| | Event type

4 × 400 metres Relay, Men

Date	30 November – 1 December 1956
Status	Olympic
Location	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria
Participants	61 from 15 countries
Olympic Record	3:03.9 WR / Arthur Wint • Les Laing • Herb McKenley • George Rhoden JAM / 27 July 1952 / Details

Jamaica was no longer the dominant 4x400 relay team they had been from 1948-52, and the United States was favored in the final. World record holder Lou Jones gave the US the lead on the opening leg. Australia pulled even at the end of 800 metres, but after that the US pulled away for the gold medal. The Australians took silver, with future IOC Member Kevan Gosper running the anchor.

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	–	United States	USA	3:10.6 (2 h1)	3:04.8 (1)	Gold
		Lou Jones • J. W. Mashburn • Charlie Jenkins • Tom Courtney • Glenn Davis (DNS) • Jim Lea (DNS) • Arnie Sowell (DNS) • Lon Spurrier (DNS)
2	–	Australia	AUS	3:10.4 (2 h2)	3:06.2 (2)	Silver
		Leon Gregory • David Lean • Graham Gipson • Kevan Gosper • John Goodman • Ross Parker (DNS)
3	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:08.8 (1 h3)	3:07.2 (3)	Bronze
		John Salisbury • Mike Wheeler • Peter Higgins • Derek Johnson • Mike Farrell (DNS) • Tom Farrell (DNS) • Harry Kane (DNS) • Mike Rawson (DNS)
4	–	Unified Team of Germany	GER	3:09.8 (1 h2)	3:08.2 (4)
		Jürgen Kühl • Walter Oberste • Manfred Poerschke • Karl-Friedrich Haas • Paul Schmidt (DNS) • Horst Mann (DNS)
5	–	Canada	CAN	3:10.6 (1 h1)	3:10.2 (5)
		Laird Sloan • Doug Clement • Murray Cockburn • Terry Tobacco • Joe Foreman (DNS) • Dick Harding (DNS)
AC r2/2	–	Jamaica	JAM	3:11.0 (2 h3)	[3:11.3] (DQ)
		Keith Gardner • George Kerr • Mal Spence • Mel Spence • Richard Estick (DNS) • Ernie Haisley (DNS)
3 h1 r1/2	–	Czechoslovakia	TCH	3:10.8 (3 h1)	–
		Jaroslav Jirásek • Václav Janeček • Vilém Mandlík • Josef Trousil • Stanislav Jungwirth (DNS)
3 h2 r1/2	–	France	FRA	3:11.8 (3 h2)	–
		Jacques Degats • Jean-Paul Martin du Gard • Jean-Pierre Goudeau • Pierre Haarhoff • Yves Camus (DNS) • Guy Cury (DNS) • René Djian (DNS)
3 h3 r1/2	–	Soviet Union	URS	3:11.2 (3 h3)	–
		Konstantin Grachov • Yury Lituyev • Anatoly Yulin • Ardalion Ignatyev • Igor Ilyin (DNS) • Yury Bashlikov (DNS) • Boris Stolyarov (DNS)
4 h1 r1/2	–	Finland	FIN	3:11.4 (4 h1)	–
		Pentti Rekola • Ossi Mildh • Eero Kivelä • Voitto Hellstén • Wilhelm Porrassalmi (DNS) • Jorma Valkama (DNS)
4 h2 r1/2	–	Japan	JPN	3:13.8 (4 h2)	–
		Kanji Akagi • Keiji Ogushi • Shigeharu Suzuki • Yoshitaka Muroya • Akira Kiyofuji (DNS) • Kyohei Ushio (DNS)
4 h3 r1/2	–	Kenya	KEN	3:17.6 (4 h3)	–
		Kamau Wanyoke • Kiptalam Keter • Kibet Boit • Bartonjo Rotich • Nyandika Maiyoro (DNS)
5 h2 r1/2	–	Puerto Rico	PUR	3:13.8 (5 h2)	–
		Ovidio de Jesús • Ismael Delgado • Frank Rivera • Iván Rodríguez • Norberto Cruz (DNS) • Amadeo Francis (DNS)
5 h3 r1/2	–	Ethiopia	ETH	3:30.0 (5 h3)	–
		Ajanew Bayene • Beyene Legesse • Mamo Wolde • Abebe Hailou • Bekele Haile (DNS) • Roba Negousse (DNS)
6 h2 r1/2	–	Colombia	COL	3:27.4 (6 h2)	–
		Carlos Sierra • Guillermo Zapata • Alfonso Muñoz • Jaime Aparicio
DNS	–	Liberia	LBR	–	–
		George Johnson • Edward Martins • Emmanuel Putu • James Roberts
DNS	–	Malaya	MAL	–	–
		Abdul Rahim bin Ahmed • M. Hari Chandra • Sinnayah Karuppiah Jarabalan • Lee Kah Fook • Kenneth Perera

