| | Event type

4 × 100 metres Relay, Men

Date	30 November – 1 December 1956
Status	Olympic
Location	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria
Participants	72 from 18 countries

Led by Bobby Joe Morrow, who had won the 100 and 200, the US was expected to win, and posted the fastest times in the first round and semi-final. The first two US runners, Ira Murchison and Leamon King, opened a big lead on the Soviets but a poor handoff to Thane Baker allowed them to draw almost even. Baker ran a good curve, however, and Morrow received the stick slightly ahead. He had a thigh injury and was not as strong as he had been in the individual events but held on to win the gold for the US. The USSR finished second in a new European record.

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	–	United States	USA	40.5 (1 h1)	40.3 (1 h1)	39.5 (1)	Gold	WR
		Ira Murchison • Leamon King • Thane Baker • Bobby Joe Morrow • John Bennett (DNS) • Lee Calhoun (DNS) • Jack Davis (DNS) • Andy Stanfield (DNS)
2	–	Soviet Union	URS	40.7 (1 h3)	40.3 (1 h2)	39.8 (2)	Silver
		Leonid Bartenev • Boris Tokarev • Yury Konovalov • Vladimir Sukharev • Yury Bashlikov (DNS) • Ardalion Ignatyev (DNS)
3	–	Unified Team of Germany	GER	40.8 (3 h2)	40.5 (2 h2)	40.3 (3)	Bronze
		Lothar Knörzer • Leo Pohl • Heinz Fütterer • Manfred Germar • Bert Steines (DNS)
4	–	Italy	ITA	40.9 (2 h3)	41.1 (3 h1)	40.3 (4)
		Franco Galbiati • Giovanni Ghiselli • Luigi Gnocchi • Vincenzo Lombardo • Mario Colarossi (DNS) • Sergio D'Asnasch (DNS)
5	–	Great Britain	GBR	41.2 (2 h1)	40.6 (3 h2)	40.6 (5)
		Ken Box • Roy Sandstrom • David Segal • Brian Shenton • Peter Higgins (DNS) • Peter Hildreth (DNS) • Jack Parker (DNS) • Mike Wheeler (DNS)
6	–	Poland	POL	40.9 (1 h4)	41.0 (2 h1)	40.6 (6)
		Marian Foik • Jan Jarzembowski • Edward Szmidt • Zenon Baranowski • Henryk Grabowski (DNS) • Kazimierz Kropidłowski (DNS)
4 h1 r2/3	–	France	FRA	40.8 (2 h2)	41.3 (4 h1)	–
		René Bonino • Konstantin Lissenko • Jocelyn Delecour • Alain David • Yves Camus (DNS) • Jacques Degats (DNS) • Edmond Roudnitska (DNS) • Abdou Sèye (DNS)
4 h2 r2/3	–	Australia	AUS	40.6 (1 h2)	40.8 (4 h2)	–
		Gavin Carragher • Ted McGlynn • Ray Land • Hec Hogan • Graham Gipson (DNS) • Douglas Winston (DNS)
5 h1 r2/3	–	Hungary	HUN	41.5 (2 h4)	41.5 (5 h1)	–
		Sándor Jakabfy • Géza Varasdi • György Csányi • Béla Goldoványi • László Kiss (DNS)
5 h2 r2/3	–	Pakistan	PAK	41.3 (3 h1)	40.8 (5 h2)	–
		Sharif Butt • Ghulam Raziq • Abdul Aziz • Abdul Khaliq • Kalim Khawaja Ghani (DNS) • Muhammad Ramzan Ali (DNS)
6 h1 r2/3	–	Brazil	BRA	41.6 (3 h3)	43.8 (6 h1)	–
		João Pires Sobrinho • José da Conceição • Ary Façanha • Jorge de Barros • Adhemar da Silva (DNS) • Ulisses dos Santos (DNS)
6 h2 r2/3	–	Japan	JPN	42.2 (3 h4)	41.3 (6 h2)	–
		Masaji Tajima • Kanji Akagi • Akira Kiyofuji • Kyohei Ushio • Teruji Kogake (DNS) • Koji Sakurai (DNS) • Hiroshi Shibata (DNS) • Yoshiro Sonoda (DNS)
4 h1 r1/3	–	Venezuela	VEN	42.0 (4 h1)	–	–
		Alfonso Bruno • Apolinar Solórzano • Clive Bonas • Rafael Romero • Asnoldo Devonish (DNS)
4 h2 r1/3	–	Thailand	THA	44.2 (4 h2)	–	–
		Vanchak Voradilok • Paiboon Vacharapan • Montri Srinaka • Sneh Wongchaoom • Manut Bumrungphuk (DNS) • Somnuek Srisombat (DNS)
4 h3 r1/3	–	Canada	CAN	41.7 (4 h3)	–	–
		Stan Levenson • Dick Harding • Jack Parrington • Joe Foreman • Laird Sloan (DNS) • Terry Tobacco (DNS)
5 h1 r1/3	–	Liberia	LBR	44.7 (5 h1)	–	–
		Edward Martins • Emmanuel Putu • George Johnson • James Roberts
5 h3 r1/3	–	Ethiopia	ETH	44.3 (5 h3)	–	–
		Beyene Legesse • Bekele Haile • Roba Negousse • Abebe Hailou
AC h4 r1/3	–	Nigeria	NGR	[47.3] (DQ h4)	–	–
		Titus Erinle • Rafiu Oluwa • Edward Ajado • Abdul Karim Amu • Thomas Obi (DNS) • Karim Olowu (DNS)
DNS	–	Trinidad and Tobago	TTO	–	–	–
		Rodney Wilkes • Hylton Mitchell • Mike Agostini • Joe Goddard • Edmund Turton

