IAAF scraps 4x400m relay record

The IAAF scrapped the 4x400-meter relay world record set by the United States in 1998 because of Antonio Pettigrew’s admission of doping.

Michael Johnson, Tyree Washington and Jerome Young were also on the team that set the record of 2 minutes, 54.20 seconds in Uniondale, New York, on July 22, 1998.

“The IAAF is sending a clear message that we will not tolerate doping,” Lamine Diack, the president of track’s governing body, said Tuesday. The previous world record of 2:54.29 was set by the American team of Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, Butch Reynolds and Johnson at the 1993 world championships in Stuttgart, Germany.

Pettigrew admitted in court in May that he had used performance-enhancing drugs, and USA Track & Field chief executive officer Doug Logan said last month he wanted the record erased as a national mark because it was tainted.

BEIJING AP