| | Event type

4 x 400 metres Relay, Men

Date	30 September – 1 October 1988
Status	Olympic
Location	Ol-lim-pik Ju-gyeong-gi-jang, Seoul Sports Complex, Seoul
Participants	99 from 22 countries

The US had the three fastest 400 metre runners ever in Harry “Butch” Reynolds, Steve Lewis, and Danny Joe Everett, so the result was not in doubt. Lewis had won the 400 gold medal and in August of 1988, Reynolds had broken Lee Evans esteemed world record from the 1968 Olympics, running 43.29 at the Welklasse Meet in Zürich. If the baton was not dropped, and nobody pulled up, the question was not if they would win, but by how much. Everett and Lewis ran the first two legs in the final, and both bettered 44 seconds, giving the US a huge early lead. Kevin Robinzine ran the third leg and Reynolds anchored, as the answer to the question became “40 metres.” The scoreboard clock showed the final time to be 2:56.17, tantalizing missing the 1968 Olympic and World record of 2:56.16, but the official time was found to be equal to the world record.

Pos	Nr	Team	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	–	United States	USA	3:02.16 (1 h3)	3:02.84 (1 h1)	2:56.16 (1)	Gold
		Danny Everett • Steve Lewis • Kevin Robinzine • Butch Reynolds • Antonio McKay • Andrew Valmon
2	–	Jamaica	JAM	3:04.00 (1 h2)	3:00.94 (3 h2)	3:00.30 (2)	Silver
		Howard Davis • Devon Morris • Winthrop Graham • Bert Cameron • Howard Burnett • Trevor Graham
3	–	West Germany	FRG	3:03.90 (1 h1)	3:00.66 (2 h2)	3:00.56 (3)	Bronze
		Norbert Dobeleit • Edgar Itt • Jörg Vaihinger • Ralf Lübke • Mark Henrich • Bodo Kuhn
4	–	East Germany	GDR	3:08.13 (4 h2)	3:00.60 (1 h2)	3:01.13 (4)
		Jens Carlowitz • Mathias Schersing • Frank Möller • Thomas Schönlebe • Michael Schimmer • Matthias Schober (DNS)
5	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:04.18 (2 h1)	3:04.60 (3 h1)	3:02.00 (5)
		Brian Whittle • Kriss Akabusi • Todd Bennett • Phil Brown • Paul Harmsworth • Steve Binns (DNS) • Derek Redmond (DNS)
6	–	Australia	AUS	3:05.93 (4 h1)	3:06.63 (4 h1)	3:02.49 (6)
		Robert Ballard • Mark Garner • Miles Murphy • Darren Clark • Leigh Miller • Rob Stone (DNS)
7	–	Nigeria	NGR	3:06.59 (3 h3)	3:01.13 (4 h2)	3:02.50 (7)
		Sunday Uti • Moses Ugbisien • Henry Amike • Innocent Egbunike • Tony Eziuka (DNS) • Omokhegbele Okotako (DNS)
8	–	Kenya	KEN	3:05.21 (2 h3)	3:03.24 (2 h1)	3:04.69 (8)
		Tito Sawe • Lucas Sang • Paul Ereng • Simeon Kipkemboi • Elkana Nyangau (DNS)
5 h1 r2/3	–	Barbados	BAR	3:06.03 (5 h1)	3:06.93 (5 h1)	–
		Seibert Straughn • Richard Louis • Allan Ince • Elvis Forde • Henrico Atkins (DNS) • David Peltier (DNS)
5 h2 r2/3	–	Yugoslavia	YUG	3:05.62 (2 h2)	3:01.59 (5 h2)	–
		Branislav Karaulić • Slobodan Popović • Slobodan Branković • Ismail Mačev • Rok Kopitar (DNS)
6 h1 r2/3	–	Côte d'Ivoire	CIV	3:07.40 (5 h3)	3:07.15 (6 h1)	–
		Akissi Kpidi • René Djédjémel • Djétenan Kouadio • Gabriel Tiacoh • Lancine Fofana • Anatole Zongo Kuyo
6 h2 r2/3	–	Japan	JPN	3:05.63 (3 h1)	3:03.80 (6 h2)	–
		Hirofumi Koike • Kenji Yamauchi • Hiromi Kawasumi • Susumu Takano • Tomohiro Osawa (DNS) • Ryoichi Yoshida (DNS)
7 h1 r2/3	–	Portugal	POR	3:07.75 (3 h2)	3:07.75 (7 h1)	–
		Paulo Curvelo • Filipe Lombá • António Abrantes • Álvaro Silva • Pedro Curvelo (DNS)
7 h2 r2/3	–	Senegal	SEN	3:06.93 (4 h3)	3:07.19 (7 h2)	–
		Ousmane Diarra • Babacar Niang • Moussa Fall • Amadou Dia Bâ • Cheikh Tidiane Boye (DNS) • Hamidou M'Baye (DNS)
8 h1 r2/3	–	Canada	CAN	3:09.52 (5 h2)	3:09.48 (8 h1)	–
		John Graham • Carl Folkes • Paul Osland • Anton Skerritt • Courtney Brown (DNS) • Andre Smith (DNS)
8 h2 r2/3	–	Pakistan	PAK	3:08.54 (6 h3)	3:09.50 (8 h2)	–
		Bashir Ahmad • Muhammad Sadaqat • Muhammad Afzal • Muhammad Fayyaz • Syed Meshaq Rizvi (DNS)
6 h1 r1/3	–	Sierra Leone	SLE	3:10.47 (6 h1)	–	–
		Horace Dove-Edwin • Felix Sandy • Benjamin Grant • David Sawyerr • Francis Keita (DNS)
6 h2 r1/3	–	Antigua and Barbuda	ANT	3:11.04 (6 h2)	–	–
		Howard Lindsay • Alfred Browne • Oral Selkridge • Larry Miller • Dale Jones (DNS) • Evans Jones (DNS)
7 h1 r1/3	–	Oman	OMA	3:12.89 (7 h1)	–	–
		Sulaiman Juma Al-Habsi • Mohamed Al-Malky • Abdullah Salem Al-Khalidi • Mansour Al-Baloushi • Hamed Said Al-Rawahi (DNS) • Hamad Amur (DNS)
7 h2 r1/3	–	Zambia	ZAM	3:11.35 (7 h2)	–	–
		Douglas Kalembo • Enock Musonda • Jonathan Chipalo • Samuel Matete
7 h3 r1/3	–	Botswana	BOT	3:13.16 (7 h3)	–	–
		Joe Ramotshabi • Bobby Gaseitsiwe • Benny Kgarametso • Sunday Maweni
8 h1 r1/3	–	Republic of Korea	KOR	3:14.71 (8 h1)	–	–
		Hwang Hong-Cheol • Yun Nam-Han • Yu Tae-Gyeong • Jo Jin-Saeng • Jang Jae-Geun (DNS) • Sim Deok-Seop (DNS)
DNS	–	Uganda	UGA	– (DNS h2)	–	–
		John Goville • Moses Musonge • Mike Okot • Sunday Olweny • Joseph Ssali

