| | 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.
AUT
CHNRound One (8 August 1936 — 16:30)
Top two in each heat advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (H) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | United States | USA | 3:13.0 | |||||||||
| Harold Cagle • Bob Young • Eddie O'Brien • Al Fitch | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Hungary |  HUN | 3:17.0 | |||||||||
| Tibor Ribényi • Zoltán Zsitva • József Vadas • József Kovács | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Poland |  POL | 3:17.6 | |||||||||
| Tadeusz Śliwak • Antoni Maszewski • Kazimierz Kucharski • Klemens Biniakowski | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Japan |  JPN | 3:18.4 | |||||||||
| Toyoji Aihara • Masao Ichihara • Zhang Hsing-Hsien • Hiroyoshi Kubota | |||||||||||||
Heat Two
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (H) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Great Britain |  GBR | 3:14.4 | |||||||||
| Freddie Wolff • Godfrey Rampling • Bill Roberts • Godfrey Brown | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Sweden |  SWE | 3:14.6 | |||||||||
| Sven Strömberg • Per-Olof Edfeldt • Olle Danielsson • Bertil von Wachenfeldt | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | France |  FRA | 3:15.2 | |||||||||
| Raymond Boisset • Georges Guillez • Georges Henry • Prudent Joye | |||||||||||||
Heat Three
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (H) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Germany |  GER | 3:15.0 | |||||||||
| Helmut Hamann • Friedrich von Stülpnagel • Harry Voigt • Rudi Harbig | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Canada |  CAN | 3:15.0 | |||||||||
| Marshall Limon • Phil Edwards • Bill Fritz • Johnny Loaring | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Italy |  ITA | 3:16.6 | |||||||||
| Angelo Ferrario • Marsilio Rossi • Otello Spampani • Mario Lanzi | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | South Africa |  RSA | 3:17.8 | |||||||||
| Willie Botha • Frank Rushton • William Lindeque • Dennis Shore | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Czechoslovakia |  TCH | 3:22.0 | |||||||||
| Heinz Lorenz • Evžen Rošický • Břetislav Krátký • Karel Kněnický | |||||||||||||
Final (9 August 1936 — 15:45)
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (H) | Split (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Great Britain | GBR | 3:09.0 | ||||
| 296 | Freddie Wolff | 49.2 | 49.2 (3) | |||||
| 251 | Godfrey Rampling | 46.7 | 1:35.9 (1) | |||||
| 252 | Bill Roberts | 46.4 | 2:22.3 (1) | |||||
| 250 | Godfrey Brown | 46.7 | 3:09.0 (1) | |||||
| 2 | – | United States | USA | 3:11.0 | ||||
| 810 | Harold Cagle | 48.7 | 48.7 (2) | |||||
| 813 | Bob Young | 47.6 | 1:36.3 (2) | |||||
| 812 | Eddie O'Brien | 46.7 | 2:23.0 (2) | |||||
| 811 | Al Fitch | 48.0 | 3:11.0 (2) | |||||
| 3 | – | Germany | GER | 3:11.8 | ||||
| 890 | Helmut Hamann | 49.3 | 49.3 (4) | |||||
| 892 | Friedrich von Stülpnagel | 48.3 | 1:37.6 (5) | |||||
| 893 | Harry Voigt | 46.6 | 2:24.2 (3) | |||||
| 826 | Rudi Harbig | 47.6 | 3:11.8 (=3) | |||||
| 4 | – | Canada | CAN | 3:11.8 | ||||
| 71 | Marshall Limon | 48.3 | 48.3 (1) | |||||
| 74 | Phil Edwards | 48.5 | 1:36.8 (3) | |||||
| 70 | Bill Fritz | 47.9 | 2:24.7 (4) | |||||
| 72 | Johnny Loaring | 47.1 | 3:11.8 (=3) | |||||
| 5 | – | Sweden | SWE | 3:13.0 | ||||
| 571 | Sven Strömberg | 49.5 | 49.5 (5) | |||||
| 611 | Per-Olof Edfeldt | 48.0 | 1:37.5 (4) | |||||
| 570 | Olle Danielsson | 48.0 | 2:25.5 (5) | |||||
| 572 | Bertil von Wachenfeldt | 47.5 | 3:13.0 (5) | |||||
| 6 | – | Hungary | HUN | 3:14.8 | ||||
| 705 | Tibor Ribényi | 49.8 | 49.8 (6) | |||||
| 707 | Zoltán Zsitva | 48.6 | 1:38.4 (6) | |||||
| 706 | József Vadas | 48.5 | 2:26.9 (6) | |||||
| 715 | József Kovács | 47.9 | 3:14.8 (6) |