At the Olympics, both runners and swimmers compete in relay teams. Each of the four members of the relay team run or swim an equal distance, or leg, in hopes of achieving the fastest time as a team. In addition to the team’s time being recorded, each individual athlete’s time, known as a split, is recorded. Because runners pass a baton from person to person, there can be a slight overlap in the split time. At the 2012 Olympics, the American women’s 4 x 100 meter relay team established a new world record. The runners individually had times of 11.2 seconds, 9.97 seconds, 10.33 seconds, and 9.7 seconds. Their final time was 0.38 seconds less than the sum of their individual splits.

Question 1
Part A

What was their final time?

Part B

The previous world record was 41.37 seconds. By how much time did they beat the previous record?

Enter the correct answer in the box.