1948 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 4 × 100 m (men)

sport	athletics
discipline	4 x 100 meter relay
gender	Men
Attendees	60 athletes from 15 countries
Competition location	Wembley Stadium
Competition phase	August 6, 1948 (preliminary) August 7, 1948 (final)
Medalist  United States  GBR  ITA

The men's 4 x 100 meter relay at the 1948 Olympic Games in London was played on August 6 and 7, 1948 at Wembley Stadium . 60 athletes took part.

The US relay won the gold medal. Silver went to the British relay, bronze to Italy.

Existing records

• World record : 39.8 s - USA ( Jesse Owens , Ralph Metcalfe , Foy Draper , Frank Wykoff ), Berlin , August 9, 1936
• Olympic record : 39.8 s - USA ( Jesse Owens , Ralph Metcalfe , Foy Draper , Frank Wykoff ), Berlin final , August 9, 1936

Conducting the competition

There were three preliminary runs on August 6th. The two best seasons qualified for the final on August 7th

Note: The qualified relays are highlighted in light blue.

Prelims

August 6, 1948, 4 p.m.

Forward 1

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	United States	Barney Ewell Lorenzo Wright Harrison Dillard Mel Patton	41.1 s
2	Italy	Michele Tito Enrico Perucconi Carlo Monti Antonio Siddi	41.3 s
3	Brazil	Rosalvo Ramos Hélio da Silva Aroldo da Silva Ivan Hausen	42.4 s
DSQ	Turkey	Kemal Aksur Erdal Barkay Raşit Öztaş Ruhi Sarıalp

Forward 2

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	Great Britain	Alastair McCorquodale John Gregory Ken Jones John Archer	41.4 s
2	Hungary	Ferenc Tima László Bartha György Csányi Béla Goldoványi	41.4 s
3	Australia	Bill Bruce John Bartram Morris Curotta John Treloar	41.5 s
4th	Uruguay	Mario Fayos Juan López Walter Pérez Hércules Azcune	42.8 s
5	Bermuda	Hazzard Dill Perry Johnson Stanley Lines Frank Mahoney	45.4 s
DNF	Belgium	Fernand Bourgaux Pol Braekman Fernand Linssen Isidoor Van De Wiele

Forward 3

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	Netherlands	Jan Lammers Jan Meijer Gabe Scholten Jo Zwaan	41.7 s
2	Canada	Don McFarlane James O'Brien Donald Pettie Ted Haggis	42.3 s
3	Argentina	Gerardo Bönnhoff Alberto Biedermann Carlos Isaac Fernando Lapuente	42.4 s
4th	Iceland	Ásmundur Bjarnason Finnbjörn Þorvaldsson Trausti Eyjólfson Haukur Clausen	42.9 s
DNF	France	Alain Porthault Marc Litaudon Julien Lebas René Valmy

final

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	United States	Barney Ewell Lorenzo Wright Harrison Dillard Mel Patton	40.6 s
2	Great Britain	Alastair McCorquodale John Gregory Ken Jones John Archer	41.3 s
3	Italy	Michele Tito Enrico Perucconi Carlo Monti Antonio Siddi	41.5 s
4th	Hungary	Ferenc Tima László Bartha György Csányi Béla Goldoványi	41.6 s
5	Canada	Don McFarlane James O'Brien Donald Pettie Ted Haggis	41.9 s
6th	Netherlands	Jan Lammers Jan Meijer Gabe Scholten Jo Zwaan	41.9 s

August 7, 1948, 3:30 p.m.

The US team was considered the favorite. However, a change in the line-up had to be made. Edward Conwell had asthma and was replaced by Lorenzo Wright. The final victory of the US season was not officially confirmed until three days later. First there was a disqualification due to a faulty replacement (Barney Ewell to Lorenzo Wright). After studying film recordings of the race, the disqualification was withdrawn because the change had taken place within the transition area and therefore no rule violation occurred.

The US season win was the sixth win in a row in the seventh race.

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 2: 1948–1968, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 1st edition 1969, p. 43

Web links

• 4 × 100 m , accessed on August 21, 2017
• Official report page 258, engl. (PDF), accessed on August 21, 2017
• Team USA Sprints To 4x100m Rellay Olympic Gold - London 1948 Olympics , published May 17, 2013 on youtube.com, accessed August 21, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009, page 561 ( Memento from June 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
2. ^ Official report "Athletic Timetable" page 241
3. ^ Official report "Athletic Timetable" page 241, engl. (PDF)
4. ↑ SportsReference (Eng.)