 400 metres relay races at the 2000 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program were held on Friday, 29 September and Saturday, 30 September. The first two in each heat and the next 2 fastest overall advanced to the final.

Coming from the gun, Nigeria's Olabisi Afolabi was the first to break from the stagger formation in lane 3, gaining on Australia's Nova Peris-Kneebone to her outside. After the first half lap, Afolabi began to pay for her enthusiasm, tying up through the second turn where American Jearl Miles Clark and then Jamaican Sandie Richards began to assert themselves. The Jamaican's handed off slightly ahead of the Americans, but Monique Hennagan ran a strong turn to give the Americans the edge ahead of Catherine Scott, with the rest of the world, led by Nigeria and Australia, five metres back. Scott kept the gap less than a metre all the way to the home stretch, then moved into lane two to sprint for home, passing off to 400 hurdles silver medalist Deon Hemmings just ahead of Marion Jones. But Hemmings did not charge out ahead, instead allowing Jones to secure the baton and still hold the inside of the turn. Narrowing the gap, Nigeria, Australia, Great Britain and Russia were all just a few metres back. Jones almost casually built up a five metre gap in the first three quarters of a lap, then she accelerated away to give the USA a twelve metre advantage by the handoff. Hemmings held second place to that same straightaway, but a late rush on the outside by Olga Kotlyarova had Russia handing off in second place. This time Lorraine Graham held the position through the turn, forcing Irina Privalova to run the outside. With no competitors near her, LaTasha Colander expanded the American lead to almost 20 metres with 100 metres to go before slowing markedly going into the finish, jogging across the line with a 5 metre gap. Graham held off Privalova for the entire last lap. Cathy Freeman made a heroic effort to pull Australia back into fourth position, but let off the gas just before the line and was pipped by Falilat Ogunkoya. Australia's time was good enough for the Oceanian record, beating the record they set in the qualifying round.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes:seconds) prior to the 2000 Summer Olympics.

World Record 3:15.17 Soviet Union USSR Tatyana Ledovskaya
Olga Nazarova
Mariya Pinigina
Olga Bryzgina		 Seoul, (South Korea) 1 October 1988
Olympic Record 3:15.17 Soviet Union USSR Tatyana Ledovskaya
Olga Nazarova
Mariya Pinigina
Olga Bryzgina		 Seoul, (South Korea) 1 October 1988

Medals

Gold: Silver: Bronze:
United States
Jearl Miles Clark
Monique Hennagan
Marion Jones
LaTasha Colander
Andrea Anderson*		 Jamaica
Sandie Richards
Catherine Scott
Deon Hemmings
Lorraine Graham
Charmaine Howell*
Michelle Burgher*		 Russia
Yuliya Sotnikova
Svetlana Goncharenko
Olga Kotlyarova
Irina Privalova
Natalya Nazarova*
Olesya Zykina*

* Athletes who participated in the heats only and received medals.

Gold medals won by the United States team initially stripped due to doping by Marion Jones. On 16 July 2010, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in favor of the non-disqualified American women, who had appealed the International Olympic Committee's decision to disqualify them from the Sydney Games. The court said that rules in place in 2000 did not allow entire teams to be disqualified because of doping by one athlete.

Results

All times shown are in seconds.

Heats

First 2 in each heat(Q) and the next 2 fastest(q) advance to the Final.

Heat 1

Heat 1 of 3
Date: Friday 29 September 2000
Place Nation Athletes Lane Time Qual. Record
Heat Overall
1 2 United States Jearl Miles Clark, Monique Hennagan,
Andrea Anderson, LaTasha Colander		 4 3:23.95 Q SB
2 5 Cuba Zulia Calatayud, Julia Duporty,
Idalmis Bonne, Daimí Pernía		 3 3:25.22 Q SB
3 9 Belarus Natalya Sologub, Yelena Budnik,
Irina Khlyustova, Anna Kozak 		8 3:26.31 NR
4 10 Germany Shanta Ghosh, Ulrike Urbansky,
Birgit Rockmeier, Florence Ekpo-Umoh 		5 3:27.02 SB
5 12 Canada Karlene Haughton, LaDonna Antoine,
Foy Williams, Samantha George		 2 3:27.36 SB
6 17 Spain Julia Alba, Norfalia Carabalí,
Miriam Bravo, Maite Martínez 		7 3:32.45 SB
7 20 Yugoslavia Mila Savić, Jelena Stanisavljević,
Vukosava Đapić, Tatjana Lojanica 		1 3:37.99
Cameroon Did Not Start

