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4 × 400 metres Relay, Men

Date8 – 9 August 1936
StatusOlympic
LocationOlympiastadion, Reichssportfeld, Berlin
Participants48 from 12 countries
Olympic Record 3:08.2 WR / Ivan Fuqua • Ed Ablowich • Karl Warner • Bill Carr USA / 7 August 1932 / Details

For some reason, the American chose not to run Archie Williams and Jimmy Lu Valle, 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.

PosNumberCompetitorsNOCR1Final
1–Great BritainGBR3:14.4 (1 h2)3:09.0 (1)Gold
Freddie Wolff • Godfrey Rampling • Bill Roberts • Godfrey Brown • Frank Handley (DNS) • Brian MacCabe (DNS) • Alan Pennington (DNS) • Jack Powell (DNS)
2–United StatesUSA3:13.0 (1 h1)3:11.0 (2)Silver
Harold Cagle • Bob Young • Eddie O'Brien • Al Fitch • Glenn Hardin (DNS) • Jimmy Lu Valle (DNS) • Harold Smallwood (DNS) • Archie Williams (DNS)
3–GermanyGER3:15.0 (1 h3)3:11.8 (3)Bronze
Helmut Hamann • Friedrich von Stülpnagel • Harry Voigt • Rudolf Harbig • Hermann Blazejczak (DNS) • Franz Helmle (DNS) • Rudolf Klupsch (DNS) • Adolf Metzner (DNS)
4–CanadaCAN3:15.0 (2 h3)3:11.8 (4)
Marshall Limon • Phil Edwards • Bill Fritz • Johnny Loaring • Howie McPhee (DNS) • Larry O'Connor (DNS) • Lee Orr (DNS)
5–SwedenSWE3:14.6 (2 h2)3:13.0 (5)
Sven Strömberg • Per-Olof Edfeldt • Olle Danielsson • Bertil von Wachenfeldt • Eric Ny (DNS) • Lennart Strandberg (DNS) • Erik Wennberg (DNS)
6–HungaryHUN3:17.0 (2 h1)3:14.8 (6)
Tibor Ribényi • Zoltán Zsitva • József Vadas • József Kovács • Mario Minai (DNS) • Ferenc Temesvári (DNS) • Endre Zábolyi (DNS)
3 h1 r1/2–PolandPOL3:17.6 (3 h1)–
Tadeusz Śliwak • Antoni Maszewski • Kazimierz Kucharski • Klemens Biniakowski • Wacław Gąssowski (DNS) • Władysław Szefler (DNS)
3 h2 r1/2–FranceFRA3:15.2 (3 h2)–
Raymond Boisset • Georges Guillez • Georges Henry • Prudent Joye • Louis Galliard (DNS) • René Morel (DNS) • Raymond Petit (DNS) • Pierre Skawinski (DNS)
3 h3 r1/2–ItalyITA3:16.6 (3 h3)–
Angelo Ferrario • Marsilio Rossi • Otello Spampani • Mario Lanzi • Luigi Beccali (DNS) • Luigi Facelli (DNS) • Umberto Ridi (DNS) • Ettore Tavernari (DNS)
4 h1 r1/2–JapanJPN3:18.4 (4 h1)–
Toyoji Aihara • Masao Ichihara • Zhang Hsing-Hsien • Hiroyoshi Kubota • Kumao Aochi (DNS) • Keiji Imai (DNS) • Toshinao Tomie (DNS)
4 h3 r1/2–South AfricaRSA3:17.8 (4 h3)–
Willie Botha • Frank Rushton • William Lindeque • Denis Shore • Andries Becker (DNS)
5 h3 r1/2–CzechoslovakiaTCH3:22.0 (5 h3)–
Heinz Lorenz • Evžen Rošický • Břetislav Krátký • Karel Kněnický • Ernst Berndt (DNS) • Ladislav Fišer (DNS)
DNS490AustriaAUT––
Franz Eichberger • Johann Baptist von Gudenus • Emil Hübscher • Alfred König • Ernst Leitner • Felix Rinner
DNS103ChinaCHN––
Cheng Jinguan • Liu Changchun • Fu Jincheng • Leonard Dai

Round One

Date8 August 1936 — 16:30
FormatTop 2 in each heat advanced to the final round.
PosTeamNOCTime (hand / automatic)
1United StatesUSA3:13.0Q
2Great BritainGBR3:14.4Q
3SwedenSWE3:14.6Q
4GermanyGER3:15.0Q
5CanadaCAN3:15.0Q
6FranceFRA3:15.2
7ItalyITA3:16.6
8HungaryHUN3:17.0Q
9PolandPOL3:17.6
10South AfricaRSA3:17.8
11JapanJPN3:18.4
12CzechoslovakiaTCH3:22.0

