Round 1 was held in two heats on 2 August. The three fastest teams of each heat and the two fastest of the rest qualified for the finals. The United States set a new world record of 3:07.41 minutes. The teams of France, Great Britain, Belgium, Jamaica, Nigeria, and Switzerland all broke their national records in round 1.
The final was held on 3 August. The Netherlands won the gold medal in 3:07.43 minutes, setting a new European record, before the United States in 3:07.74 minutes, and Great Britain in 3:08.01 minutes, setting a new national record. The team of Belgium also set a national record and the French team was disqualified in the final.
For the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay event, fourteen teams qualified through the 2024 World Athletics Relays. The remaining two spots were awarded to the teams with the highest ranking on the World Athletics Top List. The qualification period is between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024.[6][7]
Second leg runners of the first heat in round 1, where the team of the United States broke the world record
The heats were held on 2 August, and started at 19:10 (UTC+2) in the evening.[1] Qualification: first 3 in each heat (Q) and next 2 fastest (q) advanced to the final.[8]
Running in the first heat, USA started off with 44.1 Vernon Norwood ran an evenly paced 44.52 which looked like a fast close to handoff a step ahead of France's Muhammad Kounta. Shamier Little had lined up at the wrong end of the passing zone, the markings on the Paris track being faint "chevrons" instead of the large triangles more common in the USA. An official noticed her out of place and signaled for her to move. Little quickly skipped, possibly past the correct mark, seconds before the handoff. With a 49.68 PB, Little took the lead at the break, challenged by Louise Maraval. As they came off the turn, Little's strength from running 400 metres hurdles allowed her to separate from the challenger. Little's split was 49.32 as she handed off to Bryce Deadmon, a 44.22 runner, with a 5 metre lead. Deadmon's 44.17 split expanded the American lead to 15 metres over Belgium, represented by Kévin Borlée. With that big of a lead, American anchor runner Kaylyn Brown could have cruised to a qualifying position. Instead, Brown kept the pedal to the metal and ran a 49.45 final anchor. The cumulative USA time was 3:07.41, almost a second and a half faster than the World Record set the previous year by a US team at the World Championships.[9]
The final was held on 3 August, and started at 20:55 (UTC+2) in the evening.[1][10]
The USA ran the same four athletes as in round 1, but other teams subbed in their rested best athletes. Belgium added World Indoor Champion Alexander Doom, France added European U23 Champion Fabrisio Saïdy and the Netherlands added World Indoor record holder Femke Bol. In the rain, the race started off similar to the first heat, with Norwood looking behind the field but closing strong, but Doom handed off to Helena Ponette a step ahead. Little reached the break line first, but she was followed closely by Ponette and world indoor silver medalistLieke Klaver. Klaver ran the turn almost in lane 2, but Little never let her by, opening up a 3 metre gap as Klaver slowed. Deadmon continued Little's lead, with Belgium's Jonathan Sacoor gaining second place as the Dutch had a poor handoff from Klaver to Isaya Klein Ikkink. Down the backstretch Sacoor pulled in the gap with Alex Haydock-Wilson bringing Great Britain into contention. Deadmon held the small gap until nearing the handoff, when Sacoor pulled even. Starting even with Belgium's Naomi Van den Broeck, through the first turn Brown opened up a 5 metre lead, with Britain's Amber Anning, Brown's teammate at the University of Arkansas, a step behind Van den Broeck. Still further back, 12 metres behind Brown was The Netherlands' ace, Bol. Down the backstretch, Anning got around Van den Broeck and was gaining on Brown. Around the turn, Bol moved to lane 2 to pass Van den Broeck, then on the home stretch, Bol caught Anning and didn't stop, passing Brown 18 metres out.
Brown's final lap was 49.1, Anning 48.8 but they were no match to Bol's 47.93,[11] the eighth fastest relay split in history.[citation needed] The Netherlands' winning time was 3:07.43, just 2 hundredths short of the World Record set the day before. It became the European Record, while Great Britain and Belgium also set national records.
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