4 × 800 metres relay
| Athletics 4 × 800 metres relay | |
|---|---|
| World records | |
| Men | Kenya (Joseph Mutua, William Yiampoy, Ismael Kombich, Wilfred Bungei) 7:02.43 (2006) |
| Women | Soviet Union (Nadezhda Olizarenko, Lyubov Gurina, Lyudmila Borisova, Irina Podyalovskaya) 7:50.17 (1984) |
The 4 × 800 metres relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 800 metres or 2 laps on a standard 400 metre track.
The IAAF ratifies world records in the event and it became a world championship event in 2014 as part of the IAAF World Relays.
The men's world record is 7:02.43 by a Kenyan team of Joseph Mutua, William Yiampoy, Ismael Kombich and Wilfred Bungei, set August 25, 2006, at the Memorial Van Damme meet in Brussels, Belgium. The women's world record is 7:50.17, set by a team representing the Soviet Union, Nadiya Olizarenko, Lyubov Gurina, Lyudmila Borisova and Irina Podyalovskaya on August 15, 1984, in Moscow.
The imperial distance analogue to the event is the 4 × 880 yards relay, also known as the two-mile relay, contested at a total of 3,520 yards (3,218.688 m) which is slightly longer than the 3200 m metric distance. It was contested at the AIAW Indoor Track and Field Championships and other American and British meets until the switch to metric in the 1980s.