| | Event type

4 x 100 metres Relay, Men

Date	30 November – 1 December 1956
Status	Olympic
Location	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria
Participants	72 from 18 countries
Olympic Record	39.8 WR / United States USA / 9 August 1936

Led by Bobby Joe Morrow, who had won the 100 and 200, the US was expected to win, and posted the fastest times in the first round and semi-final. The first two US runners, Ira Murchison and Leamon King, opened a big lead on the Soviets but a poor handoff to Thane Baker allowed them to draw almost even. Baker ran a good curve, however, and Morrow received the stick slightly ahead. He had a thigh injury and was not as strong as he had been in the individual events but held on to win the gold for the US. The USSR finished second in a new European record.

Pos	Nr	Team	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1		United States	USA	40.5 (1 h1)	40.3 (1 h1)	39.5 (1)	Gold	WR
	56	Ira Murchison
	–	Leamon King
	54	Thane Baker
	55	Bobby Joe Morrow
	378	John Bennett (DNS)
	250	Lee Calhoun (DNS)
	251	Jack Davis (DNS)
	88	Andy Stanfield (DNS)
2		Soviet Union	URS	40.7 (1 h3)	40.3 (1 h2)	39.8 (2)	Silver
	57	Leonid Barteniev
	59	Boris Tokarev
	58	Yury Konovalov
	–	Vladimir Sukharev
	122	Yury Bashlikov (DNS)
	119	Ardalion Ignatyev (DNS)
3		Unified Team of Germany	GER	40.8 (3 h2)	40.5 (2 h2)	40.3 (3)	Bronze
	–	Lothar Knörzer
	69	Leo Pohl
	13	Heinz Fütterer
	14	Manfred Germar
	239	Bert Steines (DNS)
4		Italy	ITA	40.9 (2 h3)	41.1 (3 h1)	40.3 (4)
	21	Franco Galbiati
	74	Giovanni Ghiselli
	22	Luigi Gnocchi
	75	Vincenzo Lombardo
	20	Mario Colarossi (DNS)
	73	Sergio D'Asnasch (DNS)
5		Great Britain	GBR	41.2 (2 h1)	40.6 (3 h2)	40.6 (5)
	16	Ken Box
	17	Roy Sandstrom
	18	David Segal
	70	Brian Shenton
	99	Peter Higgins (DNS)
	241	Peter Hildreth (DNS)
	242	Jack Parker (DNS)
	101	Mike Wheeler (DNS)
6		Poland	POL	40.9 (1 h4)	41.0 (2 h1)	40.6 (6)
	38	Marian Foik
	39	Jan Jarzembowski
	40	Edward Szmidt
	82	Zenon Baranowski
	373	Henryk Grabowski (DNS)
	374	Kazimierz Kropidłowski (DNS)
4 h1 r2/3		France	FRA	40.8 (2 h2)	41.3 (4 h1)	–
	11	René Bonino
	67	Konstantin Lissenko
	–	Jocelyn Delecour
	12	Alain David
	66	Yves Camus (DNS)
	94	Jacques Degats (DNS)
	237	Edmond Roudnitska (DNS)
	–	Abdou Sèye (DNS)
4 h2 r2/3		Australia	AUS	40.6 (1 h2)	40.8 (4 h2)	–
	1	Gavin Carragher
	–	Ted McGlynn
	3	Ray Land
	2	Hec Hogan
	60	Graham Gipson (DNS)
	61	Douglas Winston (DNS)
5 h1 r2/3		Hungary	HUN	41.5 (2 h4)	41.5 (5 h1)	–
	684	Sándor Jakabfy
	682	Géza Varasdi
	–	György Csányi
	683	Béla Goldoványi
	681	László Kiss (DNS)
5 h2 r2/3		Pakistan	PAK	41.3 (3 h1)	40.8 (5 h2)	–
	81	Sharif Butt
	37	Ghulam Raziq
	35	Abdul Aziz
	36	Abdul Khaliq
	246	Kalim Khawaja Ghani (DNS)
	347	Muhammad Ramzan Ali (DNS)
6 h1 r2/3		Brazil	BRA	41.6 (3 h3)	43.8 (6 h1)	–
	6	João Pires Sobrinho
	62	José da Conceição
	360	Ary Façanha
	5	Jorge de Barros
	331	Adhemar da Silva (DNS)
	260	Ulisses dos Santos (DNS)
6 h2 r2/3		Japan	JPN	42.2 (3 h4)	41.3 (6 h2)	–
	367	Masaji Tajima
	79	Kanji Akagi
	24	Akira Kiyofuji
	25	Kyohei Ushio
	341	Teruji Kogake (DNS)
	340	Koji Sakurai (DNS)
	369	Hiroshi Shibata (DNS)
	368	Yoshiro Sonoda (DNS)
4 h1 r1/3		Venezuela	VEN	42.0 (4 h1)	–	–
	635	Alfonso Bruno
	634	Apolinar Solórzano
	633	Clive Bonas
	632	Rafael Romero
	636	Asnoldo Devonish (DNS)
4 h2 r1/3		Thailand	THA	44.2 (4 h2)	–	–
	42	Vanchak Voradilok
	47	Paiboon Vacharapan
	87	Montri Srinaka
	49	Sneh Wongchaoom
	86	Manut Bumrungphuk (DNS)
	170	Somnuek Srisombat (DNS)
4 h3 r1/3		Canada	CAN	41.7 (4 h3)	–	–
	8	Stan Levenson
	7	Dick Harding
	9	Jack Parrington
	63	Joe Foreman
	91	Laird Sloan (DNS)
	92	Terry Tobacco (DNS)
5 h1 r1/3		Liberia	LBR	44.7 (5 h1)	–	–
	667	Edward Martins
	670	Emmanuel Putu
	668	George Johnson
	671	James Roberts
5 h3 r1/3		Ethiopia	ETH	44.3 (5 h3)	–	–
	302	Beyene Legesse
	–	Bekele Haile
	300	Roba Negousse
	301	Abebe Hailou
AC h4 r1/3		Nigeria	NGR	47.3 (AC h4)	–	–
	32	Titus Erinle
	622	Rafiu Oluwa
	31	Edward Ajado
	110	Abdul Karim Amu
	33	Thomas Obi (DNS)
	372	Karim Olowu (DNS)
DNS		Trinidad and Tobago	TTO	–	–	–
	–	Rodney Wilkes (DNS)
	–	Hylton Mitchell (DNS)
	50	Mike Agostini (DNS)
	51	Joe Goddard (DNS)
	52	Edmund Turton (DNS)