Round One

Date	30 November 1956 — 15:30
Format	Top three in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Team	NOC	Time (automatic)	Time (hand)
1	United States	USA	40.53	40.5	Q
2	Australia	AUS	40.72	40.6	Q
3	Soviet Union	URS	40.77	40.7	Q
4	Poland	POL	40.97	40.9	Q
5	France	FRA	40.99	40.8	Q
6	Unified Team of Germany	GER	41.00	40.8	Q
7	Italy	ITA	41.07	40.9	Q
8	Great Britain	GBR	41.30	41.2	Q
9	Pakistan	PAK	41.42	41.3	Q
10	Hungary	HUN	41.45	41.5	Q
11	Brazil	BRA	41.70	41.6	Q
12	Canada	CAN	41.75	41.7
13	Venezuela	VEN	42.10	42.0
14	Japan	JPN	42.30	42.2	Q
15	Thailand	THA	44.37	44.2
16	Ethiopia	ETH	44.47	44.3
17	Liberia	LBR	44.96	44.7
DQ	Nigeria	NGR	[47.39]	[47.3]

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	–	United States	USA	40.5	40.53	Q
Lead-Off	56	Ira Murchison		–	–
2nd Leg	–	Leamon King		–	–
3rd Leg	54	Thane Baker		–	–
Anchor	55	Bobby Joe Morrow		–	–
2	–	Great Britain	GBR	41.2	41.30	Q
Lead-Off	16	Ken Box		–	–
2nd Leg	17	Roy Sandstrom		–	–
3rd Leg	18	David Segal		–	–
Anchor	70	Brian Shenton		–	–
3	–	Pakistan	PAK	41.3	41.42	Q
Lead-Off	81	Sharif Butt		–	–
2nd Leg	37	Ghulam Raziq		–	–
3rd Leg	35	Abdul Aziz		–	–
Anchor	36	Abdul Khaliq		–	–
4	–	Venezuela	VEN	42.0	42.10
Lead-Off	635	Alfonso Bruno		–	–
2nd Leg	634	Apolinar Solórzano		–	–
3rd Leg	633	Clive Bonas		–	–
Anchor	632	Rafael Romero		–	–
5	–	Liberia	LBR	44.7	44.96
Lead-Off	667	Edward Martins		–	–
2nd Leg	670	Emmanuel Putu		–	–
3rd Leg	668	George Johnson		–	–
Anchor	671	James Roberts		–	–

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	–	Australia	AUS	40.6	40.72	Q
Lead-Off	1	Gavin Carragher		–	–
2nd Leg	–	Ted McGlynn		–	–
3rd Leg	3	Ray Land		–	–
Anchor	2	Hec Hogan		–	–
2	–	France	FRA	40.8	40.99	Q
Lead-Off	11	René Bonino		–	–
2nd Leg	67	Konstantin Lissenko		–	–
3rd Leg	–	Jocelyn Delecour		–	–
Anchor	12	Alain David		–	–
3	–	Unified Team of Germany	GER	40.8	41.00	Q
Lead-Off	–	Lothar Knörzer		–	–
2nd Leg	69	Leo Pohl		–	–
3rd Leg	13	Heinz Fütterer		–	–
Anchor	14	Manfred Germar		–	–
4	–	Thailand	THA	44.2	44.37
Lead-Off	42	Vanchak Voradilok		–	–
2nd Leg	47	Paiboon Vacharapan		–	–
3rd Leg	87	Montri Srinaka		–	–
Anchor	49	Sneh Wongchaoom		–	–

