| | Event type

4 x 400 metres Relay, Men

Date	8 – 9 August 1936
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympiastadion, Reichssportfeld, Berlin
Participants	48 from 12 countries
Olympic Record	3:08.2 WR / United States USA / 7 August 1932

For some reason, the American chose not to run Archie Williams and Jimmy LuValle, gold and bronze medalists in the 400 metres. Without them, the British were stronger and won fairly comfortably. The early lead was set by Canada and Marshall Limon, but Godfrey Rampling stormed ahead on the second leg for Britain, and they took the lead for good.

Pos	Nr	Team	NOC	R1	Final
1		Great Britain	GBR	3:14.4 (1 h2)	3:09.0 (1)	Gold
	296	Freddie Wolff
	251	Godfrey Rampling
	252	Bill Roberts
	250	Godfrey Brown
	253	Frank Handley (DNS)
	254	Brian MacCabe (DNS)
	243	Alan Pennington (DNS)
	255	Jack Powell (DNS)
2		United States	USA	3:13.0 (1 h1)	3:11.0 (2)	Silver
	810	Harold Cagle
	813	Bob Young
	812	Eddie O'Brien
	811	Al Fitch
	763	Glenn Hardin (DNS)
	740	Jimmy Lu Valle (DNS)
	741	Harold Smallwood (DNS)
	742	Archie Williams (DNS)
3		Germany	GER	3:15.0 (1 h3)	3:11.8 (3)	Bronze
	890	Helmut Hamann
	892	Friedrich von Stülpnagel
	893	Harry Voigt
	826	Rudi Harbig
	823	Hermann Blazejezak (DNS)
	891	Franz Helmle (DNS)
	824	Rudolf Klupsch (DNS)
	825	Adolf Metzner (DNS)
4		Canada	CAN	3:15.0 (2 h3)	3:11.8 (4)
	71	Marshall Limon
	74	Phil Edwards
	70	Bill Fritz
	72	Johnny Loaring
	65	Howie McPhee (DNS)
	82	Larry O'Connor (DNS)
	66	Lee Orr (DNS)
5		Sweden	SWE	3:14.6 (2 h2)	3:13.0 (5)
	571	Sven Strömberg
	611	Per-Olof Edfeldt
	570	Olle Danielsson
	572	Bertil von Wachenfeldt
	573	Eric Ny (DNS)
	568	Lennart Strandberg (DNS)
	574	Erik Wennberg (DNS)
6		Hungary	HUN	3:17.0 (2 h1)	3:14.8 (6)
	705	Tibor Ribényi
	707	Zoltán Zsitva
	706	József Vadas
	715	József Kovács
	704	Mario Minai (DNS)
	709	Ferenc Temesvári (DNS)
	731	Endre Zábolyi (DNS)
3 h1 r1/2		Poland	POL	3:17.6 (3 h1)	–
	557	Tadeusz Śliwak
	556	Antoni Maszewski
	541	Kazimierz Kucharski
	540	Klemens Biniakowski
	555	Wacław Gąssowski (DNS)
	558	Władysław Szefler (DNS)
3 h2 r1/2		France	FRA	3:15.2 (3 h2)	–
	195	Raymond Boisset
	242	Georges Guillez
	196	Georges Henry
	218	Prudent Joye
	217	Louis Galliard (DNS)
	198	René Morel (DNS)
	199	Raymond Petit (DNS)
	197	Pierre Skawinski (DNS)
3 h3 r1/2		Italy	ITA	3:16.6 (3 h3)	–
	362	Angelo Ferrario
	329	Marsilio Rossi
	330	Otello Spampani
	328	Mario Lanzi
	331	Luigi Beccali (DNS)
	340	Luigi Facelli (DNS)
	342	Umberto Ridi (DNS)
	363	Ettore Tavernari (DNS)
4 h1 r1/2		Japan	JPN	3:18.4 (4 h1)	–
	371	Toyoji Aihara
	388	Masao Ichihara
	411	Zhang Hsing-Hsien
	373	Hiroyoshi Kubota
	374	Kumao Aochi (DNS)
	372	Keiji Imai (DNS)
	375	Toshinao Tomie (DNS)
4 h3 r1/2		South Africa	RSA	3:17.8 (4 h3)	–
	650	Willie Botha
	659	Frank Rushton
	651	William Lindeque
	649	Dennis Shore
	658	Andries Becker (DNS)
5 h3 r1/2		Czechoslovakia	TCH	3:22.0 (5 h3)	–
	700	Heinz Lorenz
	664	Evžen Rošický
	678	Břetislav Krátký
	662	Karel Kněnický
	673	Ernst Berndt (DNS)
	696	Ladislav Fišer (DNS)
DNS		Austria	AUT	–	–
	490	Franz Eichberger (DNS)
	489	Johann Baptist von Gudenus (DNS)
	491	Emil Hübscher (DNS)
	486	Alfred König (DNS)
	501	Ernst Leitner (DNS)
	487	Felix Rinner (DNS)
DNS		China	CHN	–	–
	103	Cheng Jinguan (DNS)
	104	Liu Changchun (DNS)
	105	Fu Jincheng (DNS)
	107	Shuguo “Leonard” Dai (DNS)