Round One (30 November 1956 — 15:30)

Top three in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	3	United States	USA	40.53	–	Q
		Ira Murchison • Leamon King • Thane Baker • Bobby Joe Morrow
2	1	Great Britain	GBR	41.30	–	Q
		Ken Box • Roy Sandstrom • David Segal • Brian Shenton
3	5	Pakistan	PAK	41.42	–	Q
		Sharif Butt • Ghulam Raziq • Abdul Aziz • Abdul Khaliq
4	2	Venezuela	VEN	42.10	–
		Alfonso Bruno • Apolinar Solórzano • Clive Bonas • Rafael Romero
5	4	Liberia	LBR	44.96	–
		Edward Martins • Emmanuel Putu • George Johnson • James Roberts

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	1	Australia	AUS	40.72	–	Q
		Gavin Carragher • Ted McGlynn • Ray Land • Hec Hogan
2	3	France	FRA	40.99	–	Q
		René Bonino • Konstantin Lissenko • Jocelyn Delecour • Alain David
3	4	Unified Team of Germany	GER	41.00	–	Q
		Lothar Knörzer • Leo Pohl • Heinz Fütterer • Manfred Germar
4	5	Thailand	THA	44.37	–
		Vanchak Voradilok • Paiboon Vacharapan • Montri Srinaka • Sneh Wongchaoom

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	2	Soviet Union	URS	40.77	–	Q
		Leonid Barteniev • Boris Tokarev • Yury Konovalov • Vladimir Sukharev
2	5	Italy	ITA	41.07	–	Q
		Franco Galbiati • Giovanni Ghiselli • Luigi Gnocchi • Vincenzo Lombardo
3	4	Brazil	BRA	41.70	–	Q
		João Pires Sobrinho • José da Conceição • Ary Façanha • Jorge de Barros
4	3	Canada	CAN	41.75	–
		Stan Levenson • Dick Harding • Jack Parrington • Joe Foreman
5	1	Ethiopia	ETH	44.47	–
		Beyene Legesse • Bekele Haile • Roba Negousse • Abebe Hailou

