| | Event type
4 x 400 metres Relay, Women
| Date | 30 – 31 July 1976 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Stade olympique, Parc olympique, Montréal, Québec |
| Participants | 44 from 11 countries |
The GDR women were again favored, having won the 1974 European Championships, and were led by Christina Brehmer and Ellen Streidt, silver and bronze medalists in the 400. The final was almost a walkover as the only question was by how much the East German team would break the world record. Their final three runners posted sub-50 legs, as they ran the first time under 3:20, bringing the record down to 3:19.23. The US was second, over 30 metres down the track.
AUT
POL
TPERound One (30 July 1976 — 15:40)
Top three in each heat and next two fastest advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (A) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Soviet Union |  URS | 3:24.54 | |||||||||
| Inta Kļimoviča • Lyudmila Aksyonova • Nataliya Sokolova • Nadezhda Ilyina | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | United States |  USA | 3:25.15 | |||||||||
| Debra Sapenter • Sheila Ingram • Pam Jiles • Rosalyn Bryant | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Finland |  FIN | 3:26.30 | |||||||||
| Pirjo Häggman • Marika Lindholm • Mona-Lisa Pursiainen • Riitta Salin | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | West Germany |  FRG | 3:26.31 | |||||||||
| Claudia Steger • Rita Wilden • Dagmar Fuhrmann • Elke Barth | |||||||||||||
| – | Jamaica |  JAM | – | ||||||||||
| Helen Blake • Carol Cummings • Jackie Pusey • Ruth Simpson | |||||||||||||
Heat Two
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (A) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | East Germany |  GDR | 3:23.38 | |||||||||
| Doris Maletzki • Brigitte Rohde • Ellen Streidt • Christina Brehmer | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Australia |  AUS | 3:25.98 | |||||||||
| Judy Canty • Verna Burnard • Charlene Rendina • Beth Nail | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Great Britain |  GBR | 3:27.09 | |||||||||
| Liz Barnes • Gladys Taylor • Verona Elder • Donna Murray | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Canada |  CAN | 3:28.81 | |||||||||
| Marg Stride • Joyce Yakubowich • Rachelle Campbell • Yvonne Saunders | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Bulgaria |  BUL | 3:31.08 | |||||||||
| Yordanka Ivanova • Svetla Zlateva • Ivanka Bonova • Lilyana Todorova | |||||||||||||
| 6 | – | Belgium |  BEL | 3:32.87 | |||||||||
| Lea Alaerts • Regina Berg • Anne-Marie Van Nuffel • Rita Thijs | |||||||||||||
Final (31 July 1976 — 19:00)
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (A) | Split (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | East Germany | GDR | 3:19.23 | ||||
| 151 | Doris Maletzki | 50.0 | 50.0 (1) | |||||
| 155 | Brigitte Rohde | 49.5 | 1:39.5 (1) | |||||
| 164 | Ellen Streidt | 49.5 | 2:29.0 (1) | |||||
| 137 | Christina Brehmer | 49.7 | 3:18.7 (1) | |||||
| 2 | – | United States | USA | 3:22.81 | ||||
| 380 | Debra Sapenter | 51.8 | 51.8 (3) | |||||
| 369 | Sheila Ingram | 50.0 | 1:41.8 (2) | |||||
| 371 | Pam Jiles | 51.3 | 2:33.1 (2) | |||||
| 360 | Rosalyn Bryant | 49.7 | 3:22.8 (2) | |||||
| 3 | – | Soviet Union | URS | 3:24.24 | ||||
| 341 | Inta Kļimoviča | 51.4 | 51.4 (2) | |||||
| 325 | Lyudmila Aksyonova | 50.5 | 1:41.9 (3) | |||||
| 351 | Nataliya Sokolova | 51.5 | 2:33.4 (3) | |||||
| 338 | Nadezhda Ilyina | 50.8 | 3:24.2 (3) | |||||
| 4 | – | Australia | AUS | 3:25.56 | ||||
| 3 | Judy Canty | 52.4 | 52.4 (=4) | |||||
| 2 | Verna Burnard | 51.2 | 1:43.6 (4) | |||||
| 8 | Charlene Rendina | 51.6 | 2:35.2 (=4) | |||||
| 6 | Beth Nail | 50.4 | 3:25.6 (4) | |||||
| 5 | – | West Germany | FRG | 3:25.71 | ||||
| 182 | Claudia Steger | 52.4 | 52.4 (=4) | |||||
| 172 | Dagmar Fuhrmann | 51.3 | 1:43.7 (5) | |||||
| 169 | Elke Barth | 51.5 | 2:35.2 (=4) | |||||
| 186 | Rita Wilden | 50.5 | 3:25.7 (5) | |||||
| 6 | – | Finland | FIN | 3:25.87 | ||||
| 96 | Marika Lindholm | 52.8 | 52.8 (7) | |||||
| 94 | Pirjo Häggman | 51.4 | 1:44.2 (6) | |||||
| 98 | Mona-Lisa Pursiainen | 51.0 | 2:35.2 (=4) | |||||
| 99 | Riitta Salin | 50.6 | 3:25.8 (6) | |||||
| 7 | – | Great Britain | GBR | 3:28.01 | ||||
| 109 | Liz Barnes | 52.5 | 52.5 (6) | |||||
| 129 | Gladys Taylor | 52.6 | 1:45.1 (8) | |||||
| 115 | Verona Elder | 52.6 | 2:37.7 (8) | |||||
| 122 | Donna Murray | 50.3 | 3:28.0 (7) | |||||
| 8 | – | Canada | CAN | 3:28.91 | ||||
| 71 | Marg Stride | 53.1 | 53.1 (8) | |||||
| 77 | Joyce Yakubowich | 51.6 | 1:44.7 (7) | |||||
| 61 | Rachelle Campbell | 52.5 | 2:37.2 (7) | |||||
| 70 | Yvonne Saunders | 51.7 | 3:28.9 (8) |