| | Event type

4 × 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 / Jesse Owens • Ralph Metcalfe • Foy Draper • Frank Wykoff USA / 9 August 1936 / Details

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	Number	Competitors	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	–	United States	USA	40.5 (1 h1)	40.3 (1 h1)	39.5 (1)	Gold	WR
		Ira Murchison • Leamon King • Thane Baker • Bobby Joe Morrow • John Bennett (DNS) • Lee Calhoun (DNS) • Jack Davis (DNS) • Andy Stanfield (DNS)
2	–	Soviet Union	URS	40.7 (1 h3)	40.3 (1 h2)	39.8 (2)	Silver
		Leonid Bartenev • Boris Tokarev • Yury Konovalov • Vladimir Sukharev • Yury Bashlikov (DNS) • Ardalion Ignatyev (DNS)
3	–	Unified Team of Germany	GER	40.8 (3 h2)	40.5 (2 h2)	40.3 (3)	Bronze
		Lothar Knörzer • Leo Pohl • Heinz Fütterer • Manfred Germar • Bert Steines (DNS)
4	–	Italy	ITA	40.9 (2 h3)	41.1 (3 h1)	40.3 (4)
		Franco Galbiati • Giovanni Ghiselli • Luigi Gnocchi • Vincenzo Lombardo • Mario Colarossi (DNS) • Sergio D'Asnasch (DNS)
5	–	Great Britain	GBR	41.2 (2 h1)	40.6 (3 h2)	40.6 (5)
		Ken Box • Roy Sandstrom • David Segal • Brian Shenton • Peter Higgins (DNS) • Peter Hildreth (DNS) • Jack Parker (DNS) • Mike Wheeler (DNS)
6	–	Poland	POL	40.9 (1 h4)	41.0 (2 h1)	40.6 (6)
		Marian Foik • Jan Jarzembowski • Edward Szmidt • Zenon Baranowski • Henryk Grabowski (DNS) • Kazimierz Kropidłowski (DNS)
4 h1 r2/3	–	France	FRA	40.8 (2 h2)	41.3 (4 h1)	–
		René Bonino • Konstantin Lissenko • Jocelyn Delecour • Alain David • Yves Camus (DNS) • Jacques Degats (DNS) • Edmond Roudnitska (DNS) • Abdou Sèye (DNS)
4 h2 r2/3	–	Australia	AUS	40.6 (1 h2)	40.8 (4 h2)	–
		Gavin Carragher • Ted McGlynn • Ray Land • Hec Hogan • Graham Gipson (DNS) • Douglas Winston (DNS)
5 h1 r2/3	–	Hungary	HUN	41.5 (2 h4)	41.5 (5 h1)	–
		Sándor Jakabfy • Géza Varasdi • György Csányi • Béla Goldoványi • László Kiss (DNS)
5 h2 r2/3	–	Pakistan	PAK	41.3 (3 h1)	40.8 (5 h2)	–
		Sharif Butt • Ghulam Raziq • Abdul Aziz • Abdul Khaliq • Kalim Khawaja Ghani (DNS) • Muhammad Ramzan Ali (DNS)
6 h1 r2/3	–	Brazil	BRA	41.6 (3 h3)	43.8 (6 h1)	–
		João Pires Sobrinho • José da Conceição • Ary Façanha • Jorge de Barros • Adhemar da Silva (DNS) • Ulisses dos Santos (DNS)
6 h2 r2/3	–	Japan	JPN	42.2 (3 h4)	41.3 (6 h2)	–
		Masaji Tajima • Kanji Akagi • Akira Kiyofuji • Kyohei Ushio • Teruji Kogake (DNS) • Koji Sakurai (DNS) • Hiroshi Shibata (DNS) • Yoshiro Sonoda (DNS)
4 h1 r1/3	–	Venezuela	VEN	42.0 (4 h1)	–	–
		Alfonso Bruno • Apolinar Solórzano • Clive Bonas • Rafael Romero • Asnoldo Devonish (DNS)
4 h2 r1/3	–	Thailand	THA	44.2 (4 h2)	–	–
		Vanchak Voradilok • Paiboon Vacharapan • Montri Srinaka • Sneh Wongchaoom • Manut Bumrungphuk (DNS) • Somnuek Srisombat (DNS)
4 h3 r1/3	–	Canada	CAN	41.7 (4 h3)	–	–
		Stan Levenson • Dick Harding • Jack Parrington • Joe Foreman • Laird Sloan (DNS) • Terry Tobacco (DNS)
5 h1 r1/3	–	Liberia	LBR	44.7 (5 h1)	–	–
		Edward Martins • Emmanuel Putu • George Johnson • James Roberts
5 h3 r1/3	–	Ethiopia	ETH	44.3 (5 h3)	–	–
		Beyene Legesse • Bekele Haile • Roba Negousse • Abebe Hailou
AC h4 r1/3	–	Nigeria	NGR	[47.3] (DQ h4)	–	–
		Titus Erinle • Rafiu Oluwa • Edward Ajado • Abdul Karim Amu • Thomas Obi (DNS) • Karim Olowu (DNS)
DNS	–	Trinidad and Tobago	TTO	–	–	–
		Rodney Wilkes • Hylton Mitchell • Mike Agostini • Joe Goddard • Edmund Turton

