1924 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	Stade de Colombes
Competition phase	July 12, 1924 (preliminary round) July 13, 1924 (final)
Medalist  United States  SWE  GBR

The men's 4 x 400 meter relay at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris was held on July 12 and 13, 1924 in the Stade de Colombes . 28 athletes took part in seven seasons.

The US relay became Olympic champion in a new world record time . The silver medal went to the Swedish relay, bronze to the British team.

Relays from Switzerland and Austria did not take part. German athletes were still excluded from the Olympic Games.

A special feature was that the round stadium in the Stade de Colombes was 500 meters long.

Existing records

World record	USA ( Mel Sheppard , Edward Lindberg , Ted Meredith , Charles Reidpath )	3: 16.6 min	Stockholm	July 15, 1912
Olympic record

Conducting the competition

The relays competed on July 12 for a total of three preliminary runs. The two best teams each qualified for the final on the next day, so only one team was eliminated. As with the qualification mode in other competitions, this regulation does not seem to be entirely consistent. In the two preliminary heats, each with two relays involved, it was clear from the start that the runners only had to cross the finish line to reach the final - no matter how slow they were. Only in the second heat, the only one with three seasons, the third-placed team was eliminated, even if it was faster than other teams in the further heats. That is exactly what happened here. Finland fell by the wayside, the slower seasons from Sweden, Canada and the USA, who had been able to spare themselves, reached the final.

Note: The qualified relays are highlighted in light blue.

Prelims

Date: July 12, 1924

Forward 1

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	France	Raymond Fritz Gaston Féry Francis Galtier Barthélémy Favodon	3: 30.0 min
2	Sweden	Artur Svensson Erik Byléhn Gustaf Wejnarth Nils Engdahl	3: 37.5 min

Forward 2

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	Great Britain	Edward Toms George Renwick Richard Ripley Guy Butler	3: 22.0 min
2	Italy	Guido Cominotto Luigi Facelli Alfredo Gargiullo Ennio Maffiolini	3: 30.0 min
3	Finland	Erik Åström Hirsch Drisin Eero Lehtonen Erik Wilén	3: 32.2 min

Forward 3

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	United States	Commodore Cochran William Stevenson Oliver MacDonald Alan Helffrich	3: 27.0 min
2	Canada	Horace Aylwin Alan Christie David Johnson William Maynes	3: 34.5 min

final

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	United States	Commodore Cochran William Stevenson Oliver MacDonald Alan Helffrich	3: 16.0 min	WR
2	Sweden	Artur Svensson Erik Byléhn Gustaf Wejnarth Nils Engdahl	3: 17.0 min
3	Great Britain	Edward Toms George Renwick Richard Ripley Guy Butler	3: 17.4 min
4th	Canada	Horace Aylwin Alan Christie David Johnson William Maynes	3: 22.8 min
5	France	Raymond Fritz Gaston Féry Francis Galtier Barthélémy Favodon	3: 23.4 min
6th	Italy	Guido Cominotto Luigi Facelli Alfredo Gargiullo Ennio Maffiolini	3: 28.0 min

Date: July 13, 1924

Great Britain was in the lead until the first change. However, the British had to do without their 400-meter Olympic champion Eric Liddell because the race took place on a Sunday and, like over 100 meters, he did not start on Sundays. Liddell, known to be a devout Christian, preached a sermon that day.

William Stephenson brought the US relay team as the second runner with a five meter lead. Oliver MacDonald and Alan Helffrich also continued the race for the United States at high speed. So the Americans won with a new world record time . The defending champions from Great Britain also had to let the Swedish team pass by, which was able to win the first Swedish medal in the 4 x 400 meter relay .

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896-1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, pp. 174f

Web links

• SportsReference 4 × 400 m , accessed September 7, 2017
• Official report p. 159, French. (PDF), accessed on September 7, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ^ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009 Page 562 ( Memento from June 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Official report ( Memento of the original from April 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. P. 159, french (PDF) 
3. ↑ SportsReference (Eng.)