Heat #1

PosNumberCompetitorsNOCTime (Hand)
1–United StatesUSA3:13.0Q
Lead-Off810Harold Cagle –
2nd Leg813Bob Young –
3rd Leg812Eddie O'Brien –
Anchor811Al Fitch –
2–HungaryHUN3:17.0Q
Lead-Off705Tibor Ribényi –
2nd Leg707Zoltán Zsitva –
3rd Leg706József Vadas –
Anchor715József Kovács –
3–PolandPOL3:17.6
Lead-Off557Tadeusz Śliwak –
2nd Leg556Antoni Maszewski –
3rd Leg541Kazimierz Kucharski –
Anchor540Klemens Biniakowski –
4–JapanJPN3:18.4
Lead-Off371Toyoji Aihara –
2nd Leg388Masao Ichihara –
3rd Leg411Zhang Hsing-Hsien –
Anchor373Hiroyoshi Kubota –

Heat #2

PosNumberCompetitorsNOCTime (Hand)
1–Great BritainGBR3:14.4Q
Lead-Off296Freddie Wolff –
2nd Leg251Godfrey Rampling –
3rd Leg252Bill Roberts –
Anchor250Godfrey Brown –
2–SwedenSWE3:14.6Q
Lead-Off571Sven Strömberg –
2nd Leg611Per-Olof Edfeldt –
3rd Leg570Olle Danielsson –
Anchor572Bertil von Wachenfeldt –
3–FranceFRA3:15.2
Lead-Off195Raymond Boisset –
2nd Leg242Georges Guillez –
3rd Leg196Georges Henry –
Anchor218Prudent Joye –

Heat #3

PosNumberCompetitorsNOCTime (Hand)
1–GermanyGER3:15.0Q
Lead-Off890Helmut Hamann –
2nd Leg892Friedrich von Stülpnagel –
3rd Leg893Harry Voigt –
Anchor826Rudolf Harbig –
2–CanadaCAN3:15.0Q
Lead-Off71Marshall Limon –
2nd Leg74Phil Edwards –
3rd Leg70Bill Fritz –
Anchor72Johnny Loaring –
3–ItalyITA3:16.6
Lead-Off362Angelo Ferrario –
2nd Leg329Marsilio Rossi –
3rd Leg330Otello Spampani –
Anchor328Mario Lanzi –
4–South AfricaRSA3:17.8
Lead-Off650Willie Botha –
2nd Leg659Frank Rushton –
3rd Leg651William Lindeque –
Anchor649Denis Shore –
5–CzechoslovakiaTCH3:22.0
Lead-Off700Heinz Lorenz –
2nd Leg664Evžen Rošický –
3rd Leg678Břetislav Krátký –
Anchor662Karel Kněnický –

Final Round

Date9 August 1936 — 15:45
PosNumberCompetitorsNOCTime (Hand)SplitExchange
1–Great BritainGBR3:09.0– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off296Freddie Wolff –49.2 (3)– (–)
2nd Leg251Godfrey Rampling –46.7 (1)1:35.9 (1)
3rd Leg252Bill Roberts –46.4 (1)2:22.3 (1)
Anchor250Godfrey Brown –46.7 (1)– (–)
2–United StatesUSA3:11.0– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off810Harold Cagle –48.7 (2)– (–)
2nd Leg813Bob Young –47.6 (2)1:36.3 (2)
3rd Leg812Eddie O'Brien –46.7 (3)2:23.0 (2)
Anchor811Al Fitch –48.0 (6)– (–)
3–GermanyGER3:11.8– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off890Helmut Hamann –49.3 (4)– (–)
2nd Leg892Friedrich von Stülpnagel –48.3 (4)1:37.6 (5)
3rd Leg893Harry Voigt –46.6 (2)2:24.2 (3)
Anchor826Rudolf Harbig –47.6 (4)– (–)
4–CanadaCAN3:11.8– (–)– (–)
3rd Leg71Marshall Limon –48.3 (1)– (–)
2nd Leg74Phil Edwards –48.5 (5)1:36.8 (3)
Lead-Off70Bill Fritz –47.9 (4)2:24.7 (4)
Anchor72Johnny Loaring –47.1 (2)– (–)
5–SwedenSWE3:13.0– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off571Sven Strömberg –49.5 (5)– (–)
2nd Leg611Per-Olof Edfeldt –48.0 (3)1:37.5 (4)
3rd Leg570Olle Danielsson –48.0 (5)2:25.5 (5)
Anchor572Bertil von Wachenfeldt –47.5 (3)– (–)
6–HungaryHUN3:14.8– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off705Tibor Ribényi –49.8 (6)– (–)
2nd Leg707Zoltán Zsitva –48.6 (6)1:38.4 (6)
3rd Leg706József Vadas –48.5 (6)2:26.9 (6)
Anchor715József Kovács –47.9 (5)– (–)