Word record between 1977 to 1992. Watch out for the 1990 clip of French record breaking team (37.79s)

I was going through the men’s 4×100m world record progression and saw a surprising find. Did you know that the French team once held the men’s 4×100m record at a sublime time of 37.79 seconds (1st Oct 1990 at European Championship). It was set during a time when American superstar sprinters ran all the other competition down with sprinters such as Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell and Carl Lewis

The unofficial splits for the French team as below (37.79s)

1. Max Moriniére (10.58)
2. Daniel Sangouma (8.90)
3. Jean-Charles Trouabal (9.21)
4. Bruno Marie-Rose (9.10)

This goes to shows you don’t need four superstar runners to break records, just ‘perfect’ baton passing which is exemplified well by our neighbour Thailand sprints relay team. In our Southeast Asia region, they’re the only nation where both their men and women team qualified for the recent Olympics Top 16 qualifying run

Well if it is up to me, a dream men’s 4×100m line-up would be as below. What would your line-up be?

1. Tyson Gay
2. Frankie Fredricks
3. Maurice Greene
4. Usain Bolt

4×100m Men’s World Record Progression

1. 37.10 - JAM Beijing (OG) 2008-08-22
   Nesta Carter,
   Michael Frater,
   Usain Bolt,
   Asafa Powell
2. 37.40 - USA Barcelona (OG) 1992-08-08
   Michael Marsh,
   Leroy Burrell,
   Dennis Mitchell,
   Carl Lewis
3. 37.40 - USA Stuttgart (WC) 1993-08-21
   Jon Drummond,
   Andre Cason,
   Dennis Mitchell,
   Leroy Burrell
4. 37.50 - USA Tokyo (WC) 1991-09-01
   Andre Cason,
   Leroy Burrell,
   Dennis Mitchell,
   Carl Lewis
5. 37.67 - USA Zürich 1991-08-07
   Michael Marsh,
   Leroy Burrell,
   Dennis Mitchell,
   Carl Lewis
6. 37.79 - FRA Split (EC) 1990-09-01
   Max Moriniére,
   Daniel Sangouma,
   Jean-Charles Trouabal,
   Bruno Marie-Rose
7. 37.79 - USA Monaco 1991-08-03
   Michael Marsh,
   Leroy Burrell,
   Floyd Heard,
   Carl Lewis
8. 37.83 - USA Los Angeles (OG) 1984-08-11
   Sam Graddy,
   Ron Brown,
   Calvin Smith,
   Carl Lewis
9. 37.86 - USA Helsinki (WC) 1983-08-10
   Emmit King,
   Willie Gault,
   Calvin Smith,
   Carl Lewis
10. 38.03 - USA Düsseldorf 1977-09-03
    Bill Collins,
    Steve Riddick,
    Cliff Wiley,
    Steve Williams
11. 38.19 - USA München (OG) 1972-09-10
    Larry Black,
    Robert Taylor,
    Gerald Tinker,
    Eddie Hart
12. 38.24 - USA Ciudad de México (OG) 1968-10-20
    Charles Greene,
    Mel Pender,
    Ronnie Ray Smith,
    Jim Hines
13. 38.39 - JAM Ciudad de México (OG) 1968-10-19
    Erroll Stewart,
    Michael Fray,
    Clifton Forbes,
    Lennox Miller