Mixed relay still struggling to capture the imagination at World Championships

The introduction of the mixed 4×400 metres relay to major championships has been a striking innovation in athletics in recent years. Any initial scepticism about the new event’s merits has receded in the years since it was added to the World Athletics Championships schedule in 2019.

Confirmation, if it were needed, arrived this summer when the mixed relay provided one of the most indelible moments of the entire Paris 2024 Olympics, with Femke Bol conjuring up an astonishing final leg to run down three athletes and claim gold for the Netherlands. That thunderous occasion provided the ideal curtain-raiser for the remainder of the track and field programme at the Stade de France.