| | Event type

4 × 400 metres Relay, Men

Date	6 – 7 August 1948
Status	Olympic
Location	Empire Stadium, Wembley, London
Participants	60 from 15 countries
Olympic Record	3:08.2 WR / Ivan Fuqua • Ed Ablowich • Karl Warner • Bill Carr USA / 7 August 1932 / Details

The final was thought to be a shoot-out between Jamaica and the United States, with Jamaica led by 400 champion Arthur Wint and 400 world record holder Herb McKenley. However, Art Harnden and Cliff Bourland gave the USA a 10-metre lead. Wint took over on the third leg for Jamaica but pulled a muscle and fell to the track, leaving the US unchallenged on the way to the gold medal.

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	–	United States	USA	3:12.6 (1 h1)	3:10.4 (1)	Gold
		Art Harnden • Cliff Bourland • Roy Cochran • Mal Whitfield • Dick Ault (DNS) • Dave Bolen (DNS) • Bob Chambers (DNS) • George Guida (DNS)
2	–	France	FRA	3:17.0 (2 h2)	3:14.8 (2)	Silver
		Jean Kérébel • Francis Schewetta • Robert Chef d'Hôtel • Jacques Lunis • Jean-Claude Arifon (DNS) • Raymond Crapet (DNS) • Yves Cros (DNS) • Gaston Mayordomo (DNS)
3	–	Sweden	SWE	3:21.0 (2 h3)	3:16.0 (3)	Bronze
		Kurt Lundquist • Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt • Folke Alnevik • Rune Larsson • Ingvar Bengtsson (DNS) • Alf Westman (DNS)
4	–	Finland	FIN	3:20.6 (1 h3)	3:24.8 (4)
		Tauno Suvanto • Olavi Talja • Runar Holmberg • Bebbe Storskrubb
AC r2/2	–	Italy	ITA	3:14.0 (2 h1)	– (DNF)
		Gianni Rocca • Ottavio Missoni • Luigi Paterlini • Antonio Siddi • Luciano Noferini (DNS) • Gilberto Palazzi (DNS) • Baldassare Porto (DNS)
AC r2/2	–	Jamaica	JAM	3:14.0 (1 h2)	– (DNF)
		George Rhoden • Les Laing • Arthur Wint • Herb McKenley
3 h1 r1/2	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:14.2 (3 h1)	–
		Les Lewis • Derek Pugh • Martin Pike • Bill Roberts • Tom Collier (DNS) • Ken Crowe (DNS) • David Mackenzie (DNS) • Terry Higgins (DNS)
3 h2 r1/2	–	Canada	CAN	3:19.0 (3 h2)	–
		Ernie McCullough • Bill LaRochelle • Don McFarlane • Bob McFarlane • Jack Parry (DNS) • Ezra Henniger (DNS) • Jack Hutchins (DNS) • Bill Parnell (DNS)
3 h3 r1/2	–	Argentina	ARG	3:21.2 (3 h3)	–
		Antonio Pocoví • Hermelindo Alberti • Guillermo Evans • Guillermo Ávalos • Rodolfo Carrera (DNS) • Gerardo Bönnhoff (DNS) • Adán Torres (DNS) • Alberto Triulzi (DNS)
4 h1 r1/2	–	Switzerland	SUI	3:23.0 (4 h1)	–
		Oskar Hardmeier • Walter Keller • Max Trepp • Karl Volkmer • Hans Streuli (DNS)
4 h2 r1/2	–	Chile	CHI	3:23.8 (4 h2)	–
		Carlos Silva • Jaime Itlman • Sergio Guzmán • Gustavo Ehlers • Alberto Labarthe (DNS)
4 h3 r1/2	–	Yugoslavia	YUG	3:25.4 (4 h3)	–
		Jerko Bulić • Marko Račič • Aleksandar Ćosić • Zvonko Sabolović • Igor Zupančić (DNS)
5 h2 r1/2	–	Turkey	TUR	3:35.0 (5 h2)	–
		Seydi Dinçtürk • Rıza Maksut İşman • Doğan Acarbay • Kemal Horulu • Cahit Önel (DNS)
5 h3 r1/2	–	Greece	GRE	3:33.0 (5 h3)	–
		Vasilios Mavroidis • Lazaros Petropoulakis • Stefanos Petrakis • Stylianos Stratakos • Georgios Karageorgos (DNS) • Kyros Marinis (DNS)
AC h1 r1/2	–	Ireland	IRL	– (DQ h1)	–
		Charlie Denroche • Reggie Myles • Paul Dolan • Jimmy Reardon • Cormac Ó Cléirigh (DNS)
DNS	–	Australia	AUS	–	–
		John Bartram • Morris Curotta • Charles Green • Bill Ramsay • John Treloar • Ray Weinberg
DNS	–	Iceland	ISL	–	–
		Páll Halldórsson • Magnús Jónsson • Haukur Clausen • Reynir Sigurðsson

