| | Event type

4 × 100 metres Relay, Men

Date	19 – 20 October 1968
Status	Olympic
Location	Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Ciudad de México
Participants	76 from 19 countries

The high-altitude allowed the sprint teams to work on the world record. In the first round Jamaica equaled the world record with 38.6, and in the semis they ran 38.3 to better the mark. The Cubans led the final for the first three legs, with 100 metre champion Jim Hines getting the baton for the anchor 1½ metres behind Cuba’s Enrique Figuerola. But Hines scorched the track, pulling away to win by almost two metres in a world record 38.2 (38.24).

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	–	United States	USA	38.8 (2 h1)	38.6 (2 h2)	38.2 (1)	Gold	WR
		Charlie Greene • Mel Pender • Ronnie Ray Smith • Jim Hines • John Carlos (DNS) • Larry Questad (DNS)
2	–	Cuba	CUB	38.7 (1 h1)	38.6 (1 h2)	38.3 (2)	Silver
		Hermes Ramírez • Juan Morales • Pablo Montes • Enrique Figuerola • Bárbaro Bandomo (DNS) • Félix Eugellés (DNS)
3	–	France	FRA	39.0 (2 h2)	38.8 (3 h2)	38.4 (3)	Bronze
		Gérard Fenouil • Jocelyn Delecour • Claude Piquemal • Roger Bambuck • Patrick Bourbeillon (DNS) • Jack Pani (DNS)
4	–	Jamaica	JAM	38.6 (1 h2)	38.3 (1 h1)	38.4 (4)
		Errol Stewart • Mike Fray • Clifton Forbes • Lennox Miller • Pablo McNeil (DNS) • Don Quarrie (DNS)
5	–	East Germany	GDR	38.9 (1 h3)	38.7 (2 h1)	38.6 (5)
		Heinz Erbstößer • Hartmut Schelter • Peter Haase • Harald Eggers • Hermann Burde (DNS) • Günter Gollos (DNS)
6	–	West Germany	FRG	39.1 (3 h2)	38.9 (3 h1)	38.7 (6)
		Karl-Peter Schmidtke • Gert Metz • Gerhard Wucherer • Jochen Eigenherr • Jobst Hirscht (DNS) • Manfred Knickenberg (DNS)
7	–	Italy	ITA	41.5 (5 h3)	39.4 (4 h2)	39.2 (7)
		Sergio Ottolina • Ennio Preatoni • Angelo Sguazzero • Livio Berruti • Ito Giani (DNS) • Carlo Laverda (DNS)
8	–	Poland	POL	40.2 (3 h3)	38.9 (4 h1)	39.2 (8)
		Wiesław Maniak • Edward Romanowski • Zenon Nowosz • Marian Dudziak • Adam Kaczor (DNS)
5 h1 r2/3	–	Great Britain	GBR	39.3 (4 h2)	39.4 (5 h1)	–
		Joe Speake • Ron Jones • Ralph Banthorpe • Barrie Kelly • Les Piggot (DNS) • Dick Steane (DNS)
5 h2 r2/3	–	Ghana	GHA	39.8 (6 h1)	39.9 (5 h2)	–
		Edward Owusu • Mike Ahey • William Quaye • James Addy • Stanley Allotey (DNS) • Sam Bugri (DNS)
6 h1 r2/3	–	Trinidad and Tobago	TTO	38.9 (3 h1)	39.5 (6 h1)	–
		Raymond Fabien • Winston Short • Carl Archer • Edwin Roberts
7 h1 r2/3	–	Côte d'Ivoire	CIV	39.6 (5 h2)	39.6 (7 h1)	–
		Kouakou Atta • Kouami N'Dri • Boy Akba Diby • Gaoussou Koné • Tai Doué (DNS) • Firmin Zokou (DNS)
8 h1 r2/3	–	Malaysia	MAS	40.6 (4 h3)	40.8 (8 h1)	–
		Mani Jegathesan • Tambusamy Krishnan • Rajalingam Gunaratnam • Ooi Hock Lim
AC h2 r2/3	–	The Bahamas	BAH	39.4 (4 h1)	– (DQ h2)	–
		Jerry Wisdom • Tom Robinson • Bernie Nottage • Kevin Johnson • Simeon Brennan (DNS)
AC h2 r2/3	–	Nigeria	NGR	39.4 (5 h1)	– (DQ h2)	–
		Timon Oyebami • Robert Ojo • Benedict Majekodunmi • Kola Abdulai • David Ejoke (DNS) • Sebastien Okojie (DNS)
AC h2 r2/3	–	Soviet Union	URS	39.0 (2 h3)	– (DQ h2)	–
		Aleksey Khlopotnov • Yevgeny Sinyayev • Nikolay Ivanov • Vladislav Sapeya
6 h2 r1/3	–	Japan	JPN	40.0 (6 h2)	–	–
		Naoki Abe • Hiroomi Yamada • Shinji Ogura • Hideo Iijima • Yukito Muraki (DNS) • Kiyoo Yui (DNS)
7 h1 r1/3	–	Dominican Republic	DOM	41.4 (7 h1)	–	–
		Luis Soriano • Alberto Torres • Rafael Domínguez • Porfirio Veras • Rolando Gómez (DNS)
7 h2 r1/3	–	Mexico	MEX	40.0 (7 h2)	–	–
		Félix Bécquer • Enrique Labadie • Galdino Flores • Miguel Ángel González • Jesús Castilla (DNS) • Carmelo Reyes (DNS)
DNS	–	Puerto Rico	PUR	–	–	–
		Arnaldo Bristol • Juan Franceschi • Kike Montalvo • Jorge Vizcarrondo
DNS	–	Taiwan	TPE	–	–	–
		Chen Chuan-Show • Chen Ming-Chi • Kun Min-Mu • Su Po-Tai • Su Wen-Ho • Wu Ah-Min
DNS	–	Switzerland	SUI	–	–	–
		Edy Hubacher • Werner Kuhn • Daniel Riedo • Hansruedi Wiedmer
DNS	–	Venezuela	VEN	–	–	–
		Horacio Esteves • Arquímedes Herrera • Lloyd Murad • Víctor Patíñez • Manuel Planchart • Héctor Thomas

