| | Event type

4 × 400 metres Relay, Men

Date	6 – 7 August 1932
Status	Olympic
Location	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
Participants	28 from 7 countries

In the heats the US team broke the world record with 3:11.8. Heavy favorites in the final, Ivan Fuqua put the US in the lead with 47.1, leading Germany by almost 10 metres, and the US was never challenged, breaking their world record from the heats with 3:08.2 and winning by three seconds over Great Britain. On the third leg, David, Lord Burghley did gain a bit on the Americans, and their anchor runner, Godfrey Rampling, also started to close a bit. But his early fast pace was too much for him to hold and he paid the price in the last 100 metres. Rampling was the father of actress Charlotte Rampling.

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	–	United States	USA	3:11.8 (1 h1)	3:08.2 (1)	Gold	WR
		Ivan Fuqua • Ed Ablowich • Karl Warner • Bill Carr • Arnold Adams (DNS) • Ben Eastman (DNS) • Eddie Genung (DNS) • James Gordon (DNS)
2	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:21.8 (2 h2)	3:11.2 (2)	Silver
		Crew Stoneley • Tommy Hampson • David, Lord Burghley • Godfrey Rampling • Jerry Cornes (DNS) • Stanley Engelhart (DNS) • Jack Powell (DNS) • Fred Reid (DNS)
3	–	Canada	CAN	3:21.8 (3 h2)	3:12.8 (3)	Bronze
		Ray Lewis • Jimmy Ball • Phil Edwards • Alex Wilson • Eddie King (DNS) • Harold Wright (DNS)
4	–	Germany	GER	3:25.4 (3 h1)	3:14.4 (4)
		Jochen Büchner • Walter Nehb • Adolf Metzner • Otto Peltzer • Erich Borchmeyer (DNS) • Max Danz (DNS) • Fritz Hendrix (DNS) • Fritz Nottbrock (DNS)
5	–	Japan	JPN	3:16.8 (1 h2)	3:14.6 (5)
		Itaro Nakajima • Iwao Masuda • Seikan Oki • Teiichi Nishi • Zhang Hsing-Hsien (DNS)
6	–	Italy	ITA	3:22.8 (2 h1)	3:17.8 (6)
		Giacomo Carlini • Giovanni Turba • Mario Denegri • Luigi Facelli • Luigi Beccali (DNS) • Alfredo Furia (DNS)
4 h2 r1/2	–	Mexico	MEX	3:28.5 (4 h2)	–
		Ricardo Argüello • Jesús Moraila • Manuel Álvarez • Carlos de Anda • Julio Rodríguez (DNS) • José Lucilo Iturbe (DNS) • Pedro Ortiz (DNS)
DNS	–	Greece	GRE	– (DNS h1)	–
		Renos Fragkoudis • Angelos Lamprou • Christos Mantikas • Vangelis Moiropoulos
DNS	–	Sweden	SWE	– (DNS h1)	–
		Kell Areskoug • Eric Ny • Sten Pettersson • Folke Skoog • Eric Svensson
DNS	–	Brazil	BRA	– (DNS h2)	–
		Esmeraldo Azuaga • Raimundo Chrispiniano • Vicente Araujo • José de Almeida • Mario Marques • Sylvio Padilha • Carlos dos Reis Júnior • Domingos Puglisi
DNS	–	France	FRA	– (DNS h2)	–
		Marcel Moulines • René Morel • André Adelheim • Jean Keller • Séra Martin

Round One

Date	6 August 1932 — 16:30
Format	Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat #1

