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2003 World Championships in Athletics Paris, France

2003 9th IAAF World Championships - Paris - Men's 4 x 100m

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Details: Parent Category: World Championships in Athletics; Category: 2003 World Championships in Athletics Paris, France; Last Updated: 07 October 2020; Hits: 386

Host City: Saint-Denis, Paris, France

Format: First round (First 3 & 4 fastest to semi-finals) (Aug 30)

Dates: 23 August – 31 August

Format: Semi-finals (First 3 & 2 fastest to final) (Aug 30)

Nations participating: 198

Athletes participating: 1679

Main venue: Stade de France

Overview by IAAF

This was a repeat of 1999, a close race between the United States and Britain for whom Dwain Chambers ran the anchor leg. The US were without Maurice Greene, Tim Montgomery or Jon Drummond. Yet their squad of mainly 200m stars clocked a fast 37.99 in the semis. In the final, Britain were drawn inside the US and were put in front by Campbell on leg 2. Devonish kept Britain ahead and passed over to Chambers just ahead of Brazil and the USA. Chambers forged ahead with his first strides, then the US anchorman Joshua “JJ” Johnson responded. The American closed the gap all the way down the straight and dipped at the finish 0.02 ahead. The result was disappointing enough for Britain, but silver turned to nothing when an earlier positive doping test on Chambers was confirmed. The subsequent promotion of the Netherlands to bronze meant that Troy Douglas became the oldest ever male World Championship medallist at 40 years 274 days.

These are the official results of the Men's 4 x 100 metres relay event at the 2003 IAAF World Championships in Paris, France. Their final was held on 31 August 2003 at 17:50h.

