4 x 100 metres Relay, Men

As always, the USA was favored but the German team, led by 100 metre champion Armin Hary and top hurdler Martin Lauer, was expected to challenge them. And in the first round, Germany equaled the world record with 39.5. In the final, Frank Budd opened for the US, and quickly pulled away, but the changeover to Ray Norton was made clearly out of the zone. Norton slowed dramatically, trying to keep the exchange legal, and the Germans went ahead, although Norton had a slight lead by the second exchange, outrunning Hary. Another poor exchange occurred however, and at the final exchange, Lauer had a two-metre lead on Dave Sime. Sime ran one of the great anchor legs to bring the US home in what was at first thought to be a world record 39.4 (39.59). But the US was properly disqualified and the Germans won the gold medal.

Bronze medalists Great Britain were lucky not to be also disqualified as film footage of their first handover appeared to show Peter Radford receiving the baton outside the exchange zone.