Round One

Date	19 October 1968 — 11:00
Format	Top five in each heat and next fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Team	NOC	Time (automatic)	Time (hand)
1	Jamaica	JAM	38.65	38.6	Q=WR
2	Cuba	CUB	38.76	38.7	QOR
3	United States	USA	38.86	38.8	Q
4	East Germany	GDR	38.93	38.9	Q
5	Trinidad and Tobago	TTO	38.97	38.9	Q
=6	France	FRA	39.03	39.0	Q
=6	Soviet Union	URS	39.03	39.0	Q
8	West Germany	FRG	39.16	39.1	Q
9	Great Britain	GBR	39.33	39.3	Q
10	The Bahamas	BAH	39.45	39.4	Q
11	Nigeria	NGR	39.47	39.4	Q
12	Côte d'Ivoire	CIV	39.68	39.6	Q
13	Ghana	GHA	39.87	39.8	q
14	Japan	JPN	40.02	40.0
15	Mexico	MEX	40.09	40.0
16	Poland	POL	40.27	40.2	Q
17	Malaysia	MAS	40.69	40.6	Q
18	Dominican Republic	DOM	41.48	41.4
19	Italy	ITA	41.59	41.5	Q

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	–	Cuba	CUB	38.7	38.76	QOR
Lead-Off	210	Hermes Ramírez		–	–
2nd Leg	208	Juan Morales		–	–
3rd Leg	207	Pablo Montes		–	–
Anchor	202	Enrique Figuerola		–	–
2	–	United States	USA	38.8	38.86	Q
Lead-Off	275	Charlie Greene		–	–
2nd Leg	295	Mel Pender		–	–
3rd Leg	306	Ronnie Ray Smith		–	–
Anchor	279	Jim Hines		–	–
3	–	Trinidad and Tobago	TTO	38.9	38.97	Q
Lead-Off	774	Raymond Fabien		–	–
2nd Leg	777	Winston Short		–	–
3rd Leg	771	Carl Archer		–	–
Anchor	776	Edwin Roberts		–	–
4	–	The Bahamas	BAH	39.4	39.45	Q
Lead-Off	131	Jerry Wisdom		–	–
2nd Leg	129	Tom Robinson		–	–
3rd Leg	128	Bernie Nottage		–	–
Anchor	126	Kevin Johnson		–	–
5	–	Nigeria	NGR	39.4	39.47	Q
Lead-Off	645	Timon Oyebami		–	–
2nd Leg	643	Robert Ojo		–	–
3rd Leg	641	Benedict Majekodunmi		–	–
Anchor	634	Kola Abdulai		–	–
6	–	Ghana	GHA	39.8	39.87	q
Lead-Off	381	Edward Owusu		–	–
2nd Leg	375	Mike Ahey		–	–
3rd Leg	382	William Quaye		–	–
Anchor	374	James Addy		–	–
7	–	Dominican Republic	DOM	41.4	41.48
Lead-Off	701	Luis Soriano		–	–
2nd Leg	702	Alberto Torres		–	–
3rd Leg	695	Rafael Domínguez		–	–
Anchor	703	Porfirio Veras		–	–

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	–	Jamaica	JAM	38.6	38.65	Q=WR
