Anchor leg refers to the final position in a relay race

Relay race

During a relay race, members of a team take turns running, orienteering, swimming, cross-country skiing, biathlon, or ice skating parts of a circuit or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games...

. The term is commonly used with respect to relays in athletics. Typically, the anchor leg of a relay is given to the fastest or most experienced competitor on a team. The athlete completing the anchor leg of a relay is responsible for making up ground on the race-leader or preserving the lead already secured by their teammates.

Famous Anchor Leg Runners

Carl Lewis

Carl Lewis

Frederick Carlton "Carl" Lewis is an American former track and field athlete, who won 10 Olympic medals including 9 gold, and 10 World Championships medals, of which 8 were gold. His career spanned from 1979 when he first achieved a world ranking to 1996 when he last won an Olympic title and...

 never failed to win a race when he 'anchored' the U.S. 4 x 100 m relay team. He regularly ran under 9 seconds for his anchor legs and helped the U.S. team break the World Record in the 4 x 100 m relay five times. The record set by the U.S. at the 1992 Summer Olympics

1992 Summer Olympics

The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...

 of 37.40 seconds stood for 16 years.

Anchoring the U.S. sprint relay team at the 1984 Summer Olympics

1984 Summer Olympics

The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...

, Evelyn Ashford

Evelyn Ashford

Evelyn Ashford is a retired American athlete, the 1984 Olympic champion in the 100 m. She has run under the 11 second barrier over 30 times and was the first to run under 11 seconds in an Olympic Games.As a 19-year-old, Ashford finished 5th in the 100 m event at the 1976 Summer Olympics...

 ran a reported 9.77 seconds, the fastest time ever for a woman over 100 metres. The U.S. team of Alice Brown

Alice Brown (athlete)

Alice Regina Brown is a retired American sprinter. She was a silver medalist in the 1984 Olympic 100m final in a time of 11.13 seconds...

 (first leg), Jeanette Bolden

Jeanette Bolden

Jeanette Bolden . is a former Olympian athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres.She competed for the United States in the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, U.S. in the 4 x 100 metres where she won the gold medal with her team mates 100 metre silver medalist Alice Brown, Chandra...

 (second leg) and Chandra Cheeseborough

Chandra Cheeseborough

Chandra Danette Cheeseborough is an American track and field athlete. Cheeseborough broke onto the international track scene at age 16 by winning two gold medals at the 1975 Pan American Games, taking the 200 m in an American record time of 22.77 seconds...

 (third leg) won by the biggest margin in the event's history.

In some cases, athletes who are not top performers in individual events excel when given the responsibility of anchoring a relay. Phil Brown

Phil Brown (athlete)

Philip Andrew Brown was a British athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. In the individual 400m his results were not outstanding; however, he was an exceptional anchor leg relay runner, anchoring the British team to a number of medals.Brown competed for Great Britain in the 1984 Summer...

, a U.K. 400 m

400 metres

The 400 metres, or 400 metre dash, is a common sprinting event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 . On a standard outdoor running track, it is exactly one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and...

 runner, won Olympic, World and European championship medals as the anchor leg runner for his national 4 x 400 m relay

4 x 400 metres relay

The 4 x 400 meters relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams comprise four runners who each complete 400 meters or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, the first 500 meters is run in lanes...

 team despite never having medalled and rarely having advanced beyond the preliminary rounds individually. Although she placed 8th individually in the 100 m

100 metres

The 100 metres, or 100-metre dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896...

, Pam Marshall

Pam Marshall

Pam Marshall is a retired US sprinter.-Career:Marshall competed in the 100 m, 200 m and 4x100 m Relay...

 ran the anchor leg for the American 4 x 100 m team at the 1987 World Athletics Championships in Rome and beat Marlies Göhr

Marlies Göhr

Marlies Göhr is a former East German athlete, the winner of the 100 m at the inaugural World Championships in 1983. She ranked in the top 10 of the 100 m world rankings for twelve straight years, ranking first in six of those years...

in the final with an anchor leg timed at 10.11 s to Gohr's 10.41 s.