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	–	Soviet Union	URS	40.7	40.77	Q
Lead-Off	57	Leonid Bartenev		–	–
2nd Leg	59	Boris Tokarev		–	–
3rd Leg	58	Yury Konovalov		–	–
Anchor	–	Vladimir Sukharev		–	–
2	–	Italy	ITA	40.9	41.07	Q
Lead-Off	21	Franco Galbiati		–	–
2nd Leg	74	Giovanni Ghiselli		–	–
3rd Leg	22	Luigi Gnocchi		–	–
Anchor	75	Vincenzo Lombardo		–	–
3	–	Brazil	BRA	41.6	41.70	Q
Lead-Off	6	João Pires Sobrinho		–	–
2nd Leg	62	José da Conceição		–	–
3rd Leg	360	Ary Façanha		–	–
Anchor	5	Jorge de Barros		–	–
4	–	Canada	CAN	41.7	41.75
Lead-Off	8	Stan Levenson		–	–
2nd Leg	7	Dick Harding		–	–
3rd Leg	9	Jack Parrington		–	–
Anchor	63	Joe Foreman		–	–
5	–	Ethiopia	ETH	44.3	44.47
Lead-Off	302	Beyene Legesse		–	–
2nd Leg	–	Bekele Haile		–	–
3rd Leg	300	Roba Negousse		–	–
Anchor	301	Abebe Hailou		–	–

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	–	Poland	POL	40.9	40.97	Q
Lead-Off	38	Marian Foik		–	–
2nd Leg	39	Jan Jarzembowski		–	–
3rd Leg	40	Edward Szmidt		–	–
Anchor	82	Zenon Baranowski		–	–
2	–	Hungary	HUN	41.5	41.45	Q
Lead-Off	684	Sándor Jakabfy		–	–
2nd Leg	682	Géza Varasdi		–	–
3rd Leg	–	György Csányi		–	–
Anchor	683	Béla Goldoványi		–	–
3	–	Japan	JPN	42.2	42.30	Q
Lead-Off	367	Masaji Tajima		–	–
2nd Leg	79	Kanji Akagi		–	–
3rd Leg	24	Akira Kiyofuji		–	–
Anchor	25	Kyohei Ushio		–	–
DQ	–	Nigeria	NGR	[47.3]	[47.39]
Lead-Off	32	Titus Erinle		–	–
2nd Leg	622	Rafiu Oluwa		–	–
3rd Leg	31	Edward Ajado		–	–
Anchor	110	Abdul Karim Amu		–	–

Semi-Finals

Date	1 December 1956 — 14:30
Format	Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Pos	Team	NOC	Time (automatic)	Time (hand)
1	United States	USA	40.34	40.3	Q
2	Soviet Union	URS	40.36	40.3	Q
3	Unified Team of Germany	GER	40.64	40.5	Q
4	Great Britain	GBR	40.68	40.6	Q
5	Australia	AUS	40.72	40.8
6	Pakistan	PAK	40.78	40.8
7	Poland	POL	41.12	41.0	Q
8	Italy	ITA	41.14	41.1	Q
9	France	FRA	41.37	41.3
10	Hungary	HUN	41.51	41.5
11	Japan	JPN	41.57	41.3
12	Brazil	BRA	43.87	43.8