Round One

Date	30 November 1956 — 16:35
Format	Top 2 in each heat advanced to the final.

Pos	Team	NOC	Time (hand)	Time (automatic)
1	Great Britain	GBR	3:08.8	3:08.76	Q
2	Unified Team of Germany	GER	3:09.8	3:09.88	Q
3	Australia	AUS	3:10.4	3:10.57	Q
4	Canada	CAN	3:10.6	3:10.59	Q
5	United States	USA	3:10.6	3:10.60	Q
6	Czechoslovakia	TCH	3:10.8	3:10.96
7	Jamaica	JAM	3:11.0	3:11.07	Q
8	Soviet Union	URS	3:11.2	3:11.27
9	Finland	FIN	3:11.4	3:11.52
10	France	FRA	3:11.8	3:11.76
11	Japan	JPN	3:13.8	3:13.75
12	Puerto Rico	PUR	3:13.8	3:13.81
13	Kenya	KEN	3:17.6	3:17.68
14	Colombia	COL	–	3:27.4
15	Ethiopia	ETH	3:30.0	3:29.93

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	5	Canada	CAN	3:10.6	3:10.59	Q
Lead-Off	91	Laird Sloan		–	–
2nd Leg	127	Doug Clement		–	–
3rd Leg	90	Murray Cockburn		–	–
Anchor	92	Terry Tobacco		–	–
2	6	United States	USA	3:10.6	3:10.60	Q
Lead-Off	117	Lou Jones		–	–
2nd Leg	–	J. W. Mashburn		–	–
3rd Leg	116	Charlie Jenkins		–	–
Anchor	153	Tom Courtney		–	–
3	3	Czechoslovakia	TCH	3:10.8	3:10.96
Lead-Off	625	Jaroslav Jirásek		–	–
2nd Leg	623	Václav Janeček		–	–
3rd Leg	622	Vilém Mandlík		–	–
Anchor	624	Josef Trousil		–	–
4	4	Finland	FIN	3:11.4	3:11.52
Lead-Off	65	Pentti Rekola		–	–
2nd Leg	262	Ossi Mildh		–	–
3rd Leg	64	Eero Kivelä		–	–
Anchor	93	Voitto Hellstén		–	–

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)	Split Time	Exchange Time
1	4	Unified Team of Germany	GER	3:09.8	3:09.88	–	–	Q
Lead-Off	–	Walter Oberste		–	–	48.4	–
2nd Leg	97	Jürgen Kühl		–	–	47.8	1:36.2
3rd Leg	–	Manfred Poerschke		–	–	47.8	2:24.0
Anchor	68	Karl-Friedrich Haas		–	–	45.9	–
2	6	Australia	AUS	3:10.4	3:10.57	–	–	Q
Lead-Off	–	Leon Gregory		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	629	John Goodman		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	60	Graham Gipson		–	–	–	–
Anchor	89	Kevan Gosper		–	–	–	–
3	1	France	FRA	3:11.8	3:11.76	–	–
Lead-Off	94	Jacques Degats		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	96	Jean-Paul Martin du Gard		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	665	Jean-Pierre Goudeau		–	–	–	–
Anchor	95	Pierre Haarhoff		–	–	–	–
4	5	Japan	JPN	3:13.8	3:13.75	–	–
Lead-Off	79	Kanji Akagi		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	270	Keiji Ogushi		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	144	Shigeharu Suzuki		–	–	–	–
Anchor	143	Yoshitaka Muroya		–	–	–	–
5	2	Puerto Rico	PUR	3:13.8	3:13.81	–	–
Lead-Off	273	Ovidio de Jesús		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	–	Ismael Delgado		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	150	Frank Rivera		–	–	–	–
Anchor	83	Iván Rodríguez		–	–	–	–
6	3	Colombia	COL	3:27.4	–	–	–
Lead-Off	674	Carlos Sierra		–	–	–	–
2nd Leg	676	Guillermo Zapata		–	–	–	–
3rd Leg	678	Alfonso Muñoz		–	–	–	–
Anchor	675	Jaime Aparicio		–	–	–	–