Round One

Date	30 November 1956 — 15:30
Format	Top 3 in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Team	NOC	Time (hand)	Time (automatic)
1	United States	USA	40.5	40.53	Q
2	Australia	AUS	40.6	40.72	Q
3	Soviet Union	URS	40.7	40.77	Q
4	Poland	POL	40.9	40.97	Q
5	France	FRA	40.8	40.99	Q
6	Unified Team of Germany	GER	40.8	41.00	Q
7	Italy	ITA	40.9	41.07	Q
8	Great Britain	GBR	41.2	41.30	Q
9	Pakistan	PAK	41.3	41.42	Q
10	Hungary	HUN	41.5	41.45	Q
11	Brazil	BRA	41.6	41.70	Q
12	Canada	CAN	41.7	41.75
13	Venezuela	VEN	42.0	42.10
14	Japan	JPN	42.2	42.30	Q
15	Thailand	THA	44.2	44.37
16	Ethiopia	ETH	44.3	44.47
17	Liberia	LBR	44.7	44.96
DQ	Nigeria	NGR	[47.3]	[47.39]

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	3	United States	USA	40.5	40.53	Q
Lead-Off	56	Ira Murchison		–	–
2nd Leg	–	Leamon King		–	–
3rd Leg	54	Thane Baker		–	–
Anchor	55	Bobby Joe Morrow		–	–
2	1	Great Britain	GBR	41.2	41.30	Q
Lead-Off	16	Ken Box		–	–
2nd Leg	17	Roy Sandstrom		–	–
3rd Leg	18	David Segal		–	–
Anchor	70	Brian Shenton		–	–
3	5	Pakistan	PAK	41.3	41.42	Q
Lead-Off	81	Sharif Butt		–	–
2nd Leg	37	Ghulam Raziq		–	–
3rd Leg	35	Abdul Aziz		–	–
Anchor	36	Abdul Khaliq		–	–
4	2	Venezuela	VEN	42.0	42.10
Lead-Off	635	Alfonso Bruno		–	–
2nd Leg	634	Apolinar Solórzano		–	–
3rd Leg	633	Clive Bonas		–	–
Anchor	632	Rafael Romero		–	–
5	4	Liberia	LBR	44.7	44.96
Lead-Off	667	Edward Martins		–	–
2nd Leg	670	Emmanuel Putu		–	–
3rd Leg	668	George Johnson		–	–
Anchor	671	James Roberts		–	–

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	1	Australia	AUS	40.6	40.72	Q
Lead-Off	1	Gavin Carragher		–	–
2nd Leg	–	Ted McGlynn		–	–
3rd Leg	3	Ray Land		–	–
Anchor	2	Hec Hogan		–	–
2	3	France	FRA	40.8	40.99	Q
Lead-Off	11	René Bonino		–	–
2nd Leg	67	Konstantin Lissenko		–	–
3rd Leg	–	Jocelyn Delecour		–	–
Anchor	12	Alain David		–	–
3	4	Unified Team of Germany	GER	40.8	41.00	Q
Lead-Off	–	Lothar Knörzer		–	–
2nd Leg	69	Leo Pohl		–	–
3rd Leg	13	Heinz Fütterer		–	–
Anchor	14	Manfred Germar		–	–
4	5	Thailand	THA	44.2	44.37
Lead-Off	42	Vanchak Voradilok		–	–
2nd Leg	47	Paiboon Vacharapan		–	–
3rd Leg	87	Montri Srinaka		–	–
Anchor	49	Sneh Wongchaoom		–	–

