| Date | 6 – 7 August 1932 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California |
| Participants | 28 from 7 countries |
| Olympic Record | 3:14.2 WR / George Baird • Bud Spencer • Fred Alderman • Ray Barbuti  USA / 5 August 1928 / Details |
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. 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.
Godfrey Rampling was the father of actress Charlotte Rampling.
| Date | 6 August 1932 — 16:30 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top 3 in each heat advanced to the final round. |
| Pos | Number | Competitors | NOC | Time (Hand) | Split Time | Exchange Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | United States | USA | 3:11.8 | – | – | ||
| 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 | – | – | ||
| 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 | – | – | ||
| Lead-Off | 160 | Jochen Büchner | – | – | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | 172 | Walter Nehb | – | – | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | 174 | Otto Peltzer | – | – | – | |||
| Anchor | 171 | Adolf Metzner | – | – | – | |||
| – | Greece |  GRE | – | – | – | |||
| – | Sweden |  SWE | – | – | – |
| Pos | Number | Competitors | NOC | Time (Hand) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Japan |  JPN | 3:16.8 | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 | ||
| 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 | – | |||
| – | Brazil |  BRA | – | |||
| – | France |  FRA | – |
| 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 | – (–) | – (–) | ||
| 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 | – | – | – (–) | – (–) |