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Split Time	Exchange Time
1	–	United States	USA	3:11.8	–	–	QWR
Lead-Off	421	Ivan Fuqua		–	47.8	–
2nd Leg	400	Ed Ablowich		–	47.6	1:35.4
3rd Leg	465	Karl Warner		–	47.4	2:22.8
Anchor	408	Bill Carr		–	49.0	–
2	–	Italy	ITA	3:22.8	–	–	Q
Lead-Off	257	Giacomo Carlini		–	–	–
2nd Leg	275	Giovanni Turba		–	–	–
3rd Leg	259	Mario Denegri		–	–	–
Anchor	260	Luigi Facelli		–	–	–
3	–	Germany	GER	3:25.4	–	–	Q
Lead-Off	160	Jochen Büchner		–	–	–
2nd Leg	172	Walter Nehb		–	–	–
3rd Leg	174	Otto Peltzer		–	–	–
Anchor	171	Adolf Metzner		–	–	–
DNS	–	Greece	GRE	–	–	–
DNS	–	Sweden	SWE	–	–	–

Heat #2

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)
1	–	Japan	JPN	3:16.8	Q
Lead-Off	292	Itaro Nakajima		–
2nd Leg	287	Iwao Masuda		–
3rd Leg	298	Seikan Oki		–
Anchor	293	Teiichi Nishi		–
2	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:21.8	Q
Lead-Off	205	Crew Stoneley		–
2nd Leg	199	Tommy Hampson		–
3rd Leg	190	David, Lord Burghley		–
Anchor	203	Godfrey Rampling		–
3	–	Canada	CAN	3:21.8	Q
Lead-Off	72	Ray Lewis		–
2nd Leg	62	Jimmy Ball		–
3rd Leg	68	Phil Edwards		–
Anchor	82	Alex Wilson		–
4	–	Mexico	MEX	3:28.5
Lead-Off	323	Ricardo Argüello		–
2nd Leg	333	Jesús Moraila		–
3rd Leg	322	Manuel Álvarez		–
Anchor	327	Carlos de Anda		–
DNS	–	Brazil	BRA	–
DNS	–	France	FRA	–

Final Round

Date	7 August 1932 — 16:30

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)	Split	Exchange
1	–	United States	USA	3:08.2	3:08.14	– (–)	– (–)	WR
Lead-Off	421	Ivan Fuqua		–	–	47.1 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	400	Ed Ablowich		–	–	47.6 (=1)	1:34.7 (1)
3rd Leg	465	Karl Warner		–	–	47.3 (2)	2:22.0 (1)
Anchor	408	Bill Carr		–	–	46.2 (1)	– (–)
2	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:11.2	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-Off	205	Crew Stoneley		–	–	48.8 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	199	Tommy Hampson		–	–	47.6 (=1)	1:36.4 (3)
3rd Leg	190	David, Lord Burghley		–	–	46.7 (1)	2:23.1 (2)
Anchor	203	Godfrey Rampling		–	–	48.1 (3)	– (–)
3	–	Canada	CAN	3:12.8	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-Off	72	Ray Lewis		–	–	49.5 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	62	Jimmy Ball		–	–	47.9 (3)	1:37.4 (4)
3rd Leg	68	Phil Edwards		–	–	48.1 (4)	2:25.5 (4)
Anchor	82	Alex Wilson		–	–	47.3 (2)	– (–)
4	–	Germany	GER	3:14.4	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-Off	160	Jochen Büchner		–	–	48.0 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	172	Walter Nehb		–	–	48.2 (4)	1:36.2 (2)
3rd Leg	171	Adolf Metzner		–	–	49.1 (5)	2:25.3 (3)
Anchor	174	Otto Peltzer		–	–	49.1 (=4)	– (–)
5	–	Japan	JPN	3:14.6	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-Off	292	Itaro Nakajima		–	–	49.0 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	287	Iwao Masuda		–	–	48.8 (5)	1:37.8 (5)
3rd Leg	298	Seikan Oki		–	–	47.7 (3)	2:25.5 (5)
Anchor	293	Teiichi Nishi		–	–	49.1 (=4)	– (–)
6	–	Italy	ITA	3:17.8	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-Off	257	Giacomo Carlini		–	–	– (–)	– (–)
2nd Leg	275	Giovanni Turba		–	–	– (–)	– (–)
3rd Leg	259	Mario Denegri		–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Anchor	260	Luigi Facelli		–	–	– (–)	– (–)