Round One (30 September 1988)

Top four in each heat and next four fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One (10:10)

Pos	Nr	Team	NOC	Time (A)	Split (Pos)
1	–	West Germany	FRG	3:03.90		Q
	375	Bodo Kuhn		47.07	47.07 (5)
	370	Mark Henrich		45.71	1:32.78 (1)
	394	Jörg Vaihinger		45.25	2:18.03 (1)
	377	Ralf Lübke		45.87	3:03.90 (1)
2	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:04.18		Q
	459	Brian Whittle		46.46	46.46 (2)
	424	Paul Harmsworth		46.46	1:32.92 (2)
	404	Todd Bennett		45.59	2:18.51 (2)
	408	Phil Brown		45.67	3:04.18 (2)
3	–	Japan	JPN	3:05.63		Q
	630	Hirofumi Koike		46.90	46.90 (4)
	644	Kenji Yamauchi		46.36	1:33.26 (5)
	629	Hiromi Kawasumi		46.80	2:20.06 (3)
	641	Susumu Takano		45.57	3:05.63 (3)
4	–	Australia	AUS	3:05.93		Q
	34	Robert Ballard		46.45	46.45 (1)
	39	Mark Garner		46.60	1:33.05 (3)
	43	Leigh Miller		47.22	2:20.27 (4)
	45	Miles Murphy		45.66	3:05.93 (4)
5	–	Barbados	BAR	3:06.03		q
	80	Seibert Straughn		47.49	47.49 (6)
	78	Richard Louis		45.72	1:33.21 (4)
	77	Allan Ince		47.37	2:20.58 (5)
	76	Elvis Forde		45.45	3:06.03 (5)
6	–	Sierra Leone	SLE	3:10.47
	913	Horace Dove-Edwin		46.47	46.47 (3)
	922	Felix Sandy		47.59	1:34.06 (6)
	915	Benjamin Grant		48.32	2:22.38 (6)
	914	David Sawyerr		48.09	3:10.47 (6)
7	–	Oman	OMA	3:12.89
	823	Sulaiman Juma Al-Habsi		48.48	48.48 (7)
	825	Mohamed Al-Malky		46.79	1:35.27 (7)
	824	Abdullah Salem Al-Khalidi		48.74	2:24.01 (7)
	822	Mansour Al-Baloushi		48.88	3:12.89 (7)
8	–	Republic of Korea	KOR	3:14.71
	684	Hwang Hong-Cheol		48.55	48.55 (8)
	704	Yun Nam-Han		47.22	1:35.77 (8)
	700	Yu Tae-Gyeong		48.42	2:24.19 (8)
	681	Jo Jin-Saeng		50.52	3:14.71 (8)