Round One

Date	6 August 1948 — 17:30
Format	Top 2 in each heat advanced to the final round.

Pos	Team	NOC	Time (hand)	Time (hand)
1	United States	USA	3:12.6	3:12.6	Q
=2	Italy	ITA	3:14.0	3:14.0	Q
=2	Jamaica	JAM	3:14.0	3:14.0	Q
4	Great Britain	GBR	3:14.2	3:14.2
5	France	FRA	3:17.0	3:17.0	Q
6	Canada	CAN	3:19.0	3:19.0
7	Finland	FIN	3:20.7	3:20.7	Q
8	Sweden	SWE	3:21.0	3:21.0	Q
9	Argentina	ARG	3:21.2	3:21.2
10	Switzerland	SUI	3:23.0	3:23.0
11	Chile	CHI	3:23.8	3:23.8
12	Yugoslavia	YUG	3:25.4	3:25.4
13	Greece	GRE	3:33.0	3:33.0
14	Turkey	TUR	3:35.0	3:35.0
DQ	Ireland	IRL	–	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	1	United States	USA	3:12.6	3:12.6	Q
Lead-Off	660	Art Harnden		–	–
2nd Leg	91	Cliff Bourland		–	–
3rd Leg	339	Roy Cochran		–	–
Anchor	136	Mal Whitfield		–	–
2	5	Italy	ITA	3:14.0	–	Q
Lead-Off	658	Gianni Rocca		–	–
2nd Leg	331	Ottavio Missoni		–	–
3rd Leg	656	Luigi Paterlini		–	–
Anchor	636	Antonio Siddi		–	–
3	2	Great Britain	GBR	3:14.2	–
Lead-Off	116	Les Lewis		–	–
2nd Leg	117	Derek Pugh		–	–
3rd Leg	649	Martin Pike		–	–
Anchor	118	Bill Roberts		–	–
4	4	Switzerland	SUI	3:23.0	–
Lead-Off	129	Oskar Hardmeier		–	–
2nd Leg	130	Walter Keller		–	–
3rd Leg	131	Max Trepp		–	–
Anchor	167	Karl Volkmer		–	–
DQ	3	Ireland	IRL	–	–
Lead-Off	640	Charlie Denroche		–	–
2nd Leg	642	Reggie Myles		–	–
3rd Leg	641	Paul Dolan		–	–
Anchor	107	Jimmy Reardon		–	–