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	2	Soviet Union	URS	40.7	40.77	Q
Lead-Off	57	Leonid Bartenev		–	–
2nd Leg	59	Boris Tokarev		–	–
3rd Leg	58	Yury Konovalov		–	–
Anchor	–	Vladimir Sukharev		–	–
2	5	Italy	ITA	40.9	41.07	Q
Lead-Off	21	Franco Galbiati		–	–
2nd Leg	74	Giovanni Ghiselli		–	–
3rd Leg	22	Luigi Gnocchi		–	–
Anchor	75	Vincenzo Lombardo		–	–
3	4	Brazil	BRA	41.6	41.70	Q
Lead-Off	6	João Pires Sobrinho		–	–
2nd Leg	62	José da Conceição		–	–
3rd Leg	360	Ary Façanha		–	–
Anchor	5	Jorge de Barros		–	–
4	3	Canada	CAN	41.7	41.75
Lead-Off	8	Stan Levenson		–	–
2nd Leg	7	Dick Harding		–	–
3rd Leg	9	Jack Parrington		–	–
Anchor	63	Joe Foreman		–	–
5	1	Ethiopia	ETH	44.3	44.47
Lead-Off	302	Beyene Legesse		–	–
2nd Leg	–	Bekele Haile		–	–
3rd Leg	300	Roba Negousse		–	–
Anchor	301	Abebe Hailou		–	–

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	3	Poland	POL	40.9	40.97	Q
Lead-Off	38	Marian Foik		–	–
2nd Leg	39	Jan Jarzembowski		–	–
3rd Leg	40	Edward Szmidt		–	–
Anchor	82	Zenon Baranowski		–	–
2	4	Hungary	HUN	41.5	41.45	Q
Lead-Off	684	Sándor Jakabfy		–	–
2nd Leg	682	Géza Varasdi		–	–
3rd Leg	–	György Csányi		–	–
Anchor	683	Béla Goldoványi		–	–
3	1	Japan	JPN	42.2	42.30	Q
Lead-Off	367	Masaji Tajima		–	–
2nd Leg	79	Kanji Akagi		–	–
3rd Leg	24	Akira Kiyofuji		–	–
Anchor	25	Kyohei Ushio		–	–
DQ	2	Nigeria	NGR	[47.3]	[47.39]
Lead-Off	32	Titus Erinle		–	–
2nd Leg	622	Rafiu Oluwa		–	–
3rd Leg	31	Edward Ajado		–	–
Anchor	110	Abdul Karim Amu		–	–

Semi-Finals

Date	1 December 1956 — 14:30
Format	Top 3 in each heat advanced to the final.

Pos	Team	NOC	Time (hand)	Time (automatic)
1	United States	USA	40.3	40.34	Q
2	Soviet Union	URS	40.3	40.36	Q
3	Unified Team of Germany	GER	40.5	40.64	Q
4	Great Britain	GBR	40.6	40.68	Q
5	Australia	AUS	40.8	40.72
6	Pakistan	PAK	40.8	40.78
7	Poland	POL	41.0	41.12	Q
8	Italy	ITA	41.1	41.14	Q
9	France	FRA	41.3	41.37
10	Hungary	HUN	41.5	41.51
11	Japan	JPN	41.3	41.57
12	Brazil	BRA	43.8	43.87

