| | Event type
4 x 100 metres Relay, Men
| Date | 30 September – 1 October 1988 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Ol-lim-pik Ju-gyeong-gi-jang, Seoul Sports Complex, Seoul |
| Participants | 127 from 30 countries |
With Carl Lewis back as anchorman, the US was the favorite but he never got to run in the event. In the first round, the US badly botched the final changeover and they were disqualified. The final was then thought to be between France and the USSR. Viktor Bryzgin led off for the Soviets and put them in the lead. At the final exchange the USSR led France by about a metre, and Vitaly Savin protected that for the gold medal. Britain’s Linford Christie ran a sub-9 second leg to pull Great Britain ahead of France for the silver medal.
Round One (30 September 1988)
Top three in each heat and next four fastest advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One (13:25)
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (A) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | France |  FRA | 38.87 | |||||||||
| Bruno Marie-Rose • Daniel Sangouma • Gilles Quénéhervé • Max Morinière | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Nigeria |  NGR | 39.15 | |||||||||
| Victor Edet • Davidson Ezinwa • Abdullahi Tetengi • Olatunji Olobia | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Italy |  ITA | 39.20 | |||||||||
| Ezio Madonia • Sandro Floris • Pier-Francesco Pavoni • Stefano Tilli | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Republic of Korea |  KOR | 39.61 | |||||||||
| Seong Nak-Gun • Sim Deok-Seop • Kim Bok-Seop • Jang Jae-Geun | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Chinese Taipei |  TPE | 40.40 | |||||||||
| Cheng Hsin-Fu • Lee Shiunn-Long • Nai Hui-Fang • Wu Chin-Jing | |||||||||||||
| 6 | – | Uganda |  UGA | 41.39 | |||||||||
| Moses Musonge • Joseph Ssali • John Goville • Mike Okot | |||||||||||||
| 7 | – | Maldives |  MDV | 44.31 | |||||||||
| Ismail Asif Waheed • Ibrahim Manik • Abdul Razzak Aboobakur • Mohamed Hanim | |||||||||||||
Heat Two (13:30)
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (A) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Soviet Union |  URS | 38.82 | |||||||||
| Vladimir Krylov • Vladimir Muravyov • Viktor Bryzgin • Vitaly Savin | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | West Germany |  FRG | 39.01 | |||||||||
| Christian Haas • Fritz Heer • Peter Klein • Dirk Schweisfurth | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Ghana |  GHA | 39.13 | |||||||||
| Eric Akogyiram • Salaam Gariba • John Myles-Mills • Emmanuel Tuffour | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | People's Republic of China |  CHN | 39.67 | |||||||||
| Cai Jianming • Li Feng • Li Tao • Zheng Chen | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Qatar |  QAT | 40.05 | |||||||||
| Rashid Sheban Marzouk 2 • Faraj Saad Marzouk • Sayed Mubarak Al-Kuwari • Talal Mansour | |||||||||||||
| 6 | – | Congo |  CGO | 41.26 | |||||||||
| Armand Biniakounou • Hygien-Nicaise Lombocko • Henri Ndinga • Pierre Ndinga | |||||||||||||
| – | Senegal |  SEN | – | ||||||||||
| Joseph Diaz • Amadou M'Baye • Babacar Pouye • Ibrahima Tamba | |||||||||||||
| – | Indonesia |  INA | – | ||||||||||
| Mardi Lestari • Kresno Eko Pambudi • Elieser Wattebosi • Mohamed Yusuf | |||||||||||||
Heat Three (13:35)
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (A) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Canada |  CAN | 39.41 | |||||||||
| Andrew Mowatt • Atlee Mahorn • Desai Williams • Brian Morrison | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Jamaica |  JAM | 39.53 | |||||||||
| Chris Faulknor • Greg Meghoo • John Mair • Clive Wright | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Japan |  JPN | 39.70 | |||||||||
| Kaoru Matsubara • Shinji Aoto • Koji Kurihara • Takahiko Kasahara | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Kenya |  KEN | 40.30 | |||||||||
| Elkana Nyangau • Kennedy Ondiek • Simeon Kipkemboi • Peter Wekesa | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Thailand |  THA | 40.57 | |||||||||
| Supas Tiprod • Visut Watanasin • Anuwat Sermsiri • Chainarong Wangganon | |||||||||||||
| 6 | – | Antigua and Barbuda |  ANT | 41.18 | |||||||||
| St. Clair Soleyne • Alfred Browne • Howard Lindsay • Larry Miller | |||||||||||||
| 7 | – | Sierra Leone |  SLE | 41.19 | |||||||||
| Francis Keita • Horace Dove-Edwin • Benjamin Grant • Felix Sandy | |||||||||||||
| – | Spain |  ESP | – | ||||||||||
| Florencio Gascón • Enrique Talavera • Valentín Rocandio • José Javier Arqués | |||||||||||||
Heat Four (13:40)
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (A) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Hungary |  HUN | 39.12 | |||||||||
| György Bakos • László Karaffa • István Tatár • Attila Kovács | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Great Britain |  GBR | 39.17 | |||||||||
| Elliot Bunney • John Regis • Mike McFarlane • Clarence Callender | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Portugal |  POR | 39.61 | |||||||||
| Arnaldo Abrantes • Pedro Curvelo • Pedro Agostinho • Luís Barroso | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Mexico |  MEX | 40.31 | |||||||||
| Hermán Adam • Eduardo Nava • Antonio Ruiz • Miguel Elizondo | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Benin |  BEN | 41.52 | |||||||||
| Fortune Ogouchi • Patrice Mahoulikponto • Dossou Vignissy • Issa Alassane-Ousséni | |||||||||||||
| 6 | – | Bangladesh |  BAN | 41.78 | |||||||||
| Mohamed Shah Alam • Shahanuddin Choudhury • Mohamed Hossain Milzer • Mohamed Shah Jalal | |||||||||||||
| – | United States |  USA | [38.98] | ||||||||||
| Dennis Mitchell • Albert Robinson • Calvin Smith • Lee McNeill | |||||||||||||
Semi-Finals (1 October 1988)
Top four in each heat advanced to the final.
