Relay race facts for kids
A relay race is a fun and exciting team competition where members take turns completing parts of a course or doing a specific action. You can find relay races in professional sports and also in casual games among friends. They are very common in sports like running, orienteering, swimming, cross-country skiing, biathlon, and even ice skating. In these races, teammates usually pass a stick-like object called a "baton" to each other while running in a special exchange zone.
In most relay races, each team member runs the same distance. For example, in the Olympic Games, there are 400-meter (4 × 100-meter) and 1,600-meter (4 × 400-meter) relays for both men and women. Sometimes, in "medley relays," athletes run different distances in a set order.
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Relay Races in Swimming
In swimming, a relay team usually has four swimmers. A common plan for their order is: the second-fastest swimmer, then the third-fastest, then the slowest, and finally the fastest swimmer (called the "anchor"). Sometimes, the slowest swimmer might go second.
Swimming rules say that the next swimmer must have a foot touching the starting platform when their teammate touches the wall. This allows the starting swimmer to already be moving, which saves about 0.6 to 1.0 seconds! Also, swimmers often perform better in a relay because of the team spirit. This means relay times are usually 2 to 3 seconds faster than if you just added up each swimmer's best individual times.
Different Strokes in Medley Relays
In medley swimming relays, each swimmer uses a different stroke. The order is always: backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and then freestyle. The freestyle swimmer cannot use any of the first three strokes. At high levels, almost all freestyle swimmers use the front crawl. This is different from an individual medley, where one swimmer does all four strokes in a different order.
The main swimming relays at the Olympics are the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, and 4 × 100 m medley relay. Mixed-gender relays, where teams have both male and female swimmers, were first seen in 2014 and will be part of the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Relay Races in Athletics
In track and field, the two most common relays are the 4 × 100 metres relay and the 4 × 400 metres relay. You might also see 4 × 200, 4 × 800, and 4 × 1500 m relays, but they are less common. Mixed-gender 4 × 400 metres relays were added to the 2020 Summer Olympics.
The 4 × 400 m relay finals are often the last event at a track meet. They are usually very exciting, especially if the last runners are close to each other! It's tricky to measure exactly how fast each person runs in a relay. This is because a runner starts speeding up before they even get the baton. This means their individual "split" time in a relay can be faster than their best time in a solo race.
Rules and Strategy in Athletics
Each runner must pass the baton to the next runner within a special "exchange zone" on the track. These zones are marked by triangles. In fast sprint relays, runners often use a "blind handoff." This means the second runner starts running when the first runner reaches a certain spot, then holds their hand back without looking. The first runner then places the baton in their hand. Runners often shout "Stick!" to let their teammate know the baton is coming. In longer relays, runners might jog while looking back to take the baton.
A team can be disqualified from a relay for several reasons:
- Losing the baton (but just dropping it doesn't always mean disqualification).
- Not passing the baton correctly within the exchange zone.
- Making a false start.
- Getting in the way of another competitor.
The usual plan for a four-person relay team is to have the second-fastest runner go first, then the third-fastest, then the slowest, and finally the fastest runner (the "anchor"). However, if a runner is especially good at starting from the blocks, they might be placed first, as that's the only position that uses starting blocks.
Big Relay Competitions
The largest relay event in the world is the Holmenkollstafetten in Norway. In 2014, it had 2,944 teams with 15 runners each, totaling over 44,000 competitors!
Another huge event is the Penn Relays in the USA. It attracts over 15,000 athletes from high school, college, and professional levels every year. It's famous for helping make relay racing popular in track and field.
Long-Distance Relays
Long-distance relays are becoming very popular. These races can have anywhere from 5 to 36 legs (sections), with each leg usually being about 5 to 10 kilometers (3 to 6 miles) long. Some legs can even be as long as 16 kilometers (10 miles).
Shorter long-distance relays (under 100 km) are run in one day, with each runner doing one or two legs. Longer relays happen overnight, and each runner typically completes three legs. The world's longest relay race was Japan's Prince Takamatsu Cup Nishinippon Round-Kyūshū Ekiden, which covered an amazing 1,064 kilometers (661 miles)!
Cross-Country Relays
In cross-country running, a mixed relay race was added to the World Cross Country Championships in 2017. Teams have four runners, each completing 2 kilometers (1.2 miles).
There are also fun team sprint cross-country relays. In these, two runners form a team and take turns running loops of a 1-mile course. Runner "A" runs a loop, hands off to "B," "B" runs, hands back to "A," and so on, until "B" finishes the last loop.
Shuttle Hurdle Relay
The Shuttle hurdle relay is a special race where teams run hurdles. A mixed version was introduced in 2019, with two men and two women on each team, each running a 110 m hurdles race.
Medley Relay in Athletics
Medley relay events in track meets usually have four runners covering different, often increasing, distances.
- The distance medley relay has legs of 1200, 400, 800, and 1600 meters.
- The sprint medley relay usually has legs of 400, 200, 200, and 800 meters.
Relays on Coins
Relay races have even been featured on collector's coins! For example, a €10 Greek coin was made in 2003 to celebrate the 2004 Summer Olympics. It shows modern athletes with batons and also ancient athletes running a long race called the dolichos.
Relay Races in Skiing
Cross-Country Skiing Relays
In cross-country skiing, the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships have featured relay races since 1933 for men and 1954 for women. Each team has four skiers. Men ski 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) each, and women ski 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) each.
Biathlon Relays
Biathlon combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. In a biathlon relay, teams of four biathletes start together. Each competitor skis 7.5 kilometers (4.66 miles) for men or 6.0 kilometers (3.73 miles) for women. They complete three laps and have two shooting rounds: one lying down (prone) and one standing up. A mixed biathlon relay race was first held in 2005 and became an Olympic event in 2014.
Relay Races in Orienteering
Orienteering is a sport where you use a map and compass to find your way through different checkpoints. There are two very big orienteering relays:
- Tiomila in Sweden (April/May)
- Jukola and Venla relay in Finland (June)
Other relays happen in the autumn, often with rules about the age and gender of the team members.
Other Types of Relays
Triathlon Relays
The World Triathlon Mixed Relay Championships is a mixed-gender relay triathlon race that started in 2009. In a triathlon, each competitor has to do a segment of swimming, cycling, and running. This mixed relay event was also introduced at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Cycling Relays
The madison is a track cycling event where two riders on a team take turns racing. They can switch at any time by touching their partner's hand. This event has been part of the World Championships since 1995 and the Olympics since 2000. In road cycling, the Duo Normand is a two-man time trial relay held every year in France. In mountain biking, there's been a mixed team relay race at the World Championships since 1999.
See also
In Spanish: Carreras de relevos para niños
- 4 × 100 metres relay
- 4 × 400 metres relay
- Anchor leg
- Ekiden
- Relay (disambiguation)
- River to River Relay
