ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Men's 4 × 100 metres relay world record progression

Okay, so have you ever seen a relay race? It's when a group of people take turns running part of the race and they pass a baton (a stick) to each other. The men's 4x100m relay is a race where four men on a team take turns running 100 meters each.

Now, over the years, many teams from different countries have tried to run this race as fast as they can. They wanted to be the fastest team in the world! So they keep trying to beat the world record, which is the fastest time anyone has ever run the race.

In the 4x100m relay, the world record keeps getting broken because runners are getting faster and faster. The first time the record was set was way back in 1912, and it was 42.2 seconds. But over the years, a lot of strong and fast runners came along and kept beating the old record.

Today, the world record for the men's 4x100m relay is 36.84 seconds, set by a team from Jamaica in 2012 at the Olympics. That means the four guys on that team all ran 100 meters in just over 9 seconds each! It's pretty amazing to watch!

So that's how it works, the men's 4x100m relay is a race where four guys take turns running 100 meters each, and they try to beat the fastest time anyone has ever run it before!