4 × 100 metres Relay, Women

The event was expected to come down to Jamaica against the United States, with the USA a slight favorite, led by 100 runner-up Carmelita Jeter, and 4th/5th place in that event of Tianna Madison and Allyson Felix. But Jamaica could counter with the 100 winner, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and bronze medalist Veronica Campbell-Brown. Nobody else was given a chance for gold as long as they got the stick around, something they had not done at Beijing, when the United States did not make the final, and Jamaica did not finish the final.

Fraser-Pryce opened for Jamaica and made up a bit of the stagger on Madison around the curve, but on the backstretch, Felix exploded away from Sherone Simpson, putting the American team into a lead they would not surrender. Bianca Knight ran the final curve for the USA, and Campbell-Brown did make up a small amount on that turn, although Jeter still got the baton with a 2-metre lead. Running against Kerron Stewart, Jeter poured it on, extending the lead to 0.59 seconds at the line as the USA finished in 40.82, shattering the old world record of 41.37 that had been set by an East German squad, way back in 1985. It was one of the three oldest world records on the books for women, after Czechoslovakian Jarmila Kratochvilová’s 800 metre mark, set in 1983, and East German Marita Koch’s 400 mark, set on the same day as the 4×100 record. Jamaica’s silver medal was done in 41.41, the third fastest mark ever, and even Ukraine, in third, posted the eighth fastest national mark ever.

The gold medal gave Jeter a rare complete set of medals from London, as she had won silver in the 100 and bronze in the 200. Felix would return the next day and run on the winning 4×400 relay team, giving her three gold medals in London, along with her individual 200 title.