Lead-Off	539	Errol Stewart		–	–
2nd Leg	533	Mike Fray		–	–
3rd Leg	532	Clifton Forbes		–	–
Anchor	536	Lennox Miller		–	–
2	–	France	FRA	39.0	39.03	Q
Lead-Off	360	Gérard Fenouil		–	–
2nd Leg	355	Jocelyn Delecour		–	–
3rd Leg	365	Claude Piquemal		–	–
Anchor	344	Roger Bambuck		–	–
3	–	West Germany	FRG	39.1	39.16	Q
Lead-Off	43	Karl-Peter Schmidtke		–	–
2nd Leg	30	Gert Metz		–	–
3rd Leg	56	Gerhard Wucherer		–	–
Anchor	9	Jochen Eigenherr		–	–
4	–	Great Britain	GBR	39.3	39.33	Q
Lead-Off	423	Joe Speake		–	–
2nd Leg	410	Ron Jones		–	–
3rd Leg	386	Ralph Banthorpe		–	–
Anchor	411	Barrie Kelly		–	–
5	–	Côte d'Ivoire	CIV	39.6	39.68	Q
Lead-Off	192	Kouakou Atta		–	–
2nd Leg	191	Kouami N'Dri		–	–
3rd Leg	188	Boy Akba Diby		–	–
Anchor	190	Gaoussou Koné		–	–
6	–	Japan	JPN	40.0	40.02
Lead-Off	541	Naoki Abe		–	–
2nd Leg	559	Hiroomi Yamada		–	–
3rd Leg	550	Shinji Ogura		–	–
Anchor	542	Hideo Iijima		–	–
7	–	Mexico	MEX	40.0	40.09
Lead-Off	602	Félix Bécquer		–	–
2nd Leg	614	Enrique Labadie		–	–
3rd Leg	609	Galdino Flores		–	–
Anchor	612	Miguel Ángel González		–	–

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	–	East Germany	GDR	38.9	38.93	Q
Lead-Off	64	Heinz Erbstößer		–	–
2nd Leg	84	Hartmut Schelter		–	–
3rd Leg	70	Peter Haase		–	–
Anchor	63	Harald Eggers		–	–
2	–	Soviet Union	URS	39.0	39.03	Q
Lead-Off	808	Aleksey Khlopotnov		–	–
2nd Leg	827	Yevgeny Sinyayev		–	–
3rd Leg	807	Nikolay Ivanov		–	–
Anchor	823	Vladislav Sapeya		–	–
3	–	Poland	POL	40.2	40.27	Q
Lead-Off	674	Wiesław Maniak		–	–
2nd Leg	678	Edward Romanowski		–	–
3rd Leg	676	Zenon Nowosz		–	–
Anchor	666	Marian Dudziak		–	–
4	–	Malaysia	MAS	40.6	40.69	Q
Lead-Off	588	Mani Jegathesan		–	–
2nd Leg	594	Tambusamy Krishnan		–	–
3rd Leg	592	Rajalingam Gunaratnam		–	–
Anchor	587	Ooi Hock Lim		–	–
5	–	Italy	ITA	41.5	41.59	Q
Lead-Off	514	Sergio Ottolina		–	–
2nd Leg	517	Ennio Preatoni		–	–
3rd Leg	521	Angelo Sguazzero		–	–
Anchor	497	Livio Berruti		–	–