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	3	Jamaica	JAM	3:14.0	3:14.0	Q
Lead-Off	52	George Rhoden		–	–
2nd Leg	50	Les Laing		–	–
3rd Leg	122	Arthur Wint		–	–
Anchor	90	Herb McKenley		–	–
2	2	France	FRA	3:17.0	–	Q
Lead-Off	644	Jean Kérébel		–	–
2nd Leg	113	Francis Schewetta		–	–
3rd Leg	152	Robert Chef d'Hôtel		–	–
Anchor	112	Jacques Lunis		–	–
3	1	Canada	CAN	3:19.0	–
Lead-Off	97	Ernie McCullough		–	–
2nd Leg	321	Bill LaRochelle		–	–
3rd Leg	99	Don McFarlane		–	–
Anchor	98	Bob McFarlane		–	–
4	5	Chile	CHI	3:23.8	–
Lead-Off	24	Carlos Silva		–	–
2nd Leg	101	Jaime Itlman		–	–
3rd Leg	322	Sergio Guzmán		–	–
Anchor	100	Gustavo Ehlers		–	–
5	6	Turkey	TUR	3:35.0	–
Lead-Off	169	Seydi Dinçtürk		–	–
2nd Leg	170	Rıza Maksut İşman		–	–
3rd Leg	132	Doğan Acarbay		–	–
Anchor	133	Kemal Horulu		–	–

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	6	Finland	FIN	3:20.6	3:20.7	Q
Lead-Off	110	Tauno Suvanto		–	–
2nd Leg	109	Olavi Talja		–	–
3rd Leg	108	Runar Holmberg		–	–
Anchor	324	Bebbe Storskrubb		–	–
2	1	Sweden	SWE	3:21.0	–	Q
Lead-Off	127	Kurt Lundquist		–	–
2nd Leg	659	Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt		–	–
3rd Leg	126	Folke Alnevik		–	–
Anchor	128	Rune Larsson		–	–
3	4	Argentina	ARG	3:21.2	–
Lead-Off	94	Antonio Pocoví		–	–
2nd Leg	320	Hermelindo Alberti		–	–
3rd Leg	93	Guillermo Evans		–	–
Anchor	140	Guillermo Ávalos		–	–
4	5	Yugoslavia	YUG	3:25.4	–
Lead-Off	137	Jerko Bulić		–	–
2nd Leg	138	Marko Račič		–	–
3rd Leg	661	Aleksandar Ćosić		–	–
Anchor	139	Zvonko Sabolović		–	–
5	3	Greece	GRE	3:33.0	–
Lead-Off	154	Vasilios Mavroidis		–	–
2nd Leg	303	Lazaros Petropoulakis		–	–
3rd Leg	38	Stefanos Petrakis		–	–
Anchor	114	Stylianos Stratakos		–	–

Final Round

Date	7 August 1948 — 16:50

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)	Split Time	Exchange Time
1	–	United States	USA	3:10.4	3:10.40	–	–
Lead-Off	660	Art Harnden		–	–	48.0	–
2nd Leg	91	Cliff Bourland		–	–	47.3	1:35.3
3rd Leg	339	Roy Cochran		–	–	47.8	2:23.1
Anchor	136	Mal Whitfield		–	–	47.3	–
2	–	France	FRA	3:14.8	3:15.11	–	–
Lead-Off	644	Jean Kérébel		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	113	Francis Schewetta		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	152	Robert Chef d'Hôtel		–	–	–	–
Anchor	112	Jacques Lunis		–	–	–	–
3	–	Sweden	SWE	3:16.0	3:16.49	–	–
Lead-Off	127	Kurt Lundquist		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	659	Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	126	Folke Alnevik		–	–	–	–
Anchor	128	Rune Larsson		–	–	–	–
4	–	Finland	FIN	3:24.8	3:24.85	–	–
Lead-Off	110	Tauno Suvanto		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	109	Olavi Talja		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	108	Runar Holmberg		–	–	–	–
Anchor	324	Bebbe Storskrubb		–	–	–	–
DNF	–	Jamaica	JAM	–	–	–	–
Lead-Off	52	George Rhoden		–	–	48.1	–
2nd Leg	50	Les Laing		–	–	48.5	1:36.6
3rd Leg	122	Arthur Wint		–	–	–	–
Anchor	90	Herb McKenley		–	–	–	–
DNF	–	Italy	ITA	–	–	–	–
Lead-Off	658	Gianni Rocca		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	331	Ottavio Missoni		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	656	Luigi Paterlini		–	–	–	–
Anchor	636	Antonio Siddi		–	–	–	–