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Brenna Cooper
Olympic viewers are loving a new track event which was broadcast earlier today - and many have been asking why the event wasn't introduced sooner.
The Olympics has long been known for showcasing the biggest and best in men's and women's sporting achievements.
However, there has never been an event which has allowed both men and women to compete together - until now.
Logistically, it wouldn't be feasible for men and women to compete together in all Olympic sports; however, when they can it's certainly a home run for viewers.
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The event we are talking about is of course the 4x400 mixed relay, an event which will bring back plenty of school sports day memories.
The mixed relay is an athletics event which sees teams of two men and two women each race a distance of 400 metres.
There are also single-sex relay races for 4x100 and 4x400 distances as well as a freestyle swimming relay and a mixed triathlon relay.
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According to the Olympics website, the mixed events allow athletes to 'break the traditional male and female divide within sports' and encourage 'cooperation between athletes of both genders'.
Relay races aren't anything new to the Olympics, however, a mixed gender event is fairly new to the Olympics, with the first 4x4 event taking place at the Tokyo 2020 games.
The first heats for the 2024 mixed relay events took place earlier today, with the final scheduled to go ahead, with Team GB's Sam Reardon, Nicole Yeargin, Alex Haydock-Wilson and Laviai Nielsen qualifying for the final in first place.
The US team also made the headlines ahead of tomorrow's (3 August) final after setting an impressive World Record with their finishing time.
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The mixed relay event has also been a huge hit amongst Olympics viewers at home, with several fans taking to social media in order to share their support for the event.
"Mixed relays were a great idea. What took so long to get it in," one person questioned, while a second wrote: "I LOVE the mixed relays. Men and women racing together is just so fun."
"This mixed 4x400 relay is fun! I’ve been saying I would love to see more mixed events in the Olympics," a third person penned.
"When did they add the mixed relay race? (4x400m) It was fun to see USA set a world record in qualifier. It makes total sense to have men and women run together," a fourth person added.