Semi-Finals

Date	19 October 1968 — 16:00
Format	Top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Pos	Team	NOC	Time (automatic)	Time (hand)
1	Jamaica	JAM	38.39	38.3	QWR
2	Cuba	CUB	38.64	38.6	Q
3	United States	USA	38.69	38.6	Q
4	East Germany	GDR	38.72	38.7	Q
5	France	FRA	38.83	38.8	Q
6	West Germany	FRG	38.93	38.9	Q
7	Poland	POL	38.99	38.9	Q
=8	Great Britain	GBR	39.46	39.4
=8	Italy	ITA	39.46	39.4	Q
10	Trinidad and Tobago	TTO	39.52	39.5
11	Côte d'Ivoire	CIV	39.69	39.6
12	Ghana	GHA	39.96	39.9
13	Malaysia	MAS	40.89	40.8
DQ	Soviet Union	URS	–	–
DQ	Nigeria	NGR	–	–
DQ	The Bahamas	BAH	–	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	–	Jamaica	JAM	38.3	38.39	QWR
Lead-Off	539	Errol Stewart		–	–
2nd Leg	533	Mike Fray		–	–
3rd Leg	532	Clifton Forbes		–	–
Anchor	536	Lennox Miller		–	–
2	–	East Germany	GDR	38.7	38.72	Q
Lead-Off	64	Heinz Erbstößer		–	–
2nd Leg	84	Hartmut Schelter		–	–
3rd Leg	70	Peter Haase		–	–
Anchor	63	Harald Eggers		–	–
3	–	West Germany	FRG	38.9	38.93	Q
Lead-Off	43	Karl-Peter Schmidtke		–	–
2nd Leg	30	Gert Metz		–	–
3rd Leg	56	Gerhard Wucherer		–	–
Anchor	9	Jochen Eigenherr		–	–
4	–	Poland	POL	38.9	38.99	Q
Lead-Off	674	Wiesław Maniak		–	–
2nd Leg	678	Edward Romanowski		–	–
3rd Leg	676	Zenon Nowosz		–	–
Anchor	666	Marian Dudziak		–	–
5	–	Great Britain	GBR	39.4	39.46
Lead-Off	423	Joe Speake		–	–
2nd Leg	410	Ron Jones		–	–
3rd Leg	386	Ralph Banthorpe		–	–
Anchor	411	Barrie Kelly		–	–
6	–	Trinidad and Tobago	TTO	39.5	39.52
Lead-Off	774	Raymond Fabien		–	–
2nd Leg	777	Winston Short		–	–
3rd Leg	771	Carl Archer		–	–
Anchor	776	Edwin Roberts		–	–
7	–	Côte d'Ivoire	CIV	39.6	39.69
Lead-Off	192	Kouakou Atta		–	–
2nd Leg	191	Kouami N'Dri		–	–
3rd Leg	188	Boy Akba Diby		–	–
Anchor	190	Gaoussou Koné		–	–
8	–	Malaysia	MAS	40.8	40.89
Lead-Off	588	Mani Jegathesan		–	–
2nd Leg	594	Tambusamy Krishnan		–	–
3rd Leg	592	Rajalingam Gunaratnam		–	–
Anchor	587	Ooi Hock Lim		–	–