Round One (8 August 1936 — 16:30)

Top two in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Team	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	–	United States	USA	–	–	Q
		Harold Cagle • Bob Young • Eddie O'Brien • Al Fitch
2	–	Hungary	HUN	–	–	Q
		Tibor Ribényi • Zoltán Zsitva • József Vadas • József Kovács
3	–	Poland	POL	–	–
		Tadeusz Śliwak • Antoni Maszewski • Kazimierz Kucharski • Klemens Biniakowski
4	–	Japan	JPN	–	–
		Toyoji Aihara • Masao Ichihara • Zhang Hsing-Hsien • Hiroyoshi Kubota

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Team	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	–	Great Britain	GBR	–	–	Q
		Freddie Wolff • Godfrey Rampling • Bill Roberts • Godfrey Brown
2	–	Sweden	SWE	–	–	Q
		Sven Strömberg • Per-Olof Edfeldt • Olle Danielsson • Bertil von Wachenfeldt
3	–	France	FRA	–	–
		Raymond Boisset • Georges Guillez • Georges Henry • Prudent Joye

Heat Three

Pos	Nr	Team	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	–	Germany	GER	–	–	Q
		Helmut Hamann • Friedrich von Stülpnagel • Harry Voigt • Rudi Harbig
2	–	Canada	CAN	–	–	Q
		Marshall Limon • Phil Edwards • Bill Fritz • Johnny Loaring
3	–	Italy	ITA	–	–
		Angelo Ferrario • Marsilio Rossi • Otello Spampani • Mario Lanzi
4	–	South Africa	RSA	–	–
		Willie Botha • Frank Rushton • William Lindeque • Dennis Shore
5	–	Czechoslovakia	TCH	–	–
		Heinz Lorenz • Evžen Rošický • Břetislav Krátký • Karel Kněnický

Final (9 August 1936 — 15:45)

Pos	Nr	Team	NOC	Time	Split (Pos)	Reaction Time
1	–	Great Britain	GBR	–		–
		Freddie Wolff		–	49.2 (3)
		Godfrey Rampling		–	1:35.9 (1)
		Bill Roberts		–	2:22.3 (1)
		Godfrey Brown		–	3:09.0 (1)
2	–	United States	USA	–		–
		Harold Cagle		–	48.7 (2)
		Bob Young		–	1:36.3 (2)
		Eddie O'Brien		–	2:23.0 (2)
		Al Fitch		–	3:11.0 (2)
3	–	Germany	GER	–		–
		Helmut Hamann		–	49.3 (4)
		Friedrich von Stülpnagel		–	1:37.6 (5)
		Harry Voigt		–	2:24.2 (3)
		Rudi Harbig		–	3:11.8 (=3)
4	–	Canada	CAN	–		–
		Marshall Limon		–	48.3 (1)
		Phil Edwards		–	1:36.8 (3)
		Bill Fritz		–	2:24.7 (4)
		Johnny Loaring		–	3:11.8 (=3)
5	–	Sweden	SWE	–		–
		Sven Strömberg		–	49.5 (5)
		Per-Olof Edfeldt		–	1:37.5 (4)
		Olle Danielsson		–	2:25.5 (5)
		Bertil von Wachenfeldt		–	3:13.0 (5)
6	–	Hungary	HUN	–		–
		Tibor Ribényi		–	49.8 (6)
		Zoltán Zsitva		–	1:38.4 (6)
		József Vadas		–	2:26.9 (6)
		József Kovács		–	3:14.8 (6)