World Athletics Relays

The World Athletics Relays, known as the IAAF World Relays until 2019, is an international biennial track and field sporting event held by World Athletics where teams from around the world compete in relay races, some of which are not part of the standard Olympic programme. The first three editions were set to take place in Nassau, Bahamas at the Thomas Robinson Stadium in 2014, 2015 and 2017. Originally intended as an annual event, it was later decided to happen every odd year,^[1] in the same year as the World Athletics Championships for which it serves as a qualification stage.

Wordmark of the World Athletics Relays

The Tommy Robinson National Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas hosted the first three editions of the competition.

The competition format for the first edition included the 4 × 100 metres relay, the 4 × 200 metres relay, the 4 × 400 metres relay, the 4 × 800 metres relay and the 4 × 1500 metres relay.^[2] The first edition had a $1.4 million prize fund.

From the second edition, the 4 × 1500 metres relay was replaced by the distance medley relay.^[3] However, this was short-lived and was itself replaced by a mixed-gender 4 × 400 metres relay for the third edition.^[4] In 2019, the 2 × 2 × 400 m relay and the shuttle hurdles relay were added to the mixed-gender category.^[5] Starting from the 2024 edition, all the non-Olympic events were removed from the programme and only the mens and women's 4 × 100 and 4 × 400 metres remained, alongside the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay. In the 2025 edition, a mixed 4 × 100 metres will be added to the programme, bringing the total to 6 events.^[6]

The upcoming World Athletics Relays will be held in Guangzhou, China at the Guangdong Olympic Stadium on 10 and 11 May 2025.

Championships

Edition	Year	City	Country	Date	Venue	No. of Events	No. of Countries	No. of Athletes	Top of the medal table
1	2014	Nassau	Bahamas	24–25 May	Thomas Robinson Stadium	10	41	470	United States
2	2015	Nassau	Bahamas	2–3 May	Thomas Robinson Stadium	10	42	584	United States
3	2017	Nassau	Bahamas	22–23 April	Thomas Robinson Stadium	9	35	419	United States
4	2019	Yokohama	Japan	11–12 May	Yokohama International Stadium	9	43	529	United States
5	2021	Chorzów	Poland	1–2 May	Silesian Stadium	9	37	689	Italy
6	2024	Nassau	Bahamas	4–5 May	Thomas Robinson Stadium	5	52	893	United States
7	2025	Guangzhou	China	10–11 May	Guangdong Olympic Stadium	6
8	2026	Gaborone	Botswana	2–3 May	Botswana National Stadium
9	2028	Nassau	Bahamas	22–23 April	Thomas Robinson Stadium

Events

Event		Year
Discipline	Gender	2014	2015	2017	2019	2021	2024	2025
4 × 100 metres relay	Men	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
	Mixed	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✓
	Women	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Shuttle hurdles relay	Mixed	✗	✗	✗	✓	✓	✗	✗
4 × 200 metres relay	Men	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✗	✗
	Women	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✗	✗
4 × 400 metres relay	Men	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
	Mixed	✗	✗	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
	Women	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
2 × 2 × 400 metres relay	Mixed	✗	✗	✗	✓	✓	✗	✗
4 × 800 metres relay	Men	✓	✓	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗
	Women	✓	✓	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗
Distance medley relay	Men	✗	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗
	Women	✗	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗
4 × 1500 metres relay	Men	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗
	Women	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗

Championships records

Men

Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Meet	Place	Ref.
4 × 100 m relay	37.38	Mike Rodgers Justin Gatlin Tyson Gay Ryan Bailey	United States	2 May 2015	2015 IAAF World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	[7]
4 × 200 m relay	1:18.63	Nickel Ashmeade Warren Weir Jermaine Brown Yohan Blake	Jamaica	24 May 2014	2014 IAAF World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	[8]
4 × 400 m relay	2:57.25	David Verburg Tony McQuay Christian Taylor LaShawn Merritt	United States	25 May 2014	2014 IAAF World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	[9]
4 × 800 m relay	7:04.84	Duane Solomon Erik Sowinski Casimir Loxsom Robby Andrews	United States	3 May 2015	2015 IAAF World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	[10]
Distance medley relay	9:15.50	Kyle Merber 2:53.56 (1200 m) Brycen Spratling 45.95 (400 m) Brandon Johnson 1:44.75 (800 m) Ben Blankenship 3:51.24 (1600 m)	United States	3 May 2015	2015 IAAF World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	[11]
4 × 1500 m relay	14:22.22	Collins Cheboi Silas Kiplagat James Kiplagat Magut Asbel Kiprop	Kenya	25 May 2014	2014 IAAF World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	[12]

