1928 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 4 × 100 m (men)

sport	athletics
discipline	4 x 100 meter relay
gender	Men
Attendees	52 athletes from 13 countries
Competition location	Olympic Stadium Amsterdam
Competition phase	August 4th, 1928 (preliminary) August 5th, 1928 (final)
Medalist  United States  DEU  GBR

The men's 4 x 100 meter relay at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam was held on August 4th and 5th, 1928 in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam . 52 athletes took part in 13 relays.

The gold medal was won by the US season with the cast of Frank Wykoff , James Quinn , Charles Borah and Henry Russell . Silver went to Germany with Georg Lammers , Richard Corts , Hubert Houben and Helmut Körnig , bronze to Great Britain with Cyril Gill , Edward Smouha , Walter Rangeley and Jack London .

Existing records

• World record : 41.0 s - USA ( Louis Clarke , Frank Hussey , Al LeConey , Loren Murchison ), Paris , July 13, 1924 / Newark AC ( Chester Bowman , John Currie , James Pappas , Henry Cumming ), Lincoln (Nebraska) , 13. July 1924 (over 4 × 110 yards ) / Eintracht Frankfurt ( Ernst Geerling , Friedrich-Wilhelm Wichmann , Adolf Metzner , Hans Salz ), Halle (Saale) , June 10, 1928
• Olympic record : 41.0 s - USA ( Louis Clarke , Frank Hussey , Al LeConey , Loren Murchison ), first semifinals and final in Paris , July 13, 1924

Conducting the competition

The relays competed on August 4 for three preliminary races. The two best teams each qualified for the final, which took place on August 5th.

Note: The qualified relays are highlighted in light blue.

Prelims

Date: August 4, 1928

Not all times have been passed down.

Forward 1

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	Canada	Ralph Adams John Fitzpatrick George Hester Percy Williams	42.2 s
2	Great Britain	Cyril Gill Edward Smouha Walter Rangeley Jack London	43.5 s
3	Italy	Giuseppe Castelli Franco Reyser Edgardo Toetti Enrico Torre	k. A.
4th	Greece	Vangelis Moiropoulos Konstantinos Petridis Angelos Lambrou Renos Frangoudis	44.0 s
5	Spain	Juan Serrahima Diego Ordóñez Fernando Muñagorri Enrique de Chávarri	k. A.

Forward 2

The German season on a trading card: Lammers, Cortz, Houben and Körnig (from left to right)

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	France	André Cerbonney Gilbert Auvergne André Dufau André Mourlon	41.8 s
2	German Empire	Georg Lammers Richard Corts Hubert Houben Helmut Körnig	k. A.
3	Belgium	Paul Brochart Fred Zinner Adolphe Groscol Willy Dujardin	k. A.

Forward 3

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	United States	Frank Wykoff James Quinn Charles Borah Henry Russell	41.8 s
2	Switzerland	Emmanuel Goldsmith Willy Weibel Willy Tschopp Hans Niggl	42.6 s
3	Japan	Iwao Aizawa Seichichi Inuma Shigetoshi Osawa Nambu Chūhei	42.6 s
4th	Turkey	Semih Türkdoğan Şinasi Şahingiray Haydar Aşan Mehmet Ali Aybar	k. A.
DSQ	Hungary	Ferenc Gerő János Paizs István Sugár István Raggambi

final

Crossing the finish line of the final: final runner Henry Russell (right) ahead of Helmut Körnig (left)

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	United States	Frank Wykoff James Quinn Charles Borah Henry Russell	41.0 s	WRe
2	German Empire	Georg Lammers Richard Corts Hubert Houben Helmut Körnig	41.2 s
3	Great Britain	Cyril Gill Edward Smouha Walter Rangeley Jack London	41.8 s
4th	France	André Cerbonney Gilbert Auvergne André Dufau André Mourlon	42.0 s
5	Switzerland	Emmanuel Goldsmith Willy Weibel Willy Tschopp Hans Niggl	42.6 s
DSQ	Canada	Ralph Adams John Fitzpatrick George Hester Percy Williams

Date: August 5, 1928

The US and German relay teams were considered favorites. In fact, there was an exciting duel between these two teams. The first three German runners had gained a clear lead with excellent individual performances and good to very good changes. The last change from Hubert Houben to Helmut Körnig, however, failed. Kornig started a little too early and had to stop in order not to overrun the change mark. This is how the USA came up and overtook the German quartet. Körnig was able to make up ground on the home stretch against Henry Russell, but it wasn't enough to win. The USA set the existing world record with 41.0 s , Germany was two tenths of a second behind and bronze went to the British with 41.8 s.

The USA won the 4 x 100 meter relay for the third time in a row .
For Germany it was the first medal in this discipline.

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896-1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, pp. 211f

Web links

• SportsReference 4 × 100 m relay , accessed on September 13, 2017
• Official report pp. 463–464, engl. (PDF), accessed on September 13, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009, page 561 ( Memento from June 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
2. ^ Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896-1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, pp. 211f