Heat 2

Heat 2 of 3
Date: Friday 29 September 2000
Place Nation Athletes Lane Time Qual. Record
Heat Overall
1 6 Great Britain Helen Frost, Donna Fraser,
Allison Curbishley, Katharine Merry 		5 3:25.28 Q SB
2 7 Jamaica Charmaine Howell, Catherine Scott,
Michelle Burgher, Sandie Richards		 8 3:25.65 Q SB
3 8 Russia Yuliya Sotnikova, Olesya Zykina,
Svetlana Goncharenko, Natalya Nazarova 		4 3:26.05 q
4 11 Italy Daniela Graglia, Francesca Carbone,
Fabiola Piroddi, Virna De Angeli 		3 3:27.23 SB
5 15 India Paramjeet Kaur, Jincy Philip,
Rosa Kutty, K.M.Beena Mol 		2 3:31.46
6 18 Puerto Rico Militza Castro, Sandra Moya,
Beatriz Cruz, Maritza Salas		 6 3:33.30 NR
7 Colombia 7 Did Not Start

Heat 3

Heat 3 of 3
Date: Friday 29 September 2000
Place Nation Athletes Lane Time Qual. Record
Heat Overall
1 1 Nigeria Doris Jacob, Olabisi Afolabi,
Rosemary Okafor, Charity Opara 		5 3:22.99 Q SB
2 3 Australia Tamsyn Lewis, Susan Andrews,
Jana Pittman, Nova Peris-Kneebone 		2 3:24.05 Q AR
3 4 Czech Republic Jitka Burianová, Hana Benešová,
Lenka Ficková, Helena Dziurova-Fuchsová		 3 3:24.40 q SB
4 13 Senegal Aïda Diop, Mame Tacko Diouf,
Aminata Diouf, Amy Mbacke Thiam 		1 3:28.02 NR
5 14 Barbados Melissa Straker, Andrea Blackett,
Michael Williams, Tanya Oxley 		7 3:30.83 SB
6 16 Ireland Karen Shinkins, Martina McCarthy,
Emily Maher, Ciara Sheehy		 6 3:32.24 NR
7 19 Slovenia Meta Macus, Brigita Langerholc,
Jolanda Steblovnik-Ceplak, Saša Prokofijev 		8 3:35.00 NR
8 21 Uzbekistan Natalya Kobina, Yelena Piskunova,
Zamira Amirova, Natalya Senkina 		4 3:43.96

Final

The United States originally won gold, but on 10 April 2008, following Marion Jones's admission that she had used performance enhancing drugs in preparation for the Olympics, the entire team was stripped of their gold medals. On 16 July 2010, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in favor of the non-disqualified American women, who had appealed the International Olympic Committee's decision to disqualify them from the Sydney Games. The court said that rules in place in 2000 did not allow entire teams to be disqualified because of doping by one athlete.

Final
Date: Saturday 30 September 2000
Place Nation Athletes Lane Time Record
1st, gold medalist(s) United States Jearl Miles Clark, Monique Hennagan,
Marion Jones, LaTasha Colander		 5 3:22.62
2nd, silver medalist(s) Jamaica Sandie Richards, Catherine Scott,
Deon Hemmings, Lorraine Graham 		7 3:23.25 SB
3rd, bronze medalist(s) Russia Yuliya Sotnikova, Svetlana Goncharenko,
Olga Kotlyarova, Irina Privalova		 1 3:23.46 SB
4 Nigeria Olabisi Afolabi, Charity Opara,
Rosemary Okafor, Falilat Ogunkoya 		3 3:23.80
5 Australia Nova Peris-Kneebone, Tamsyn Lewis,
Melinda Gainsford-Taylor, Cathy Freeman		 4 3:23.81 AR
6 Great Britain Natasha Danvers, Donna Fraser,
Allison Curbishley, Katharine Merry 		6 3:25.67
7 Czech Republic Jitka Burianová, Hana Benešová,
Lenka Ficková, Helena Dziurova-Fuchsová		 2 3:29.17
8 Cuba Zulia Calatayud, Julia Duporty,
Idalmis Bonne, Daimí Pernía 		8 3:29.47

External links

Source: Official Report of the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics available at https://web.archive.org/web/20080522105330/http://www.la84foundation.org/5va/reports_frmst.htm

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