Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay

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Men's 4 × 100 metre relay
at the Games of the XI Olympiad
Venue Olympiastadion: Berlin, Germany
DatesAugust 9 (heats, final)
Competitors from 15 nations
Teams15
Winning time39.8
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Jesse Owens
Ralph Metcalfe
Foy Draper
Frank Wykoff
US flag 48 stars.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Orazio Mariani
Gianni Caldana
Elio Ragni
Tullio Gonnelli
Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy
Bronze medal icon.svg Wilhelm Leichum
Erich Borchmeyer
Erwin Gillmeister
Gerd Hornberger
Flag of the German Reich (1935-1945).svg  Germany
  1932
1948  

The men's 4 × 100 metres relay event at the 1936 Olympic Games took place on August 9. [1] The United States team of Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, Foy Draper and Frank Wykoff won in a world record time of 39.8.

Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller were originally slated to compete in the American relay team but were replaced by Owens and Metcalfe prior to the start of the race. There were speculations that their Jewish heritage contributed to the decision "not to embarrass the German hosts"; however, given that African-Americans were also heavily disliked by the Nazis, Glickman and Stoller's replacement with black American athletes Owens and Metcalfe does not support this theory. Others state that Owens and Metcalfe were in a better physical condition, and that was the main reason behind the replacement.

Results

Heats

The fastest two teams in each of the three heats advanced to the final round.

Heat 1

RankCountryCompetitorsTimeNotes
1US flag 48 stars.svg  United States Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, Foy Draper, Frank Wykoff 40.0=WR
2Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy Orazio Mariani, Gianni Caldana, Elio Ragni, Tullio Gonnelli 41.1
3Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg  South Africa Eric Grimbeek, Pat Dannaher, Tom Lavery, Marthinus Theunissen 41.7
4Flag of Finland.svg  Finland Toivo Ahjopalo, Toivo Sariola, Palle Virtanen, Aki Tammisto 42.0
Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan Takayoshi Yoshioka, Monta Suzuki, Mutsuo Taniguchi, Masao Yazawa DSQ

Heat 2

RankCountryAthletesTimeNotes
1Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Tjeerd Boersma, Wil van Beveren, Chris Berger, Tinus Osendarp 41.3
2Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina Juan Lavenás, Antonio Sande, Carlos Hofmeister, Tomás Beswick 41.9
3Flag of Hungary (1915-1918, 1919-1946; 3-2 aspect ratio).svg  Hungary Mario Minai, Gyula Gyenes, József Kovács, József Sir 42.0
4Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain Charles Wiard, Don Finlay, Walter Rangeley, Alan Pennington 42.4
5Flag of France.svg  France Maurice Carlton, Pierre Dondelinger, Paul Bronner, Robert Paul 42.6
6Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Republic of China Poh Kimseng, Huang Yingjie, Chen Kingkwan, Liu Changchun 44.8

Heat 3

RankCountryAthletesTimeNotes
1Flag of the German Reich (1935-1945).svg  Germany Wilhelm Leichum, Erich Borchmeyer, Erwin Gillmeister, Gerd Hornberger 41.4
2Canadian Red Ensign 1921-1957 (with disc).svg  Canada Sam Richardson, Bruce Humber, Lee Orr, Howard McPhee 41.5
3Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Lennart Lindgren, Irvin Ternström, Östen Sandström, Åke Stenqvist 41.5
4Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland Albert Jud, Bernard Marchand, Georges Meyer, Paul Hänni 42.2

Final

RankCountryAthletesTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svgUS flag 48 stars.svg  United States Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, Foy Draper, Frank Wykoff 39.8 WR
Silver medal icon.svgFlag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy Orazio Mariani, Gianni Caldana, Elio Ragni, Tullio Gonnelli 41.1
Bronze medal icon.svgFlag of the German Reich (1935-1945).svg  Germany Wilhelm Leichum, Erich Borchmeyer, Erwin Gillmeister, Gerd Hornberger 41.2
4Flag of Argentina (1861-2010).svg  Argentina Juan Lavenás, Antonio Sande, Carlos Hofmeister, Tomás Beswick 42.2
5Canadian Red Ensign 1921-1957 (with disc).svg  Canada Sam Richardson, Bruce Humber, Lee Orr, Howard McPhee 42.7
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Tjeerd Boersma, Wil van Beveren, Chris Berger, Tinus Osendarp DSQ

Key: DSQ = Disqualified, WR = World record

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References

  1. "Athletics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Men's 4 × 100 metres Relay". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2017.