These are the official results of the Women's 4 × 400 m Relay event at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. There were 15 nations competing.[1]

In the penultimate race ever in Centennial Stadium, Olabisi Afolabi put Nigeria out in front, with Merlene Frazer very close at the handoff. Fatima Yusuf extended the Nigerian lead out to about 8 metres, Handing off in sixth place, Maicel Malone brought USA into second place, but Russian Svetlana Goncharenko, starting her leg in fifth place, followed Malone and overtook her on the final straight. With Nigeria comfortably in front, the second exchange saw the field bunch as the next six teams exchanged within a couple of steps of one another. Coming out of the scrum, Russia maintained second place followed by USA, while Cuba's Surella Morales found herself flat on her face before the end of the first turn. Down the backstretch Kim Graham ran USA past Russia's Yekaterina Kulikova, while Jamaica's Juliet Campbell ran wide to stay out of trouble, but opened the door for Germany's Anja Rücker to join the chase. Through the second turn, back from her drug suspension, Charity Opara's lead began to shrink as Graham began to separate from the pack. Under the challenge, Opara began to tie up, Graham cruised by to hand off to Jearl Miles with a 4-metre advantage. Nigeria's bronze medalist Falilat Ogunkoya chased Miles leaving Jamaica's hurdle gold medalist Deon Hemmings to battle Germany's drug cheat Grit Breuer. Campbell closed quickly to give Hemmings the edge over Breuer, but Ogunkoya made it clear she was not going to battle for bronze, putting a gap on Hemmings and Breuer quickly from the pass. Ogunkoya's focus was on Miles, gaining steadily until the final straight, reducing the gap to less than a metre. Miles was gritting her teeth, trying to hold off Ogunkoya. Coming off the turn, she looked to be struggling as Ogunkoya gained, Miles drifting into lane 2 to give Ogunkoya the direct route to victory. But Miles didn't let her by, holding the edge all the way to the finish line for American gold. Behind them, Hemmings held the advantage over Breuer until the final straight, then Breuer unleashed a sprint that left Hemmings and was nipping at Ogunkoya's heels, giving the German team the bronze.

Medalists

Gold Silver Bronze
 United States (USA)
Rochelle Stevens
Maicel Malone-Wallace
Kim Graham
Jearl Miles
Linetta Wilson*		  Nigeria (NGR)
Olabisi Afolabi
Fatima Yusuf
Charity Opara
Falilat Ogunkoya		  Germany (GER)
Uta Rohländer
Linda Kisabaka
Anja Rücker
Grit Breuer

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

Results

Heats

Qualification: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualified to the final.

RankHeatNationAthletesTimeNotes
11 United StatesLinetta Wilson, Maicel Malone, Kim Graham, Maicel Malone3:22.71Q
21 NigeriaBisi Afolabi, Fatima Yusuf, Charity Opara, Falilat Ogunkoya3:23.24Q
32 GermanyUta Rohländer, Linda Kisabaka, Anja Rücker, Grit Breuer3:24.08Q
42 CubaIdalmis Bonne, Julia Duporty, Surella Morales, Ana Fidelia Quirot3:24.23Q
52 RussiaTatyana Chebykina, Olga Kotlyarova, Yekaterina Kulikova, Svetlana Goncharenko3:24.86Q
62 JamaicaJuliet Campbell, Tracey Ann Barnes, Merlene Frazer, Inez Turner3:25.33q
72 Czech RepublicNaděžda Koštovalová, Ludmila Formanová, Helena Fuchsová, Hana Benešová3:26.82q
81 FranceFrancine Landre, Viviane Dorsile, Evelyne Elien, Elsa de Vassoigne3:28.07Q
91 Great BritainPhylis Smith, Allison Curbishley, Donna Fraser, Georgina Oladapo3:28.13
101 UkraineViktoriya Fomenko, Liudmyla Koshchey, Yana Manuylova, Olha Moroz3:28.16
112 AustraliaLee Naylor, Kylie Hanigan, Melinda Gainsford-Taylor, Renee Poetschka3:33.78
122 Saint Kitts and NevisBernadeth Prentice, Diane Francis, Valma Bass, Tamara Wigley3:35.12NR
131 Antigua and BarbudaDine Potter, Sonia Williams, Charmaine Thomas, Heather Samuel3:44.98
1 IndiaBeenamol Mathew, Rosa Kutty Kunnath Chacko, Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, Shiny WilsonDQ
1 Virgin IslandsDNS

Final

RankLaneNationAthletesTimeNotes
1st place, gold medalist(s)3 United StatesRochelle Stevens, Maicel Malone, Kim Graham, Jearl Miles3:20.91
2nd place, silver medalist(s)6 NigeriaBisi Afolabi, Fatima Yusuf, Charity Opara, Falilat Ogunkoya3:21.04
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)5 GermanyUta Rohländer, Linda Kisabaka, Anja Rücker, Grit Breuer3:21.14
48 JamaicaMerlene Frazer, Sandie Richards, Juliet Campbell, Deon Hemmings3:21.69
52 RussiaTatyana Chebykina, Svetlana Goncharenko, Yekaterina Kulikova, Olga Kotlyarova3:22.22
64 CubaIdalmis Bonne, Julia Duporty, Surella Morales, Ana Fidelia Quirot3:25.85
77 Czech RepublicNaděžda Koštovalová, Ludmila Formanová, Helena Fuchsová, Hana Benešová3:26.99
81 FranceFrancine Landre, Viviane Dorsile, Evelyne Elien, Elsa de Vassoigne3:28.46

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Athletics at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games: Women's 4 × 400 metres Relay". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
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