	4 x 100m		*31 August*
	Final
Event Report Men 4x100m Final Despite missing their star sprinters, men such as the former and current World 100m record holders, Maurice GREENE and Tim MONTGOMERY, the USA 4x100m relay squad still brought home the gold medal they have won at every World Championships except 1995 and 1997. In those two years, it was a Canadian quartet anchored by Donovan BAILEY who stole their thunder, and this year the British foursome of Christian MALCOLM, Darren CAMPBELL, Marlon DEVONSIH and Dwain CHAMBERS were expected to push them close. They did, Chambers losing the gold medal on the line as USA's anchor JJ JOHNSON dipped ahead by two hundredths of a second, 38.06 to 38.08. This is the only time except 1995 that the final has been won in a time outside 38 seconds. Brazil took its first ever bronze at this event, in 38.26, their previous best being fourth in 1999. The individual 200m champion John CAPEL gave the US a great start, in lane six, with Malcolm chasing hard. But the first US change wasn't brilliant and Britain made up ground as Campbell ran a blistering back straight against Bernard WILLIAMS to give Devonish a slight lead, despite a poor change. Campbell followed his team mate round the bend but then fell to the track with an injured right hamstring near the 100m start. Devonish maintained the advantage on the turn while Brazil's Andre Domingos da SILVA made up ground on his inside, and USA's Darvis PATTON kept his team in touch. Chambers, fourth in the individual 100m, looked like he would make his lead count, pulling away in the first few strides from the two chasing men either side of him ' Johnson to his right, and Claudio Roberto SOUZA to his left. But Johnson wouldn't give up, and in the last 10 metres, as Chambers felt the pressure and tightened, the American edged ahead for the gold, leaving Britain with a silver to add to the one they won in 1999, and the two bronzes from 1991 and 1997.
1	John Capel, Bernard Williams, Darvis Patton, J.J. Johnson	USA	38.06
2	Vicente de Lima, Édson Luciano Ribeiro, André Domingos da Silva, Cláudio Roberto Souza	BRA	38.26
3	Timothy Beck, Troy Douglas, Patrick van Balkom, Caimin Douglas	NED	38.87
4	Olusoji Fasuba, Uchenna Emedolu, Musa Deji, Deji Aliu	NGR	38.89
5	Piotr Balcerzak, Łukasz Chyła, Marcin Nowak, Marcin Urbaś	POL	38.96
6	Hiroyasu Tsuchie, Hisashi Miyazaki, Ryo Matsuda, Nobuharu Asahara	JPN	39.05
	Ricardo Williams, Dwight Thomas, Michael Frater, Asafa Powell	JAM	DNF
	Christian Malcolm, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish, Dwain Chambers	GBR	DQ(r11.1) (38.08)
	Semifinals		*30 August*
Event Report Men 4x100 Semi Finals There were no surprises in the semifinals of the men's 4 x 100m relay as all of the strongest teams qualified. In the first heat, Bernard WILLIAMS ran a strong back straight and handed off to Darvis PATTON on the bend who also ran well to see the USA through in first position with a time of 37.99s. Second behind the US team was Jamaica in a national record of 38.45, courtesy of a fast finish from Asafa POWELL. In third place came POLAND, whose fourth runner Marcin JEDRUSINSKI held off Nobuharu ASAHARA of Japan in the final metres. Japan's time of 38.58 was still enough to make the final, as was the 38.63 national record by the Netherlands. The team from Trinidad and Tobago finished sixth and did not field the young 100m silver medallist Darrel BROWN. The second heat was delayed in order to allow the crowd to settle after they witnessed the last jump from local hero Eunice BARBER. When it did get underway, Christian MALCOLM led off well for Great Britain and his lead was extended by Darren CAMPBELL, brought into the team at the expense of Mark LEWIS-FRANCIS. When Marlon DEVONSIH handed the baton to Dwain CHAMBERS the Brits were through comfortably in 38.26. Brazil's Andre Domingos DA SILVA ran a fast final bend to help his team to second place in 38.50 ahead of Nigeria in 38.58.
	Heat 1
1	John Capel, Bernard Williams, Darvis Patton, JJ Johnson	USA	37.99	Q
2	Ricardo Williams, Dwight Thomas, Michael Frater, Asafa Powell	JAM	38.45	Q
3	Marcin Krzywanski, Lukasz Chyla, Marcin Nowak, Marcin J��drusi��ski	POL	38.50	Q
4	Hiroyasu Tsuchie, Hisashi Miyazaki, Ryo Matsuda, Nobuharu Asahara	JPN	38.58	q
5	Timothy Beck, Troy Douglas, Patrick van Balkom, Caimin Douglas	NED	38.63	q
6	Marc Burns, Ato Boldon, Jacey Harper, Nicconner Alexander	TTO	38.84
7	Christian Nsiah, Eric Nkansah, Aziz Zakari, Leo Myles-Mills	GHA	38.88
8	Francesco Scuderi, Simone Collio, Massimiliano Donati, Alessandro Cavallaro	ITA	38.93
	Heat 2
1	Vicente de Lima, Édson Ribeiro, André da Silva, Cláudio de Souza	BRA	38.50	Q
2	Deji Musa, Uchenna Emedolu, Olusoji Fasuba, Deji Aliu	NGR	38.58	Q
3	Charles Allen, Anson Henry, Jermaine Joseph, Pierre Browne	CAN	38.66
4	Ronald Pognon, Aimé-Issa Nthépé, Frédéric Krantz, Jérôme Éyana	FRA	38.79
5	Matt Shirvington, Patrick Johnson, Paul Di Bella, Adam Basil	AUS	38.90
	Juan Encarnacion, Luis Morillo, Juan Sainfleur, Yoel Baéz	DOM	DNF
	Tobias Unger, Marc Blume, Alexander Kosenkow, Ronny Ostwald	GER	DNF
	Christian Malcolm, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish, Dwain Chambers DQ (r10.8)	GBR	DQ(r11.1) 38.26
	Heats		*30 August*
Event Report Men's 4x100m Relay Heats It appears the men's 4x100m relay will be a show down between the UNITED STATES and GREAT BRITAIN. Both countries advanced to the semi-finals later this evening without upsetting the judges, and providing they can repeat their performances, should be battling side by side on Sunday evening. The USA won the first heat by clocking 38.28, with 200m silver medallist Darvis PATTON running a blistering third leg. Weakened by the absence of Maurice GREENE and Jon DRUMMOND, the inclusion of Tim MONTGOMERY could add some fresh legs to their pool. Britain ran a superb race with clean baton changeovers to win the fourth heat in 38.24, making them the fastest qualifiers going into the semi-finals. Given the USA's depleted line-up, and bronze medallist Darren CAMPBELL yet to make an appearance, Great Britain now appear to look stronger - and faster -on paper than the USA. Could we see a changing of the guard here at the Stade de France? Both BRAZIL and POLAND ran strong heats, clocking 38.53 and 38.52 respectively. Poland's Lukasz CHYLA and Marcin NOWAK impressed with their middle section to win their heat. FRANCE were fired up and eager to impress in front of their home crowd. They delivered, recorded 38.61, qualified, and finished second to the defending world champions, the USA. The NETHERLANDS ran a national record to qualify for the semi-finals as seventh fastest, whilst TRINIDAD and TOBAGO looked sluggish, sneaking into the the next round with a time of 38.89, and will look forward to the possible inclusion of silver medallist in the 100m and World Junior record holder, Darrel BROWN.
	Heat 1
1	John Capel, Bernard Williams, Darvis Patton, J.J. Johnson	USA	38.28	Q
2	Ronald Pognon, Aimé-Issa Nthépé, Frédéric Krantz, Jérôme Éyana	FRA	38.61	Q
3	Tobias Unger, Marc Blume, Alexander Kosenkow, Ronny Ostwald	GER	38.91	Q
4	Christian Nsiah, Eric Nkansah, Aziz Zakari, Leo Myles-Mills	GHA	38.94	q
5	Mixed nationalities: Juan Encarnacion, Juan Morillo VEN, Juan Sainfleur, Joel Baéz	DOM	39.01	q
6	Shen Yunbao, He Jun, Yang Yaozu, Chen Haijian	CHN	39.28
	Zsolt Szeglet, Géza Pauer, Gábor Dobos, Miklós Gyulai	HUN	DQ
	Heat 2
1	Vicente de Lima, Édson Luciano Ribeiro, Andre da Silva, Cláudio Roberto Souza	BRA	38.53	Q
2	Musa Deji, Tamunosiki Atorudibo, Olusoji Fasuba, Deji Aliu	NGR	38.76	Q
3	Hiroyasu Tsuchie, Hisashi Miyazaki, Ryo Matsuda, Nobuharu Asahara	JPN	38.77	Q
4	Nathan Bongelo, Anthony Ferro, Kristof Beyens, Xavier De Baerdemaker	BEL	39.05
	Alfred Moussambani, Serge Bengono, Francois Ngapout, Joseph Batangdon	CMR	DQ
	Kostyantyn Vasyukov, Konstantin Rurak, Oleksandr Kaydash, Dmitriy Barskiy	UKR	DQ
	Constantinos Kokkinos, Anthimos Rotos, Neophytos Kyriacou, Prodromos Katsantonis	CYP	DQ
	Heat 3
1	Marcin Krzywański, Łukasz Chyła, Marcin Nowak, Marcin Jędrusiński	POL	38.52	Q
2	Timothy Beck, Troy Douglas, Patrick van Balkom, Guus Hoogmoed	NED	38.72	Q
3	Julien Dunkley, Dwight Thomas, Michael Frater, Ricardo Williams	JAM	38.84	Q
4	Marc Burns, Ato Boldon, Jacey Harper, Nic Alexander	TTO	38.89	q
5	Dallas Roberts, Chris Donaldson, James Dolphin, Donald MacDonald	NZL	39.25
6	Mixed nationalities: Fahad Khamis Al-Jabri, Hamoud Abdullah Al-Saad KUW, Mohamed Al-Shikeili, Juma Mubarak Al-Jabri	OMA	40.65
	Heat 4
1	Francesco Scuderi, Simone Collio, Massimiliano Donati, Alessandro Cavallaro	ITA	38.63	Q
2	Rhoan Sterling, Anson Henry, Charles Allen, Pierre Browne	CAN	38.72	Q
3	Matt Shirvington, Patrick Johnson, Paul Di Bella, Adam Basil	AUS	38.76	q
4	Marius Loua, Ibrahim Meité, Yves Sonan, Eric N'Dri	CIV	39.34
5	Sayon Cooper, Kouty Mawenh, Joseph Brent, Abraham Morlu	LBR	40.08
	Khalifa Al-Saker, Yahya Saed Al-Kahes, Salem Mubarak Al-Yami, Mubarak Ata Mubarak	KSA	DNF
	Christian Malcolm, Dwain Chambers, Marlon Devonish, Mark Lewis-Francis	GBR	DQ(r11.1) DQ

