Michael Johnson 42.9 USA 4x400m relay World record - 1993 World Championships Stuttgart

The United States won the men's 4x400m relay at the 1993 IAAF World Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany on August 22, 1993, setting a World Record time of 2:54.29. Silver was won by Kenya in 2:59.82 and Germany won the bronze in 2:59.99. France, Russia, Cuba, and Jamaica rounded out the remaining final positions. This iconic race featured an extraordinary anchor leg from Michael Johnson (42.94s), establishing a record that remains one of the longest-standing in track and field history. The historic final in Stuttgart saw the U.S. team dominate the field, winning by a massive, historic margin of 5.53 seconds. Fastest split times of the race went to USA's Quincy Watts (43.6) Harry "Butch" Reynolds (43.23) Michael Johnson (42.94) and Kenyan Samson Kitur (43.9) Cuba's Roberto Hernández (44.09) Germany's Thomas Schönlebe (44.17) and French athlete Stéphane Diagana (44.15) Fastest split times in the heats went to Great Britain's Ade Mafe (44.16) and Jamaica's Greg Haughton (44.24) New Zealand and Bulgaria set national records in the heats with the New Zealand record lasting 33 years Australia Media Coverage, Commentary by Bruce McAvaney, John Walker and Maurie Plant. Photos by DuaneHart.com and Steve Hyde 4x400m relay final and split times: 1st place USA , Andrew Valmon (44.5) Quincy Watts (43.6) Butch Reynolds (43.23) Michael Johnson (42.94) 2:54.29 World Record Championships Record 2nd place Kenya Kennedy Ochieng (46.15) Simon Kemboi (45.35) Abednego Matilu (44.3) Samson Kitur (43.9) 2:59.82 3rd place Germany - Rico Lieder (45.47) Karsten Just (45.36) Olaf Hense (44.99) Thomas Schönlebe (44.17) 2:59.99 4th. France - Jean-Louis Rapnouil (45.62) Pierre-Marie Hilaire (45.47) Jacques Farraudière (44.85) Stéphane Diagana (44.15) 3:00.09 5th. Russia - Dmitriy Kliger (45.72) Dmitriy Kosov (45.09) Mikhail Vdovin (44.73) Dmitriy Golovastov (44.90) 3:00.44 6th Cuba - Iván García (46.64) Héctor Herrera (45.45) Norberto Téllez (44.28) Roberto Hernández (44.09) 3:00.46 7th Jamaica - Patrick O'Connor (45.60) Dennis Blake (45.93) Danny McFarlane (45.38) Greg Haughton (44.53) 3:01.44 8th. Bulgaria Stanislav Georgiev , Tsvetoslav Stankulov , Kiril Raykov , Anton Ivanov 3:05.35 Qualifying heats Held on Saturday 1993-08-21: Heat 1 1st Germany - Karsten Just (46.1) Rico Lieder (45.0) Olaf Hense (45.39) Thomas Schönlebe (44.79) 3:01.26 2nd Bulgaria - Stanislav Georgiev (45.9) Tsvetoslav Stankulov (46.0) Kiril Raykov (45.07) Anton Ivanov (44.66) 3:01.61 National Record 3. Jamaica - Patrick O'Connor (46.5) Dennis Blake (45.1) Danny McFarlane (45.83) Greg Haughton (44.24) 3:01.70 4. Great Britain - Du'aine Ladejo (46.0) Guy Bullock (45.8) Wayne McDonald (46.24) Ade Mafe (44.16) 3:02.15 5. New Zealand - Shaun Farrell (46.5) Nick Cowan (46.2) Darren Dale (46.9) Mark Keddell (46.2) 3:05.84 (National Record) 6. Thailand - Chanond Keanchan • Sakorn Tongtip• Wirwat Poomipak • Yutthana Tonglek 3:08.60 Heat 2: 1st United States - Andrew Valmon (45.1) Antonio Pettigrew (44.0) Derek Mills (44.65) Michael Johnson (44.96) 2:58.72 2nd France - Jacques Farraudiére (45.9) Pierre-Marie Hilaire (45.2) Olivier Noirot(45.37) Jean-Louis Rapnouil (45.19) 3:01.70 3rd Japan - Masayoshi Kan (46.9) Shunji Karube (45.1) Yoshihiko Saito(45.23) Tomonari Ono (45.12) 3:02.43 4. Algeria - Amar Hacini • Ismail Mariche • Kamel Talhaodi • Sadek Boumendil 3:03.63 5. Mexico - Raymundo Escalante • Juan Vallin • Josue Morales • Luis Karin Toledo 3:08.37 Trinidad and Tobago DNS Heat 3: 1. Kenya (KEN) • Abednego Matilu (45.5) Simon Kemboi (45.9) Samson Kitur (44.49) Kennedy Ochieng (44.94) 3:00.82 2. Cuba (CUB) • Lázaro Martínez (46.9) Héctor Herrera (45.5) Norberto Téllez (44.69) Roberto Hernández (44.32) 3:01.36 3. Russia (RUS) • Dmitriy Kliger (45.6) Dmitriy Kosov (45.4) Innokentiy Zharov (45.61) Dmitriy Golovastov (44.86) 3:01.51 4. Italy (ITA) • Andrea Nuti (46.4) Andrea Montanari (45.4) Alessandro Aimar (45.78) Marco Vaccari (45.31) 3:01.85 5. Nigeria - Hassan Bosso (47.2) Emmanuel Okoli (45.9) Victor Omagbemi (45.43) Sunday Bada (44.11) 3:02.64 Uganda (UGA) DNS