2013 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 4 × 100 metres relay
The women's 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Luzhniki Stadium on 18 August.
In the [|final], Jamaica and the United States were out early, Jamaica passing first. The British team seemed to be keeping up with the leaders, passing efficiently. At the second handoff, English Gardner seemed to leave even with Schillonie Calvert, unfortunately Alexandria Anderson had not arrived with the baton yet. Gardner had to come to a complete stop at the end of the zone to wait for the baton, finally resuming with a legal handoff in dead last place. Inside of USA, France was having similar difficulties with the baton. By the final handoff, Jamaica had an 8-meter lead on the second place Russian team, Gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce on the anchor pulling away and victory assured. Jamaica dominated the race finishing with a championship record 41.29. Coming down the straight, Britain's Hayley Jones was swallowed up by France's Stella Akakpo, Germany's Verena Sailer and American Octavious Freeman speeding from the back trying to make up lost ground. Freeman was able to pass three teams in the last few steps but France beat USA to the line. The French relay team members were duly presented their silver medals during the medal ceremony. After the medal ceremony, the British team filed a protest against the French team, claiming that the latter had an out-of-zone baton handover between Ayodelé Ikuesan and Myriam Soumaré. More than two hours after the race, the French relay team was officially disqualified. The French delegation appealed against their disqualification, but it was in vain. Consequently, the American team was upgraded to the silver medal and the British team received the bronze medal. Bernard Amsalem, the president of the Fédération française d'athlétisme, called the French team's disqualification "an outrage". He explained that normally the decision to disqualify a team had to be made before the medal ceremony and teams had to file protests within thirty minutes from the end of the race.
Records
Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:| World record | United States | 40.82 | London, United Kingdom | 10 August 2012 |
| Championship record | United States | 41.47 | Athens, Greece | 9 August 1997 |
| World leading | United States Red | 41.75 | Monaco | 19 July 2013 |
| African record | Nigeria | 42.39 | Barcelona, Spain | 7 August 1992 |
| Asian record | People's Republic of China | 42.23 | Shanghai, People's Republic of China | 23 October 1997 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | United States | 40.82 | London, United Kingdom | 10 August 2012 |
| South American record | Brazil | 42.55 | London, United Kingdom | 9 August 2012 |
| European record | East Germany | 41.37 | Canberra, Australia | 6 October 1985 |
| Oceanian record | Australia | 42.99 | Pietersburg, South Africa | 18 March 2000 |
Qualification standards
Schedule
Results
Heats
Qualification: First 2 of each heat plus the 2 fastest times advanced to the final.Final
The final was started at 18:10.| Rank | Lane | Nation | Athletes | Time | Notes |
| 6 | Carrie Russell, Kerron Stewart, Schillonie Calvert, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce | 41.29 | CR | ||
| 5 | Jeneba Tarmoh, Alexandria Anderson, English Gardner, Octavious Freeman | 42.75 | |||
| 3 | Dina Asher-Smith, Ashleigh Nelson, Annabelle Lewis, Hayley Jones | 42.87 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Yasmin Kwadwo, Inna Weit, Tatjana Pinto, Verena Sailer | 42.90 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Olga Belkina, Natalia Rusakova, Elizaveta Savlinis, Yelena Bolsun | 42.93 | SB | |
| 6 | 7 | Crystal Emmanuel, Kimberly Hyacinthe, Shai-Anne Davis, Khamica Bingham | 43.28 | ||
| 4 | Céline Distel-Bonnet, Ayodelé Ikuesan, Myriam Soumaré, Stella Akakpo | R170.7 | |||
| 8 | Evelyn dos Santos, Ana Cláudia Lemos, Franciela Krasucki, Vanda Gomes |