With the new IAAF world championship event, the mixed relay, we saw two different orders man-man-woman-woman and man-woman-woman-man.
But since the men are faster don't you want them running the maximum distance? This means the women should be receiving a pass from a man and should do a really aggressive handoff, where they aim to catch the baton on the later side. The men receiving from the women catch the baton earlier in the hand-off. Would this work? Would it matter?
Perhaps a man/woman/man/woman strategy is optimal to get the men running more of the distance?
Surprised no-one tried this order in the finals.