Techniques to support multihop relay in a wireless communication system are described. In an aspect, a relay station receives data and a first pilot from an upstream station, e.g., a base station or another relay station. The relay station derives a channel estimate based on the first pilot and performs detection for the data based on the channel estimate. The relay station resends the data and sends a second pilot to a downstream station, e.g., a subscriber station or another relay station. Each pilot may be sent in accordance with a pilot format selected for that pilot. The first and second pilots may be sent using the same or different pilot formats. The relay station may receive channel information from the second station and may forward the channel information to the first station and/or select a rate for data transmission to the second station based on the channel information.