Heat One (12:35)
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (A) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | France | FRA | 38.49 | |||||||||
| Bruno Marie-Rose • Daniel Sangouma • Gilles Quénéhervé • Max Morinière | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Great Britain | GBR | 38.52 | |||||||||
| Elliot Bunney • John Regis • Mike McFarlane • Linford Christie | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Jamaica | JAM | 38.75 | |||||||||
| Chris Faulknor • Greg Meghoo • Clive Wright • John Mair | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | West Germany | FRG | 38.75 | |||||||||
| Fritz Heer • Christian Haas • Peter Klein • Dirk Schweisfurth | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Japan | JPN | 38.90 | |||||||||
| Shinji Aoto • Kenji Yamauchi • Koji Kurihara • Susumu Takano | |||||||||||||
| 6 | – | Nigeria | NGR | 39.05 | |||||||||
| Victor Edet • Olapade Adeniken • Isiaq Adeyanju • Olatunji Olobia | |||||||||||||
| 7 | – | Republic of Korea | KOR | 39.43 | |||||||||
| Seong Nak-Gun • Sim Deok-Seop • Kim Bok-Seop • Jang Jae-Geun | |||||||||||||
| 8 | – | Qatar | QAT | 41.19 | |||||||||
| Rashid Sheban Marzouk 3 • Faraj Saad Marzouk • Sayed Mubarak Al-Kuwari • Talal Mansour | |||||||||||||
Heat Two (12:40)
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (A) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Soviet Union | URS | 38.55 | |||||||||
| Viktor Bryzgin • Vladimir Krylov • Vladimir Muravyov • Vitaly Savin | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Italy | ITA | 38.65 | |||||||||
| Ezio Madonia • Sandro Floris • Pier-Francesco Pavoni • Stefano Tilli | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Hungary | HUN | 38.84 | |||||||||
| György Bakos • László Karaffa • István Tatár • Attila Kovács | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Canada | CAN | 38.94 | |||||||||
| Andrew Mowatt • Atlee Mahorn • Desai Williams • Brian Morrison | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Ghana | GHA | 39.46 | |||||||||
| John Myles-Mills • Eric Akogyiram • Salaam Gariba • Nelson Boateng | |||||||||||||
| 6 | – | Kenya | KEN | 39.47 | |||||||||
| Elkana Nyangau • Kennedy Ondiek • Simeon Kipkemboi • Peter Wekesa | |||||||||||||
| – | Portugal | POR | – | ||||||||||
| Arnaldo Abrantes • Pedro Curvelo • Pedro Agostinho • Luís Barroso | |||||||||||||
| – | People's Republic of China | CHN | – | ||||||||||
| Li Tao • Cai Jianming • Li Feng • Zheng Chen | |||||||||||||
Final (1 October 1988 — 14:15)
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (A) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Soviet Union | URS | 38.19 | |||||||||
| Viktor Bryzgin • Vladimir Krylov • Vladimir Muravyov • Vitaly Savin | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Great Britain | GBR | 38.28 | |||||||||
| Elliot Bunney • John Regis • Mike McFarlane • Linford Christie | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | France | FRA | 38.40 | |||||||||
| Bruno Marie-Rose • Daniel Sangouma • Gilles Quénéhervé • Max Morinière | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Jamaica | JAM | 38.47 | |||||||||
| Chris Faulknor • Greg Meghoo • Clive Wright • John Mair | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Italy | ITA | 38.54 | |||||||||
| Ezio Madonia • Sandro Floris • Pier-Francesco Pavoni • Stefano Tilli | |||||||||||||
| 6 | – | West Germany | FRG | 38.55 | |||||||||
| Fritz Heer • Christian Haas • Peter Klein • Dirk Schweisfurth | |||||||||||||
| 7 | – | Canada | CAN | 38.93 | |||||||||
| Desai Williams • Atlee Mahorn • Cyprian Enweani • Brian Morrison | |||||||||||||
| 8 | – | Hungary | HUN | 39.19 | |||||||||
| György Bakos • László Karaffa • István Tatár • Attila Kovács | |||||||||||||