Heat Two (10:20)

Pos	Nr	Team	NOC	Time (A)	Split (Pos)
1	–	Jamaica	JAM	3:04.00		Q
	612	Howard Burnett		47.63	47.63 (5)
	620	Devon Morris		45.02	1:32.65 (1)
	616	Trevor Graham		45.73	2:18.38 (1)
	614	Howard Davis		45.62	3:04.00 (1)
2	–	Yugoslavia	YUG	3:05.62		Q
	1156	Branislav Karaulić		47.39	47.39 (=3)
	1160	Slobodan Popović		46.81	1:34.20 (=3)
	1155	Slobodan Branković		46.77	2:20.97 (=2)
	1159	Ismail Mačev		44.65	3:05.62 (2)
3	–	Portugal	POR	3:07.75		Q
	865	Paulo Curvelo		47.39	47.39 (=3)
	869	Filipe Lombá		46.81	1:34.20 (=3)
	855	António Abrantes		46.77	2:20.97 (=2)
	875	Álvaro Silva		46.78	3:07.75 (3)
4	–	East Germany	GDR	3:08.13		Q
	462	Jens Carlowitz		46.23	46.23 (1)
	478	Michael Schimmer		46.61	1:32.84 (2)
	477	Mathias Schersing		49.97	2:22.81 (4)
	480	Thomas Schönlebe		45.32	3:08.13 (4)
5	–	Canada	CAN	3:09.52		q
	156	John Graham		46.53	46.53 (2)
	154	Carl Folkes		49.20	1:35.73 (6)
	174	Paul Osland		47.66	2:23.39 (5)
	176	Anton Skerritt		46.13	3:09.52 (5)
6	–	Antigua and Barbuda	ANT	3:11.04
	25	Howard Lindsay		47.71	47.71 (6)
	21	Alfred Browne		47.80	1:35.51 (5)
	28	Oral Selkridge		48.47	2:23.98 (6)
	26	Larry Miller		47.06	3:11.04 (6)
7	–	Zambia	ZAM	3:11.35
	1168	Douglas Kalembo		48.18	48.18 (7)
	1170	Enock Musonda		48.43	1:36.61 (7)
	1167	Jonathan Chipalo		49.75	2:26.36 (7)
	1169	Samuel Matete		44.99	3:11.35 (7)
DNS	–	Uganda	UGA	–
	1017	John Goville (DNS)		–	– (–)
	1019	Moses Musonge (DNS)		–	– (–)
	1021	Mike Okot (DNS)		–	– (–)
	1022	Sunday Olweny (DNS)		–	– (–)

Heat Three (10:30)

