Relay Race
The relay race is an athletic discipline, where several (mostly
4) runners of a team run a section of the distance each.. The Olympic relay
races are 4x100m and 4x400m for men and woman. While the men's races have been
an Olympic discipline already since 1928, woman's 4x100m and 4x400m were admitted
to the Olympic programme only in 1928 and 1972 respectively.
The race is carried out on a 400m round track. Beside the start and the finish
lines there are so called change zones of 20m length where the baton changes
have to take place. The baton is wooden or metallic, 28 to 30cm long and has
a weight of 50g. The second runner of the 4x400m race leaves the track after
the first bend. The first relay races took place in the U.S. in 1893. Since
1962 the runners are allowed to start 10m before the beginning of the change
zone, what resulted in a sudden improvement of the performances, especially
in the short distance race.