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	1	Great Britain	GBR	3:08.8	3:08.76	Q
Lead-Off	100	John Salisbury		–	–
2nd Leg	101	Mike Wheeler		–	–
3rd Leg	99	Peter Higgins		–	–
Anchor	137	Derek Johnson		–	–
2	6	Jamaica	JAM	3:11.0	3:11.07	Q
Lead-Off	23	Keith Gardner		–	–
2nd Leg	103	George Kerr		–	–
3rd Leg	77	Mal Spence		–	–
Anchor	78	Mel Spence		–	–
3	2	Soviet Union	URS	3:11.2	3:11.27
Lead-Off	121	Konstantin Grachov		–	–
2nd Leg	282	Yury Lituyev		–	–
3rd Leg	280	Anatoly Yulin		–	–
Anchor	119	Ardalion Ignatyev		–	–
4	3	Kenya	KEN	3:17.6	3:17.68
Lead-Off	646	Kamau Wanyoke		–	–
2nd Leg	143	Kiptalam Keter		–	–
3rd Leg	105	Kibet Boit		–	–
Anchor	104	Bartonjo Rotich		–	–
5	5	Ethiopia	ETH	3:30.0	3:29.93
Lead-Off	303	Ajanew Bayene		–	–
2nd Leg	302	Beyene Legesse		–	–
3rd Leg	304	Mamo Wolde		–	–
Anchor	301	Abebe Hailou		–	–

Final Round

Date	1 December 1956 — 17:10

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)	Split	Exchange
1	3	United States	USA	3:04.8	3:04.81	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-Off	117	Lou Jones		–	–	47.1 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	J. W. Mashburn		–	–	46.4 (2)	1:33.5 (=1)
3rd Leg	116	Charlie Jenkins		–	–	45.5 (1)	2:19.0 (1)
Anchor	153	Tom Courtney		–	–	45.8 (1)	– (–)
2	1	Australia	AUS	3:06.2	3:06.19	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-Off	–	Leon Gregory		–	–	47.2 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	257	David Lean		–	–	46.3 (1)	1:33.5 (=1)
3rd Leg	60	Graham Gipson		–	–	46.6 (3)	2:20.1 (2)
Anchor	89	Kevan Gosper		–	–	46.1 (2)	– (–)
3	2	Great Britain	GBR	3:07.2	3:07.19	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-Off	100	John Salisbury		–	–	47.6 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	101	Mike Wheeler		–	–	46.8 (3)	1:34.4 (3)
3rd Leg	99	Peter Higgins		–	–	46.3 (2)	2:20.7 (3)
Anchor	137	Derek Johnson		–	–	46.5 (3)	– (–)
4	5	Unified Team of Germany	GER	3:08.2	3:08.27	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-Off	97	Jürgen Kühl		–	–	47.5 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Walter Oberste		–	–	47.3 (4)	1:34.8 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Manfred Poerschke		–	–	47.0 (4)	2:21.8 (4)
Anchor	68	Karl-Friedrich Haas		–	–	46.4 (4)	– (–)
5	4	Canada	CAN	3:10.2	3:10.33	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-Off	91	Laird Sloan		–	–	48.2 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	127	Doug Clement		–	–	47.8 (5)	1:36.0 (5)
3rd Leg	90	Murray Cockburn		–	–	47.5 (5)	2:23.5 (5)
Anchor	92	Terry Tobacco		–	–	46.7 (5)	– (–)
DQ	6	Jamaica	JAM	[3:11.3]	[3:11.50]	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-Off	23	Keith Gardner		–	–	– (–)	– (–)
2nd Leg	103	George Kerr		–	–	– (–)	– (–)
3rd Leg	77	Mal Spence		–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Anchor	78	Mel Spence		–	–	– (–)	– (–)