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	–	United States	USA	40.3	40.34	Q
Lead-Off	56	Ira Murchison		–	–
2nd Leg	–	Leamon King		–	–
3rd Leg	54	Thane Baker		–	–
Anchor	55	Bobby Joe Morrow		–	–
2	–	Poland	POL	41.0	41.12	Q
Lead-Off	38	Marian Foik		–	–
2nd Leg	39	Jan Jarzembowski		–	–
3rd Leg	40	Edward Szmidt		–	–
Anchor	82	Zenon Baranowski		–	–
3	–	Italy	ITA	41.1	41.14	Q
Lead-Off	21	Franco Galbiati		–	–
2nd Leg	74	Giovanni Ghiselli		–	–
3rd Leg	22	Luigi Gnocchi		–	–
Anchor	75	Vincenzo Lombardo		–	–
4	–	France	FRA	41.3	41.37
Lead-Off	11	René Bonino		–	–
2nd Leg	67	Konstantin Lissenko		–	–
3rd Leg	–	Jocelyn Delecour		–	–
Anchor	12	Alain David		–	–
5	–	Hungary	HUN	41.5	41.51
Lead-Off	684	Sándor Jakabfy		–	–
2nd Leg	682	Géza Varasdi		–	–
3rd Leg	–	György Csányi		–	–
Anchor	683	Béla Goldoványi		–	–
6	–	Brazil	BRA	43.8	43.87
Lead-Off	6	João Pires Sobrinho		–	–
2nd Leg	62	José da Conceição		–	–
3rd Leg	360	Ary Façanha		–	–
Anchor	5	Jorge de Barros		–	–

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	–	Soviet Union	URS	40.3	40.36	Q
Lead-Off	57	Leonid Bartenev		–	–
2nd Leg	59	Boris Tokarev		–	–
3rd Leg	58	Yury Konovalov		–	–
Anchor	–	Vladimir Sukharev		–	–
2	–	Unified Team of Germany	GER	40.5	40.64	Q
Lead-Off	–	Lothar Knörzer		–	–
2nd Leg	69	Leo Pohl		–	–
3rd Leg	13	Heinz Fütterer		–	–
Anchor	14	Manfred Germar		–	–
3	–	Great Britain	GBR	40.6	40.68	Q
Lead-Off	16	Ken Box		–	–
2nd Leg	17	Roy Sandstrom		–	–
3rd Leg	18	David Segal		–	–
Anchor	70	Brian Shenton		–	–
4	–	Australia	AUS	40.8	40.72
Lead-Off	1	Gavin Carragher		–	–
2nd Leg	–	Ted McGlynn		–	–
3rd Leg	3	Ray Land		–	–
Anchor	2	Hec Hogan		–	–
5	–	Pakistan	PAK	40.8	40.78
Lead-Off	81	Sharif Butt		–	–
2nd Leg	37	Ghulam Raziq		–	–
3rd Leg	35	Abdul Aziz		–	–
Anchor	36	Abdul Khaliq		–	–
6	–	Japan	JPN	41.3	41.57
Lead-Off	367	Masaji Tajima		–	–
2nd Leg	79	Kanji Akagi		–	–
3rd Leg	24	Akira Kiyofuji		–	–
Anchor	25	Kyohei Ushio		–	–

Final Round

Date	1 December 1956 — 16:35

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)	Split Time	Exchange Time
1	–	United States	USA	39.5	39.60	–	–	WR
Lead-Off	56	Ira Murchison		–	–	10.8	–
2nd Leg	–	Leamon King		–	–	9.2	20.0
3rd Leg	54	Thane Baker		–	–	9.7	29.7
Anchor	55	Bobby Joe Morrow		–	–	9.8	–
2	–	Soviet Union	URS	39.8	39.93	–	–
Lead-Off	57	Leonid Bartenev		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	59	Boris Tokarev		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	58	Yury Konovalov		–	–	–	–
Anchor	–	Vladimir Sukharev		–	–	–	–
3	–	Unified Team of Germany	GER	40.3	40.34	–	–
Lead-Off	–	Lothar Knörzer		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	69	Leo Pohl		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	13	Heinz Fütterer		–	–	–	–
Anchor	14	Manfred Germar		–	–	–	–
4	–	Italy	ITA	40.3	40.43	–	–
Lead-Off	21	Franco Galbiati		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	74	Giovanni Ghiselli		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	22	Luigi Gnocchi		–	–	–	–
Anchor	75	Vincenzo Lombardo		–	–	–	–
5	–	Great Britain	GBR	40.6	40.74	–	–
Lead-Off	16	Ken Box		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	17	Roy Sandstrom		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	18	David Segal		–	–	–	–
Anchor	70	Brian Shenton		–	–	–	–
6	–	Poland	POL	40.6	40.75	–	–
Lead-Off	38	Marian Foik		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	39	Jan Jarzembowski		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	40	Edward Szmidt		–	–	–	–
Anchor	82	Zenon Baranowski		–	–	–	–