| | Event type
4 x 400 metres Relay, Men
| Date | 6 – 7 August 1948 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Empire Stadium, Wembley, London |
| Participants | 60 from 15 countries |
The final was thought to be a shoot-out between Jamaica and the United States, with Jamaica led by 400 champion Arthur Wint and 400 world record holder Herb McKenley. But Art Harnden and Cliff Bourland gave the USA a 10-metre lead. Wint took over on the third leg for Jamaica but pulled a muscle and fell to the track, leaving the US unchallenged on the way to the gold medal.
AUS
ISLRound One (6 August 1948 — 17:30)
Top two in each heat advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | United States |  USA | 3:12.6 | 3:12.6 | ||||||||
| Art Harnden • Cliff Bourland • Roy Cochran • Mal Whitfield | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Italy |  ITA | 3:14.0 | – | ||||||||
| Gianni Rocca • Ottavio Missoni • Luigi Paterlini • Antonio Siddi | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Great Britain |  GBR | 3:14.2 | – | ||||||||
| Les Lewis • Derek Pugh • Martin Pike • Bill Roberts | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Switzerland |  SUI | 3:23.0 | – | ||||||||
| Oskar Hardmeier • Walter Keller • Max Trepp • Karl Volkmer | |||||||||||||
| – | Ireland |  IRL | – | – | |||||||||
| Charlie Denroche • Reggie Myles • Paul Dolan • Jimmy Reardon | |||||||||||||
Heat Two
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Jamaica |  JAM | 3:14.0 | 3:14.0 | ||||||||
| George Rhoden • Les Laing • Arthur Wint • Herb McKenley | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | France |  FRA | 3:17.0 | – | ||||||||
| Jean Kérébel • Francis Schewetta • Robert Chef d'Hôtel • Jacques Lunis | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Canada |  CAN | 3:19.0 | – | ||||||||
| Ernie McCullough • Bill LaRochelle • Don McFarlane • Bob McFarlane | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Chile |  CHI | 3:23.8 | – | ||||||||
| Carlos Silva • Jaime Itlman • Sergio Guzmán • Gustavo Ehlers | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Turkey |  TUR | 3:35.0 | – | ||||||||
| Seydi Dinçtürk • Rıza Maksut İşman • Doğan Acarbay • Kemal Horulu | |||||||||||||
Heat Three
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Finland |  FIN | 3:20.6 | 3:20.7 | ||||||||
| Tauno Suvanto • Olavi Talja • Runar Holmberg • Bebbe Storskrubb | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Sweden |  SWE | 3:21.0 | – | ||||||||
| Kurt Lundquist • Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt • Folke Alnevik • Rune Larsson | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Argentina |  ARG | 3:21.2 | – | ||||||||
| Antonio Pocoví • Hermelindo Alberti • Guillermo Evans • Guillermo Ávalos | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Yugoslavia |  YUG | 3:25.4 | – | ||||||||
| Jerko Bulić • Marko Račič • Aleksandar Ćosić • Zvonko Sabolović | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Greece |  GRE | 3:33.0 | – | ||||||||
| Vasilios Mavroidis • Lazaros Petropoulakis • Stefanos Petrakis • Stylianos Stratakos | |||||||||||||
Final (7 August 1948 — 16:50)
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | Split (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | United States | USA | 3:10.4 | 3:10.40 | ||||
| 660 | Art Harnden | 48.0 | – | 48.0 (–) | |||||
| 91 | Cliff Bourland | 47.3 | – | 1:35.3 (–) | |||||
| 339 | Roy Cochran | 47.8 | – | 2:23.1 (–) | |||||
| 136 | Mal Whitfield | 47.3 | – | 3:10.4 (–) | |||||
| 2 | – | France | FRA | 3:14.8 | 3:15.11 | ||||
| 644 | Jean Kérébel | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 113 | Francis Schewetta | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 152 | Robert Chef d'Hôtel | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 112 | Jacques Lunis | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 3 | – | Sweden | SWE | 3:16.0 | 3:16.49 | ||||
| 127 | Kurt Lundquist | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 659 | Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 126 | Folke Alnevik | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 128 | Rune Larsson | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 4 | – | Finland | FIN | 3:24.8 | 3:24.85 | ||||
| 110 | Tauno Suvanto | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 109 | Olavi Talja | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 108 | Runar Holmberg | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 324 | Bebbe Storskrubb | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| – | Jamaica | JAM | – | – | |||||
| 52 | George Rhoden | 48.1 | 48.1 | – (–) | |||||
| 50 | Les Laing | 48.5 | 1:36.6 | – (–) | |||||
| 122 | Arthur Wint | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 90 | Herb McKenley | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| – | Italy | ITA | – | – | |||||
| 658 | Gianni Rocca | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 331 | Ottavio Missoni | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 656 | Luigi Paterlini | – | – | – (–) | |||||
| 636 | Antonio Siddi | – | – | – (–) |