Moses Ugbusien took the baton rather casually, the slow start giving Darren Clark the chance to pass during the curve, putting Australia into the lead at the break.
Taking an efficient tangent from lane 8, Ray Armstead gained ground on Ugbusien, moving to his shoulder to try to make a pass for the Americans on the stretch, 4 meters behind Clark who was running a 43.86 split, which exactly equalled Lee Evans' world record at the time.
Coming off the final turn, Babers smoothly went past Minihan and pulled away to a 7-meter lead by the handoff to Antonio McKay.
[2] Behind the action at the front, Todd Bennett steadily chipped away what was more than a 10-meter deficit to put Britain but a step behind Nigeria at the final handoff.
There was a battle for the other medals, with Rick Mitchell holding the Australian advantage of about two meters over Innocent Egbunike for Nigeria, with Phil Brown another step back for Britain.