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	–	Cuba	CUB	38.6	38.64	Q
Lead-Off	210	Hermes Ramírez		–	–
2nd Leg	208	Juan Morales		–	–
3rd Leg	207	Pablo Montes		–	–
Anchor	202	Enrique Figuerola		–	–
2	–	United States	USA	38.6	38.69	Q
Lead-Off	275	Charlie Greene		–	–
2nd Leg	295	Mel Pender		–	–
3rd Leg	306	Ronnie Ray Smith		–	–
Anchor	279	Jim Hines		–	–
3	–	France	FRA	38.8	38.83	Q
Lead-Off	360	Gérard Fenouil		–	–
2nd Leg	355	Jocelyn Delecour		–	–
3rd Leg	365	Claude Piquemal		–	–
Anchor	344	Roger Bambuck		–	–
4	–	Italy	ITA	39.4	39.46	Q
Lead-Off	514	Sergio Ottolina		–	–
2nd Leg	517	Ennio Preatoni		–	–
3rd Leg	521	Angelo Sguazzero		–	–
Anchor	497	Livio Berruti		–	–
5	–	Ghana	GHA	39.9	39.96
Lead-Off	381	Edward Owusu		–	–
2nd Leg	375	Mike Ahey		–	–
3rd Leg	382	William Quaye		–	–
Anchor	374	James Addy		–	–
DQ	–	Soviet Union	URS	–	–
Lead-Off	808	Aleksey Khlopotnov		–	–
2nd Leg	827	Yevgeny Sinyayev		–	–
3rd Leg	807	Nikolay Ivanov		–	–
Anchor	823	Vladislav Sapeya		–	–
DQ	–	Nigeria	NGR	–	–
Lead-Off	645	Timon Oyebami		–	–
2nd Leg	643	Robert Ojo		–	–
3rd Leg	641	Benedict Majekodunmi		–	–
Anchor	634	Kola Abdulai		–	–
DQ	–	The Bahamas	BAH	–	–
Lead-Off	131	Jerry Wisdom		–	–
2nd Leg	129	Tom Robinson		–	–
3rd Leg	128	Bernie Nottage		–	–
Anchor	126	Kevin Johnson		–	–

Final Round

Date	20 October 1968 — 16:00

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	–	United States	USA	38.2	38.24	WR
Lead-Off	275	Charlie Greene		–	–
2nd Leg	295	Mel Pender		–	–
3rd Leg	306	Ronnie Ray Smith		–	–
Anchor	279	Jim Hines		–	–
2	–	Cuba	CUB	38.3	38.40
Lead-Off	210	Hermes Ramírez		–	–
2nd Leg	208	Juan Morales		–	–
3rd Leg	207	Pablo Montes		–	–
Anchor	202	Enrique Figuerola		–	–
3	–	France	FRA	38.4	38.43
Lead-Off	360	Gérard Fenouil		–	–
2nd Leg	355	Jocelyn Delecour		–	–
3rd Leg	365	Claude Piquemal		–	–
Anchor	344	Roger Bambuck		–	–
4	–	Jamaica	JAM	38.4	38.47
Lead-Off	539	Errol Stewart		–	–
2nd Leg	533	Mike Fray		–	–
3rd Leg	532	Clifton Forbes		–	–
Anchor	536	Lennox Miller		–	–
5	–	East Germany	GDR	38.6	38.66
Lead-Off	64	Heinz Erbstößer		–	–
2nd Leg	84	Hartmut Schelter		–	–
3rd Leg	70	Peter Haase		–	–
Anchor	63	Harald Eggers		–	–
6	–	West Germany	FRG	38.7	38.76
Lead-Off	43	Karl-Peter Schmidtke		–	–
2nd Leg	30	Gert Metz		–	–
3rd Leg	56	Gerhard Wucherer		–	–
Anchor	9	Jochen Eigenherr		–	–
7	–	Italy	ITA	39.2	39.22
Lead-Off	514	Sergio Ottolina		–	–
2nd Leg	517	Ennio Preatoni		–	–
3rd Leg	521	Angelo Sguazzero		–	–
Anchor	497	Livio Berruti		–	–
8	–	Poland	POL	39.2	39.22
Lead-Off	674	Wiesław Maniak		–	–
2nd Leg	678	Edward Romanowski		–	–
3rd Leg	676	Zenon Nowosz		–	–
Anchor	666	Marian Dudziak		–	–