Startlist

Heat 1 30 AUG 2003 17:10

Order / Lane	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 2003
2	United States	USA	37.40	37.77
3	France	FRA	37.79	38.79
4	Ghana	GHA	38.12
5	PR of China	CHN	38.81	39.56
6	Germany	GER	38.58	38.70
7	Hungary	HUN	38.67	39.51
8	Dominican Republic	DOM	39.41

Heat 2 30 AUG 2003 17:18

Order / Lane	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 2003
2	Ukraine	UKR	38.53	39.11
3	Cyprus	CYP	39.12	39.62
4	Belgium	BEL	39.22	39.26
5	Brazil	BRA	37.90	38.44
6	Nigeria	NGR	37.94
7	Japan	JPN	38.31	38.56
8	Cameroon	CMR	39.25	41.24

Heat 3 30 AUG 2003 17:26

Order / Lane	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 2003
2	Oman	OMA	39.78	41.03
3	Trinidad and Tobago	TTO	38.53	38.53
4	New Zealand	NZL	39.37	39.67
5	Poland	POL	38.33	38.45
6	Jamaica	JAM	38.20	39.02
7	Netherlands	NED	39.15	39.15

Heat 4 30 AUG 2003 17:34

Order / Lane	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	PB	SB 2003
2	Canada	CAN	37.69	38.92
3	Ivory Coast	CIV	38.60
4	Australia	AUS	38.17	39.51
5	Italy	ITA	38.37	38.42
6	Saudi Arabia	KSA	38.98	39.59
7	Liberia	LBR	39.77
8	Great Britain & N.I.	GBR	37.73	38.60