Pos	Nr	Team	NOC	Time (A)	Split (Pos)
1	–	United States	USA	3:02.16		Q
	1135	Andrew Valmon		45.34	45.34 (1)
	1126	Kevin Robinzine		45.51	1:30.85 (1)
	1110	Antonio McKay		44.98	2:15.83 (1)
	1103	Steve Lewis		46.33	3:02.16 (1)
2	–	Kenya	KEN	3:05.21		Q
	672	Tito Sawe		46.90	46.90 (3)
	670	Lucas Sang		45.51	1:32.41 (2)
	651	Paul Ereng		46.58	2:18.99 (2)
	655	Simeon Kipkemboi		46.22	3:05.21 (2)
3	–	Nigeria	NGR	3:06.59		Q
	803	Sunday Uti		45.92	45.92 (2)
	802	Moses Ugbisien		46.83	1:32.75 (3)
	789	Henry Amike		46.41	2:19.16 (3)
	791	Innocent Egbunike		47.43	3:06.59 (3)
4	–	Senegal	SEN	3:06.93		Q
	900	Ousmane Diarra		47.64	47.64 (4)
	907	Babacar Niang		47.31	1:34.95 (5)
	903	Moussa Fall		46.09	2:21.04 (4)
	898	Amadou Dia Bâ		45.89	3:06.93 (4)
5	–	Côte d'Ivoire	CIV	3:07.40		q
	215	Akissi Kpidi		47.86	47.86 (5)
	216	Anatole Zongo Kuyo		46.79	1:34.65 (4)
	214	Lancine Fofana		47.71	2:22.36 (6)
	217	Gabriel Tiacoh		45.04	3:07.40 (5)
6	–	Pakistan	PAK	3:08.54		q
	1204	Bashir Ahmad		48.08	48.08 (6)
	1203	Muhammad Sadaqat		46.98	1:35.06 (6)
	829	Muhammad Afzal		46.93	2:21.99 (5)
	831	Muhammad Fayyaz		46.55	3:08.54 (6)
7	–	Botswana	BOT	3:13.16
	110	Joe Ramotshabi		49.22	49.22 (7)
	106	Bobby Gaseitsiwe		47.60	1:36.82 (7)
	107	Benny Kgarametso		48.76	2:25.58 (7)
	109	Sunday Maweni		47.58	3:13.16 (7)

Semi-Finals (30 September 1988)

Top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One (14:45)

Pos	Nr	Team	NOC	Time (A)	Split (Pos)
1	–	United States	USA	3:02.84		Q
	1135	Andrew Valmon		45.24	45.24 (1)
	1126	Kevin Robinzine		45.25	1:30.49 (1)
	1110	Antonio McKay		45.27	2:15.76 (1)
	1103	Steve Lewis		47.08	3:02.84 (1)
2	–	Kenya	KEN	3:03.24		Q
	672	Tito Sawe		46.60	46.60 (2)
	670	Lucas Sang		44.91	1:31.51 (2)
	651	Paul Ereng		46.37	2:17.88 (2)
	655	Simeon Kipkemboi		45.36	3:03.24 (2)
3	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:04.60		Q
	459	Brian Whittle		46.71	46.71 (3)
	402	Kriss Akabusi		44.85	1:31.56 (3)
	404	Todd Bennett		46.51	2:18.07 (3)
	408	Phil Brown		46.53	3:04.60 (3)
4	–	Australia	AUS	3:06.63		Q
	45	Miles Murphy		47.84	47.84 (6)
	39	Mark Garner		46.46	1:34.30 (6)
	34	Robert Ballard		46.43	2:20.73 (4)
	36	Darren Clark		45.90	3:06.63 (4)
5	–	Barbados	BAR	3:06.93
	80	Seibert Straughn		47.96	47.96 (7)
	78	Richard Louis		45.69	1:33.65 (4)
	77	Allan Ince		47.24	2:20.89 (5)
	76	Elvis Forde		46.04	3:06.93 (5)
6	–	Côte d'Ivoire	CIV	3:07.15
	215	Akissi Kpidi		47.54	47.54 (5)
	212	René Djédjémel		46.49	1:34.03 (5)
	213	Djétenan Kouadio		47.70	2:21.73 (7)
	217	Gabriel Tiacoh		45.42	3:07.15 (6)
7	–	Portugal	POR	3:07.75
	865	Paulo Curvelo		47.08	47.08 (4)
	869	Filipe Lombá		47.32	1:34.40 (7)
	855	António Abrantes		46.86	2:21.26 (6)
	875	Álvaro Silva		46.49	3:07.75 (7)
8	–	Canada	CAN	3:09.48
	156	John Graham		48.02	48.02 (8)
	154	Carl Folkes		47.50	1:35.52 (8)
	174	Paul Osland		47.78	2:23.30 (8)
	176	Anton Skerritt		46.18	3:09.48 (8)

Heat Two (14:55)

