Athletics at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games:

With the Soviet boycott, the best team in the world, the GDR (East Germany), was not present. They had won the 1983 World Championships and the 1982 European Championships, and had set the last eight world records, the most recent one in July 1983. In their absence, the United States was favored in front of the home crowd. Jamaica had won the bronze medal at the 83 Worlds, but dropped the baton on the first exchange of the final. They finished the race but were never a factor. Great Britain had been silver medalists at the 1983 World Championship, but the United States simply ran away from everyone, with 100 champion Evelyn Ashford running the anchor leg. The time of 41.65 was the fastest ever by a non-GDR team.