Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay

Men's 4 × 400 metres relay at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
Dates	6 August 1948 (heats) 7 August 1948 (final)
Competitors	from 15 nations
Teams	15
Winning time	3:10.4
Medalists
Roy Cochran Cliff Bourland Arthur Harnden Mal Whitfield   United States Jean Kerebel Francis Schewetta Robert Chef d'Hôtel Jacques Lunis   France Kurt Lundquist Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt Folke Alnevik Rune Larsson   Sweden
←  1936 1952  →

The men's 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 1948 Olympic Games took place on 6 and 7 August. The United States team won the final with a time of 3:10.4. ^[1]

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record Olympic record

United States (Ed Ablowich, Bill Carr, Ivan Fuqua, Karl Warner)

3:08.2

Los Angeles, United States

7 August 1932

Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date	Time	Round
Friday 6 August 1948	17:30	Round 1
Saturday 7 August 1948	16:50	Final

Results

Round 1

The first two teams in each heat qualified for the Final. ^[2]

Heat 1

Rank	Nation	Competitors	Time	Notes
1	United States	Cliff Bourland, Roy Cochran, Arthur Harnden, Mal Whitfield	3:12.6	Q
2	Italy	Ottavio Missoni, Luigi Paterlini, Gianni Rocca, Antonio Siddi	3:14.0	Q
3	Great Britain	Leslie Lewis, Martin Pike, Derek Pugh, Bill Roberts	3:14.2
4	Switzerland	Oskar Hardmeier, Walter Keller, Max Trepp, Karl Volkmer	3:23.0
-	Ireland	Charles Denroche, Paul Dolan, Reggie Myles, Jimmy Reardon	DSQ

Heat 2

Rank	Nation	Competitors	Time	Notes
1	Jamaica	Leslie Laing, Herb McKenley, George Rhoden, Arthur Wint	3:14.0	Q
2	France	Robert Chef d'Hôtel, Jean Kerebel, Jacques Lunis, Francis Schewetta	3:17.0	Q
3	Canada	Bill LaRochelle, Ernie McCullough, Bob McFarlane, Don McFarlane	3:19.0
4	Chile	Gustavo Ehlers, Sergio Guzmán, Jaime Hitelman, Carlos Silva	3:23.8
5	Turkey	Doğan Acarbay, Seydi Dinçtürk, Kemal Horulu, Rıza Maksut İşman	3:35.0

Heat 3

Rank	Nation	Competitors	Time	Notes
1	Finland	Runar Holmberg, Bebbe Storskrubb, Tauno Suvanto, Olavi Talja	3:20.6	Q
2	Sweden	Folke Alnevik, Rune Larsson, Kurt Lundquist, Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt	3:21.0	Q
3	Argentina	Hermelindo Alberti, Guillermo Avalos, Guillermo Evans, Antonio Pocovi	3:21.2
4	Yugoslavia	Jerko Bulić, Aleksandar Ćosić, Marko Račič, Zvonko Sabolović	3:25.4
5	Greece	Vasilios Mavroidis, Stefanos Petrakis, Lazaros Petropoulakis, Stylianos Stratakos	3:33.0

Final

Rank	Nation	Competitors	Time	Notes
	United States	Cliff Bourland, Roy Cochran, Arthur Harnden, Mal Whitfield	3:10.4
	France	Robert Chef d'Hôtel, Jean Kerebel, Jacques Lunis, Francis Schewetta	3:14.8
	Sweden	Folke Alnevik, Rune Larsson, Kurt Lundquist, Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt	3:16.0
4	Finland	Runar Holmberg, Bebbe Storskrubb, Tauno Suvanto, Olavi Talja	3:24.8
	Jamaica	Leslie Laing, Herb McKenley, George Rhoden, Arthur Wint		DNF
	Italy	Ottavio Missoni, Luigi Paterlini, Gianni Rocca, Antonio Siddi		DNF

Key: DNF = Did not finish

References

1. "Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's 4 × 400 metres Relay". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
2. THE OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. LONDON: THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE FOR THE XIV OLYMPIAD. 1948. p. 259. Archived from the original on 27 August 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.