Polished handovers can compensate for lack of basic speed to some extent, and disqualification for dropping the baton or failing to transfer it within the box is common, even at the highest level.

The United States men and women historically dominated this event through the 20th century, winning Olympic gold medals and the most IAAF/World Athletics championships.

The current men's world record stands at 36.84, set by the Jamaican team at the final of the 2012 London Olympic Games on 11 August 2012.

The fastest electronically timed anchor leg run is 8.65 seconds by Usain Bolt at the 2015 IAAF World Relays,[5] while Bob Hayes was hand-timed as running 8.7 seconds on a cinder track in the 1964 Tokyo Games Final.

[6] The women's world record stands at 40.82 seconds, set by the United States in 2012 at the London Olympics.

Paradoxically, the first race recognized as certain, without however being an official world record, dates back to 1897, shortly after the creation, on 8 May, of the Česká amatérská atletická unie (ČAAU).

Before World War I, this foundation period of the relay was gradually enhanced by various German or Swedish teams (such as AIK Stockholm), until the semi-finals of the Stockholm Olympic Games (1912) where this event made its Olympic appearance: These two runs have not been recognized by the IAAF as the first world records, despite their official nature.

The first officially recognized world record for the fast relay is that of the German team, which on 8 July 1912, during the 3rd semifinal, runs in 42 seconds 3 tenths.

The team consisted of Otto Röhr, Max Herrmann, Erwin Kern, and Richard Rau.

In the final Great Britain, despite having finished second again, behind the favorites and the new world record holders, still won the gold medal, due to the loss of the German baton.