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	3	Poland	POL	40.97	–	Q
		Marian Foik • Jan Jarzembowski • Edward Szmidt • Zenon Baranowski
2	4	Hungary	HUN	41.45	–	Q
		Sándor Jakabfy • Géza Varasdi • György Csányi • Béla Goldoványi
3	1	Japan	JPN	42.30	–	Q
		Masaji Tajima • Kanji Akagi • Akira Kiyofuji • Kyohei Ushio
AC	2	Nigeria	NGR	47.39	–	DQ
		Titus Erinle • Rafiu Oluwa • Edward Ajado • Abdul Karim Amu

Semi-Finals (1 December 1956 — 14:30)

Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	6	United States	USA	40.34	–	Q
		Ira Murchison • Leamon King • Thane Baker • Bobby Joe Morrow
2	1	Poland	POL	41.12	–	Q
		Marian Foik • Jan Jarzembowski • Edward Szmidt • Zenon Baranowski
3	3	Italy	ITA	41.14	–	Q
		Franco Galbiati • Giovanni Ghiselli • Luigi Gnocchi • Vincenzo Lombardo
4	5	France	FRA	41.37	–
		René Bonino • Konstantin Lissenko • Jocelyn Delecour • Alain David
5	2	Hungary	HUN	41.51	–
		Sándor Jakabfy • Géza Varasdi • György Csányi • Béla Goldoványi
6	4	Brazil	BRA	43.87	–
		João Pires Sobrinho • José da Conceição • Ary Façanha • Jorge de Barros

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time	Reaction Time
1	4	Soviet Union	URS	40.36	–	Q
		Leonid Barteniev • Boris Tokarev • Yury Konovalov • Vladimir Sukharev
2	2	Unified Team of Germany	GER	40.64	–	Q
		Lothar Knörzer • Leo Pohl • Heinz Fütterer • Manfred Germar
3	1	Great Britain	GBR	40.68	–	Q
		Ken Box • Roy Sandstrom • David Segal • Brian Shenton
4	6	Australia	AUS	40.72	–
		Gavin Carragher • Ted McGlynn • Ray Land • Hec Hogan
5	5	Pakistan	PAK	40.78	–
		Sharif Butt • Ghulam Raziq • Abdul Aziz • Abdul Khaliq
6	3	Japan	JPN	41.57	–
		Masaji Tajima • Kanji Akagi • Akira Kiyofuji • Kyohei Ushio

Final (1 December 1956 — 16:35)

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time	Split (Pos)	Reaction Time
1	6	United States	USA	39.60		–	WR
		Ira Murchison		–	10.8 (–)
		Leamon King		–	20.0 (–)
		Thane Baker		–	29.7 (–)
		Bobby Joe Morrow		–	39.5 (–)
2	4	Soviet Union	URS	39.93		–
		Leonid Barteniev		–	– (–)
		Boris Tokarev		–	– (–)
		Yury Konovalov		–	– (–)
		Vladimir Sukharev		–	– (–)
3	1	Unified Team of Germany	GER	40.34		–
		Lothar Knörzer		–	– (–)
		Leo Pohl		–	– (–)
		Heinz Fütterer		–	– (–)
		Manfred Germar		–	– (–)
4	3	Italy	ITA	40.43		–
		Franco Galbiati		–	– (–)
		Giovanni Ghiselli		–	– (–)
		Luigi Gnocchi		–	– (–)
		Vincenzo Lombardo		–	– (–)
5	2	Great Britain	GBR	40.74		–
		Ken Box		–	– (–)
		Roy Sandstrom		–	– (–)
		David Segal		–	– (–)
		Brian Shenton		–	– (–)
6	5	Poland	POL	40.75		–
		Marian Foik		–	– (–)
		Jan Jarzembowski		–	– (–)
		Edward Szmidt		–	– (–)
		Zenon Baranowski		–	– (–)