1912 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 4 × 400 m (men)

sport	athletics
discipline	4 x 400 meter relay
gender	Men
Attendees	28 athletes from 7 countries
Competition location	Stockholm Olympic Stadium
Competition phase	July 14, 1912 (preliminary round) July 15, 1912 (final)
Medalist  United States  FRA  GBR

The men's 4 x 400 meter relay race at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm was held on July 14 and 15, 1912 in the Stockholm Olympic Stadium. 28 athletes took part.

This discipline was first performed at the Olympic Games. Although there had been a relay race as early as 1908 , the distances of the individual runners were different (200-200-400-800 m, so-called Olympic relay ).

The US relay was Olympic champion. Silver went to France. The British relay won the bronze medal.

Existing records

World record	USA Harry Schaaf , Harry Gissing , James Rosenberger , Mel Sheppard	3: 18.8 min	Colombes	November 16, 1911
Olympic record	Competition held for the first time	therefore no Olympic record yet	-	-

The world record, run by athletes from the Irish American Athletic Club , was subsequently recognized after the IAAF was founded in 1912.

Conducting the competition

A total of three preliminary runs were carried out on July 14th. The seasons that came in first qualified for the final on July 15th.

Note: The relays qualified for the next round are highlighted in light blue.

Prelims

Date: July 14, 1912

Forward 1

space	nation	occupation	time	annotation
1	Great Britain	George Nicol Ernest Henley James Soutter Cyril Seedhouse	3: 19.0 min	OR
2	Canada	Mel Brock John Howard Thomas Gallon John Tait	3: 22.2 min

Forward 2

space	nation	occupation	time	annotation
1	United States	Mel Sheppard Edward Lindberg Ted Meredith Charles Reidpath	3: 23.3 min
2	German Empire	Hanns Braun Max Herrmann Heinrich Burkowitz Erich Lehmann	3: 28.5 min

Forward 3

space	nation	occupation	time	annotation
1	France	Charles Lelong Robert Schurrer Pierre Failliot Charles Poulenard	3: 22.5 min
2	Sweden	Paul Zerling John Dahlin Eric Lindholm Knut Stenborg	3: 25.0 min
3	Hungary	Ervin Szerelemhegyi Ödön Bodor István Déván Frigyes Wiesner	3: 29.4 min

final

Scene from the finale: Lindberg (No. 37) switches to Meredith.

space	nation	occupation	time	annotation
1	United States	Mel Sheppard Edward Lindberg Ted Meredith Charles Reidpath	3: 16.6 min	WR
2	France	Charles Lelong Robert Schurrer Pierre Failliot Charles Poulenard	3: 20.7 min
3	Great Britain	George Nicol Ernest Henley James Soutter Cyril Seedhouse	3: 23.2 min

Date: July 15, 1912

The first Olympic final over 4 x 400 meters was contested by the relays of the USA, France and Great Britain. The USA was a huge favorite, three of the four runners had also taken part in the 400 meter final . Edward Lindberg had won the silver medal there, while his teammate Charles Reidpath won the Olympics. Ted Meredith, finished fourth over 400 meters and won gold over 800 meters . Mel Sheppard had made it to the semi-finals.

The US season fully lived up to its favorite position. She won with a new world record time , her lead at the finish was more than four seconds over the silver relay France. The British won the bronze medal.

Mel Sheppard, three-time Olympic champion from London, won his fourth gold medal here.

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896-1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, pp. 128f

Web links

• SportsReference 4x400m relay , accessed August 26, 2017
• Official report , English (PDF), accessed on August 26, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009 page 562 ( Memento from June 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (English)