Women

Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Meet	Place	Ref.
4 × 100 m relay	41.85	Tamari Davis Gabrielle Thomas Celera Barnes Melissa Jefferson	United States	5 May 2024	2024 Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	[13]
4 × 200 m relay	1:29.04	Jura Levy Shericka Jackson Sashalee Forbes Elaine Thompson	Jamaica	22 April 2017	2017 IAAF World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	[14]
4 × 400 m relay	3:19.39	Phyllis Francis Natasha Hastings Sanya Richards-Ross Francena McCorory	United States	3 May 2015	2015 IAAF World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	[15]
4 × 800 m relay	8:00.62	Chanelle Price Maggie Vessey Molly Beckwith-Ludlow Alysia Johnson Montaño	United States	3 May 2015	2015 IAAF World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	[16]
Distance medley relay	10:36.50	Treniere Moser 3:18.38 (1200 m) Sanya Richards-Ross 50.12 (400 m) Ajee' Wilson 2:00.08 (800 m) Shannon Rowbury 4:27.92 (1600 m)	United States	2 May 2015	2015 IAAF World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	[17]
4 × 1500 m relay	16:33.58	Mercy Cherono Faith Kipyegon Irene Jelagat Hellen Onsando Obiri	Kenya	24 May 2014	2014 IAAF World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	[18]

Mixed

Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Meet	Place	Ref.
4 × 400 m relay	3:10.73	Matthew Boling Lynna Irby-Jackson Willington Wright Kendall Ellis	United States	5 May 2024	2024 Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	[19]
2 × 2 × 400 m relay	3:36.92	Ce'Aira Brown Donavan Brazier	United States	11 May 2019	2019 Relays	Yokohama, Japan	[20]
Shuttle hurdle relay	54.96	Christina Clemons Freddie Crittenden Sharika Nelvis Devon Allen	United States	11 May 2019	2019 Relays	Yokohama, Japan	[21]

Medal table

Updated: May 2024^[22]

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	26	7	2	35
2	Jamaica	5	8	6	19
3	Poland	3	8	1	12
4	Kenya	3	6	2	11
5	Germany	3	1	4	8
6	Italy	3	0	1	4
7	France	1	2	2	5
8	Canada	1	2	1	4
9	Bahamas	1	2	0	3
10	Trinidad and Tobago	1	1	2	4
11	Botswana	1	1	1	3
	Netherlands	1	1	1	3
13	Brazil	1	1	0	2
14	Nigeria	1	0	1	2
15	Cuba	1	0	0	1
16	Japan	0	3	2	5
17	South Africa	0	2	0	2
18	Australia	0	1	6	7
	Great Britain	0	1	6	7
20	China	0	1	2	3
21	Ireland	0	1	1	2
22	Barbados	0	1	0	1
	Belarus	0	1	0	1
	Saint Kitts and Nevis	0	1	0	1
25	Belgium	0	0	3	3
26	Denmark	0	0	1	1
	Dominican Republic	0	0	1	1
	Ecuador	0	0	1	1
	Ethiopia	0	0	1	1
	Portugal	0	0	1	1
	Russia	0	0	1	1
	Slovenia	0	0	1	1
Totals (32 entries)		52	52	51	155

Multiple wins

Multiple wins athletes are:^[23]

Three wins

Athlete	Country	Events
Nickel Ashmeade	Jamaica	Men’s 4 × 100 m 2014, 4 × 200 m 2014/2015
Tony McQuay	United States	Men’s 4 × 400 m 2014/2015/2017
LaShawn Merritt	United States	Men’s 4 × 400 m 2014/2015/2017
David Verburg	United States	Men’s 4 × 400 m 2014/2015/2017
Natasha Hastings	United States	Women’s 4 × 400 m 2014/2015/2017
Chanelle Price	United States	Women’s 4 × 800 m 2014/2015/2017
Sanya Richards-Ross	United States	Women’s 4 × 400 m 2014/2015, Distance Medley Relay 2015

Two wins

Athlete	Country	Events
Yohan Blake	Jamaica	Men’s 4 × 100 m 2014, 4 × 200 m 2014
Justin Gatlin	United States	Men’s 4 × 100 m 2015/2017
Casimir Loxsom	United States	Men’s 4 × 800 m 2015/2017
Erik Sowinski	United States	Men’s 4 × 800 m 2015/2017
Warren Weir	Jamaica	Men’s 4 × 200 m 2014/2015
Phyllis Francis	United States	Women’s 4 × 400 m 2015/2017
Ajeé Wilson	United States	Women’s 4 × 800 m 2014, Distance Medley Relay 2015
Quanera Hayes	United States	Women’s 4 × 400 m 2017/2024
Gabrielle Thomas	United States	Women’s 4 × 100 m 2024, Women’s 4 × 400 m 2024