1948 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 4 × 400 m (men)

sport	athletics
discipline	4 x 400 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  FRA  SWE

The men's 4-by-400-meter relay at the 1948 Olympic Games in London was held on August 6 and 7, 1948 at Wembley Stadium . 60 athletes took part.

The US relay won the gold medal. Silver went to the French relay, bronze to Sweden.

Existing records

• World record : 3: 08.2 min - USA ( Ivan Fuqua , Edgar Ablowich , Karl Warner , Bill Carr ), Los Angeles , August 7, 1932
• Olympic record : 3: 08.2 min - USA ( Ivan Fuqua , Edgar Ablowich , Karl Warner , Bill Carr ), Berlin final , August 7, 1932

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, 5:30 p.m.

Forward 1

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	United States	Roy Cochran Cliff Bourland Arthur Harnden Mal Whitfield	3: 12.6 min
2	Italy	Gianni Rocca Ottavio Missoni Luigi Paterlini Antonio Siddi	3: 14.0 min
3	Great Britain	Leslie Lewis Derek Pugh Martin Pike Bill Roberts	3: 14.2 min
4th	Switzerland	Oskar Hardmeier Walter Keller Max Trepp Karl Volkmer	3: 23.0 min
DSQ	Ireland	Charles Denroche Reggie Myles Paul Dolan Jimmy Reardon

Forward 2

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	Jamaica	George Rhoden Leslie Laing Arthur Wint Herb McKenley	3: 14.0 min
2	France	Jean Kerebel Francis Schewetta Robert Chef d'Hôtel Jacques Lunis	3: 17.0 min
3	Canada	Ernie McCullough Bill LaRochelle Don McFarlane Bob McFarlane	3: 19.0 min
4th	Chile	Carlos Silva Jaime Itlmann Sergio Guzmán Gustavo Ehlers	3: 23.8 min
5	Turkey	Seydi Dinçtürk Rıza Maksut İşman Doğan Acarbay Kemal Horulu	3: 35.0 min

Forward 3

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	Finland	Tauno Suvanto Olavi Talja Runar Holmberg Bertel Storskrubb	3: 20.6 min
2	Sweden	Kurt Lundquist Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt Folke Alnevik Rune Larsson	3: 21.0 min
3	Argentina	Antonio Pocoví Hermelindo Alberti Guillermo Evans Guillermo Avalos	3: 21.2 min
4th	Yugoslavia	Jerko Bulić Marko Račič Aleksandar Ćosić Zvonko Sabolović	3: 25.4 min
5	Greece	Vasilios Mavroidis Lazaros Petropoulakis Stefanos Petrakis Stylianos Stratakos	3: 33.0 min

final

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	United States	Roy Cochran Cliff Bourland Arthur Harnden Mal Whitfield	3: 10.4 min
2	France	Jean Kerebel Francis Schewetta Robert Chef d'Hôtel Jacques Lunis	3: 14.8 min
3	Sweden	Kurt Lundquist Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt Folke Alnevik Rune Larsson	3: 16.0 min
4th	Finland	Tauno Suvanto Olavi Talja Runar Holmberg Bertel Storskrubb	3: 24.8 min
DNF	Jamaica	George Rhoden Leslie Laing Arthur Wint Herb McKenley
	Italy	Gianni Rocca Ottavio Missoni Luigi Paterlini Antonio Siddi

August 7, 1948, 4:50 p.m.

In the final, a duel between the seasons of Jamaica and the USA was expected. In fact, at the second change, the Americans were more than ten meters ahead of Jamaica, which had started with the 400-meter winner Arthur Wint and the world record holder Herb McKenley. Wint was the third runner to suffer an injury while trying to make up and had to give up. The US relay won with a lead of over four seconds on France. Sweden won the bronze medal.

For the US season it was the fifth gold medal in the seventh season finale.

literature

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

Web links

• SportsReference 4 × 400 m
• Official Report, page 259

Individual evidence

1. ^ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009 Page 562 ( 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.)