| Date | 22 – 23 August 1920 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Olympisch Stadion, Antwerpen |
| Participants | 24 from 6 countries |
| Olympic Record | 3:16.6 WR / Mel Sheppard • Ed Lindberg • Ted Meredith • Charles Reidpath  USA / 15 July 1912 / Details |
The British team was the favorite and won with ease. Bevil Rudd, who had won the 400 earlier in the Games, ran a great anchor lap for South Africa to bring Britain’s margin of victory to less than a second. There were only six teams entered but, for some reason, the officials conducted two semi-finals with three teams in each. All teams in the semi-finals advanced to the final, in what were surely the most meaningless semi-finals in Olympic history.
| Pos | Number | Competitors | NOC | R1 | Final | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Great Britain |  GBR | 3:40.9est / at 15 metres (2 h1) | 3:22.2 (1) | Gold | |||||
| Cecil Griffiths • Robert Lindsay • John Ainsworth-Davis • Guy Butler | |||||||||||
| 2 | – | South Africa |  RSA | 3:43.6 (1 h2) | 3:23.4est / at 8 metres (2) | Silver | |||||
| Henry Dafel • Clarence Oldfield • Jack Oosterlaak • Bevil Rudd | |||||||||||
| 3 | – | France 1 |  FRA | 3:46.6est / at 40 metres (3 h1) | – | Bronze | |||||
| Géo André • Gaston Féry • Maurice Delvart • André Devaux | |||||||||||
| 4 | – | United States | USA | 3:45est / at 12 metres (2 h2) | 3:24.4est / at 1 metre (4) | ||||||
| George Schiller • George Bretnall • Ted Meredith • Frank Shea | |||||||||||
| 5 | – | Sweden |  SWE | 3:51est / at 50 metres (3 h2) | 3:25.8est / at 8 metres (5) | ||||||
| Sven Krokström • Sven Malm • Eric Sundblad • Nils Engdahl | |||||||||||
| 6 | – | Belgium |  BEL | 3:38.8 (1 h1) | 3:28est / at 25 metres (6) | ||||||
| Jules Migeot • Omer Corteyn • Omer Smet • François Morren | |||||||||||
| – | France 2 | FRA | – | – | |||||||
| Maurice Mercery • Jean Guichard • Roger Biget • Eugène Bayon | |||||||||||
| – | Italy |  ITA | – (DNS h1) | – | |||||||
| – | Luxembourg |  LUX | – (DNS h1) | – | |||||||
| – | Czechoslovakia |  TCH | – (DNS h1) | – | |||||||
| – | Canada |  CAN | – (DNS h2) | – | |||||||
| – | Japan |  JPN | – (DNS h2) | – | |||||||
| Date | 22 August 1920 — 10:50 |
|---|---|
| Format | Top 3 teams in each heat advanced to the final round. |
| Pos | Number | Competitors | NOC | Time (Hand) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Belgium | BEL | 3:38.8 | ||
| Lead-Off | 38 | Jules Migeot | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | 11 | Omer Corteyn | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | 52 | Omer Smet | – | |||
| Anchor | 39 | François Morren | – | |||
| 2 | – | Great Britain | GBR | 3:40.9est / at 15 metres | ||
| Lead-Off | 392 | Cecil Griffiths | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | 407 | Robert Lindsay | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | 376 | John Ainsworth-Davis | – | |||
| Anchor | 382 | Guy Butler | – | |||
| 3 | – | France 1 | FRA | 3:46.6est / at 40 metres | ||
| Lead-Off | 311 | Maurice Delvart | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | 313 | André Devaux | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | 294 | Géo André | – | |||
| Anchor | 324 | Gaston Féry | – | |||
| – | Italy | ITA | – | |||
| – | Luxembourg | LUX | – | |||
| – | Czechoslovakia | TCH | – |
| Pos | Number | Competitors | NOC | Time (Hand) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | South Africa | RSA | 3:43.6 | ||
| Lead-Off | 551 | Henry Dafel | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | 558 | Clarence Oldfield | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | 559 | Jack Oosterlaak | – | |||
| Anchor | 561 | Bevil Rudd | – | |||
| 2 | – | United States | USA | 3:45est / at 12 metres | ||
| Lead-Off | 235 | George Schiller | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | 203 | Ted Meredith | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | 138 | George Bretnall | – | |||
| Anchor | 234 | Frank Shea | – | |||
| 3 | – | Sweden | SWE | 3:51est / at 50 metres | ||
| Lead-Off | 597 | Sven Krokström | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | 610 | Sven Malm | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | 622 | Eric Sundblad | – | |||
| Anchor | 576 | Nils Engdahl | – | |||
| – | Canada | CAN | – | |||
| – | Japan | JPN | – |
| Date | 23 August 1920 — 15:00 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitors | NOC | Time (Hand) | Individual Split Time | Cumulative Split Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Great Britain | GBR | 3:22.2 | – | – | ||
| Lead-Off | 392 | Cecil Griffiths | – | 50.6 | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | 407 | Robert Lindsay | – | 50.6 | 1:41.2 | |||
| 3rd Leg | 376 | John Ainsworth-Davis | – | 51.0 | 2:32.2 | |||
| Anchor | 382 | Guy Butler | – | 50.0 | – | |||
| 2 | – | South Africa | RSA | 3:23.4est / at 8 metres | – | – | ||
| Lead-Off | 551 | Henry Dafel | – | – | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | 558 | Clarence Oldfield | – | – | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | 559 | Jack Oosterlaak | – | – | – | |||
| Anchor | 561 | Bevil Rudd | – | – | – | |||
| 3 | – | France | FRA | 3:24.2 | – | – | ||
| Lead-Off | 311 | Maurice Delvart | – | – | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | 313 | André Devaux | – | – | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | 294 | Géo André | – | – | – | |||
| Anchor | 324 | Gaston Féry | – | – | – | |||
| 4 | – | United States | USA | 3:24.4est / at 1 metre | – | – | ||
| Lead-Off | 235 | George Schiller | – | – | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | 203 | Ted Meredith | – | – | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | 138 | George Bretnall | – | – | – | |||
| Anchor | 234 | Frank Shea | – | – | – | |||
| 5 | – | Sweden | SWE | 3:25.8est / at 8 metres | – | – | ||
| Lead-Off | 597 | Sven Krokström | – | – | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | 610 | Sven Malm | – | – | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | 622 | Eric Sundblad | – | – | – | |||
| Anchor | 576 | Nils Engdahl | – | – | – | |||
| 6 | – | Belgium | BEL | 3:28est / at 25 metres | – | – | ||
| Lead-Off | 38 | Jules Migeot | – | – | – | |||
| 2nd Leg | 11 | Omer Corteyn | – | – | – | |||
| 3rd Leg | 52 | Omer Smet | – | – | – | |||
| Anchor | 39 | François Morren | – | – | – |