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	6	United States	USA	40.3	40.34	Q
Lead-Off	56	Ira Murchison		–	–
2nd Leg	–	Leamon King		–	–
3rd Leg	54	Thane Baker		–	–
Anchor	55	Bobby Joe Morrow		–	–
2	1	Poland	POL	41.0	41.12	Q
Lead-Off	38	Marian Foik		–	–
2nd Leg	39	Jan Jarzembowski		–	–
3rd Leg	40	Edward Szmidt		–	–
Anchor	82	Zenon Baranowski		–	–
3	3	Italy	ITA	41.1	41.14	Q
Lead-Off	21	Franco Galbiati		–	–
2nd Leg	74	Giovanni Ghiselli		–	–
3rd Leg	22	Luigi Gnocchi		–	–
Anchor	75	Vincenzo Lombardo		–	–
4	5	France	FRA	41.3	41.37
Lead-Off	11	René Bonino		–	–
2nd Leg	67	Konstantin Lissenko		–	–
3rd Leg	–	Jocelyn Delecour		–	–
Anchor	12	Alain David		–	–
5	2	Hungary	HUN	41.5	41.51
Lead-Off	684	Sándor Jakabfy		–	–
2nd Leg	682	Géza Varasdi		–	–
3rd Leg	–	György Csányi		–	–
Anchor	683	Béla Goldoványi		–	–
6	4	Brazil	BRA	43.8	43.87
Lead-Off	6	João Pires Sobrinho		–	–
2nd Leg	62	José da Conceição		–	–
3rd Leg	360	Ary Façanha		–	–
Anchor	5	Jorge de Barros		–	–

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	4	Soviet Union	URS	40.3	40.36	Q
Lead-Off	57	Leonid Bartenev		–	–
2nd Leg	59	Boris Tokarev		–	–
3rd Leg	58	Yury Konovalov		–	–
Anchor	–	Vladimir Sukharev		–	–
2	2	Unified Team of Germany	GER	40.5	40.64	Q
Lead-Off	–	Lothar Knörzer		–	–
2nd Leg	69	Leo Pohl		–	–
3rd Leg	13	Heinz Fütterer		–	–
Anchor	14	Manfred Germar		–	–
3	1	Great Britain	GBR	40.6	40.68	Q
Lead-Off	16	Ken Box		–	–
2nd Leg	17	Roy Sandstrom		–	–
3rd Leg	18	David Segal		–	–
Anchor	70	Brian Shenton		–	–
4	6	Australia	AUS	40.8	40.72
Lead-Off	1	Gavin Carragher		–	–
2nd Leg	–	Ted McGlynn		–	–
3rd Leg	3	Ray Land		–	–
Anchor	2	Hec Hogan		–	–
5	5	Pakistan	PAK	40.8	40.78
Lead-Off	81	Sharif Butt		–	–
2nd Leg	37	Ghulam Raziq		–	–
3rd Leg	35	Abdul Aziz		–	–
Anchor	36	Abdul Khaliq		–	–
6	3	Japan	JPN	41.3	41.57
Lead-Off	367	Masaji Tajima		–	–
2nd Leg	79	Kanji Akagi		–	–
3rd Leg	24	Akira Kiyofuji		–	–
Anchor	25	Kyohei Ushio		–	–

Final Round

Date	1 December 1956 — 16:35

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)	Split Time	Exchange Time
1	6	United States	USA	39.5	39.60	–	–	WR
Lead-Off	56	Ira Murchison		–	–	10.8	–
2nd Leg	–	Leamon King		–	–	9.2	20.0
3rd Leg	54	Thane Baker		–	–	9.7	29.7
Anchor	55	Bobby Joe Morrow		–	–	9.8	–
2	4	Soviet Union	URS	39.8	39.93	–	–
Lead-Off	57	Leonid Bartenev		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	59	Boris Tokarev		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	58	Yury Konovalov		–	–	–	–
Anchor	–	Vladimir Sukharev		–	–	–	–
3	1	Unified Team of Germany	GER	40.3	40.34	–	–
Lead-Off	–	Lothar Knörzer		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	69	Leo Pohl		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	13	Heinz Fütterer		–	–	–	–
Anchor	14	Manfred Germar		–	–	–	–
4	3	Italy	ITA	40.3	40.43	–	–
Lead-Off	21	Franco Galbiati		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	74	Giovanni Ghiselli		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	22	Luigi Gnocchi		–	–	–	–
Anchor	75	Vincenzo Lombardo		–	–	–	–
5	2	Great Britain	GBR	40.6	40.74	–	–
Lead-Off	16	Ken Box		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	17	Roy Sandstrom		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	18	David Segal		–	–	–	–
Anchor	70	Brian Shenton		–	–	–	–
6	5	Poland	POL	40.6	40.75	–	–
Lead-Off	38	Marian Foik		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	39	Jan Jarzembowski		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	40	Edward Szmidt		–	–	–	–
Anchor	82	Zenon Baranowski		–	–	–	–