Pos	Nr	Team	NOC	Time (A)	Split (Pos)
1	–	East Germany	GDR	3:00.60		Q
	462	Jens Carlowitz		44.79	44.79 (1)
	472	Frank Möller		45.74	1:30.53 (1)
	477	Mathias Schersing		44.76	2:15.29 (1)
	480	Thomas Schönlebe		45.31	3:00.60 (1)
2	–	West Germany	FRG	3:00.66		Q
	365	Norbert Dobeleit		45.41	45.41 (3)
	370	Mark Henrich		45.56	1:30.97 (3)
	394	Jörg Vaihinger		44.88	2:15.85 (3)
	377	Ralf Lübke		44.81	3:00.66 (2)
3	–	Jamaica	JAM	3:00.94		Q
	616	Trevor Graham		46.13	46.13 (4)
	620	Devon Morris		45.24	1:31.37 (4)
	613	Bert Cameron		44.34	2:15.71 (2)
	614	Howard Davis		45.23	3:00.94 (3)
4	–	Nigeria	NGR	3:01.13		Q
	803	Sunday Uti		45.31	45.31 (2)
	802	Moses Ugbisien		45.57	1:30.88 (2)
	789	Henry Amike		45.63	2:16.51 (4)
	791	Innocent Egbunike		44.62	3:01.13 (4)
5	–	Yugoslavia	YUG	3:01.59
	1156	Branislav Karaulić		46.40	46.40 (5)
	1160	Slobodan Popović		45.35	1:31.75 (5)
	1155	Slobodan Branković		44.88	2:16.63 (5)
	1159	Ismail Mačev		44.96	3:01.59 (5)
6	–	Japan	JPN	3:03.80
	630	Hirofumi Koike		46.85	46.85 (6)
	644	Kenji Yamauchi		45.92	1:32.77 (6)
	629	Hiromi Kawasumi		45.90	2:18.67 (6)
	641	Susumu Takano		45.13	3:03.80 (6)
7	–	Senegal	SEN	3:07.19
	900	Ousmane Diarra		47.01	47.01 (7)
	907	Babacar Niang		46.89	1:33.90 (7)
	903	Moussa Fall		45.30	2:19.20 (7)
	898	Amadou Dia Bâ		47.99	3:07.19 (7)
8	–	Pakistan	PAK	3:09.50
	1204	Bashir Ahmad		47.89	47.89 (8)
	1203	Muhammad Sadaqat		46.63	1:34.52 (8)
	829	Muhammad Afzal		47.06	2:21.58 (8)
	831	Muhammad Fayyaz		47.92	3:09.50 (8)

Final (1 October 1988 — 15:00)

Pos	Nr	Team	NOC	Time (A)	Split (Pos)
1	–	United States	USA	2:56.16		=WR
	1088	Danny Everett		43.79	43.79 (1)
	1103	Steve Lewis		43.69	1:27.48 (1)
	1126	Kevin Robinzine		44.74	2:12.22 (1)
	1124	Butch Reynolds		43.94	2:56.16 (1)
2	–	Jamaica	JAM	3:00.30
	614	Howard Davis		45.05	45.05 (4)
	620	Devon Morris		44.90	1:29.95 (3)
	617	Winthrop Graham		45.80	2:15.75 (2)
	613	Bert Cameron		44.55	3:00.30 (2)
3	–	West Germany	FRG	3:00.56
	365	Norbert Dobeleit		45.30	45.30 (5)
	372	Edgar Itt		45.10	1:30.40 (4)
	394	Jörg Vaihinger		45.52	2:15.92 (3)
	377	Ralf Lübke		44.64	3:00.56 (3)
4	–	East Germany	GDR	3:01.13
	462	Jens Carlowitz		44.74	44.74 (2)
	477	Mathias Schersing		45.00	1:29.74 (2)
	472	Frank Möller		46.52	2:16.26 (4)
	480	Thomas Schönlebe		44.87	3:01.13 (4)
5	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:02.00
	459	Brian Whittle		45.70	45.70 (6)
	402	Kriss Akabusi		44.73	1:30.43 (5)
	404	Todd Bennett		46.13	2:16.56 (5)
	408	Phil Brown		45.44	3:02.00 (5)
6	–	Australia	AUS	3:02.49
	34	Robert Ballard		46.03	46.03 (7)
	39	Mark Garner		45.37	1:31.40 (8)
	45	Miles Murphy		46.58	2:17.98 (7)
	36	Darren Clark		44.51	3:02.49 (6)
7	–	Nigeria	NGR	3:02.50
	803	Sunday Uti		44.81	44.81 (3)
	802	Moses Ugbisien		45.76	1:30.57 (6)
	789	Henry Amike		46.06	2:16.63 (6)
	791	Innocent Egbunike		45.87	3:02.50 (7)
8	–	Kenya	KEN	3:04.69
	672	Tito Sawe		46.25	46.25 (8)
	670	Lucas Sang		45.08	1:31.33 (7)
	651	Paul Ereng		47.00	2:18.33 (8)
	655	Simeon Kipkemboi		46.36	3:04.69 (8)