Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay

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Men's 4 × 400 metres relay
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Venue Seoul Olympic Stadium
Date30 September 1988 (heats)
1 October 1988 (final)
Competitors99 from 22 nations
Teams22
Winning time2:56.16 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Danny Everett
Steve Lewis
Kevin Robinzine
Butch Reynolds
Antonio McKay*
Andrew Valmon*
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Howard Davis
Devon Morris
Winthrop Graham
Bert Cameron
Trevor Graham*
Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica
Bronze medal icon.svg Norbert Dobeleit
Edgar Itt
Jörg Vaihinger
Ralf Lübke
Bodo Kuhn*
Mark Henrich*
Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany
  1984
1992  

These are the official results of the Men's 4 × 400 metre relay event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. There were a total number of 21 nations competing. [1]

Summary

In the semi-final round, the US team with reserves Antonio McKay and Andrew Valmon won the first semi with a time more than a second and a half faster than all the qualifiers from the second semi who were pressed by a stubborn Yugoslavian team. The second semi was barely won by East Germany in a highly competitive 3:00.60 which they were not able to duplicate the following day in the final.

In the final, US led off by the bronze medalist Danny Everett, started in lane 2. From the gun, Everett was making up the stagger on GDR's Jens Carlowitz immediately to his outside. Also advancing in lane 5 was Sunday Uti for Nigeria, clearly separating from Jamaica's Howard Davis to his inside, Uti having an apparent lead onto the homestretch. As Uit passed on the inside, Kenya's Tito Sawe accelerated past Australia's Robert Ballard, trying to keep up. Uti tied up a little on the straight, US and Nigeria passing about the same time. Everett's split timed at 44.0. America's young gold medalist Steve Lewis took the lead through the turn, as Moses Ugbusien did not maintain Uti's pace. After taking the baton in fourth place, Devon Morris blazed through the turn to position Jamaica in second place at the break. After that exuberance, Morris slowed the second half of the lap, but still maintained second place as the rest of the field closed behind him. But out front, Lewis took a 4 metre lead at the break and extended it to 25, putting the race away early. Lewis' split 43.4.

Mathias Schersing passed Ugbusien and in the last steps, Morris, on the final straightaway, giving East Germany second place at the handoff, but they were almost 3 seconds behind Kevin Robinzine. Running alone, Robinzine extended the lead as Jamaica battled back, Winthrop Graham passing Frank Möller on the home stretch and West Germany's Jörg Vaihinger pulling them into contention. After a 44.8 split, Robinzine passed to the newly crowned World Record holder and silver medalist Butch Reynolds. Almost 4 seconds later, Jamaica's 1983 world champion Bert Cameron was the next pursuer. Through the penultimate turn Ralf Lübke stuck to Cameron's shoulder, West Germany separating from East Germany's reigning world champion Thomas Schönlebe on the backstretch. All eyes were on Reynolds, would the US break the 20 year old world record. Lightbeam timing on the finish line said he missed it by .01, but when the official time was read, it equalled the world record. Jamaica finished more than four seconds later with the silver medal, with West Germany taking bronze. [2] [3]

Medalists

GoldSilverBronze
Flag of the United States.svg  United States  (USA)
Danny Everett
Steve Lewis
Butch Reynolds
Kevin Robinzine
Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica  (JAM)
Bert Cameron
Howard Davis
Winthrop Graham
Devon Morris
Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany  (FRG)
Norbert Dobeleit
Edgar Itt
Ralf Lübke
Jörg Vaihinger

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.

World Record2:56.16 Flag of the United States.svg Vincent Matthews
Flag of the United States.svg Ron Freeman
Flag of the United States.svg Larry James
Flag of the United States.svg Lee Evans
Mexico City (MEX)October 20, 1968
Olympic Record2:56.16 Flag of the United States.svg Vincent Matthews
Flag of the United States.svg Ron Freeman
Flag of the United States.svg Larry James
Flag of the United States.svg Lee Evans
Mexico City (MEX)October 20, 1968

The following Olympic records were set during this competition. The United States equalled the world record in the final.

DateAthleteTimeORWR
October 1, 1988 Flag of the United States.svg Danny Everett
Flag of the United States.svg Steve Lewis
Flag of the United States.svg Butch Reynolds
Flag of the United States.svg Kevin Robinzine
2:56.16=OR=WR

Final

RANKNATIONFINALTIME
Med 1.png Flag of the United States.svg  United States  (USA)Danny Everett
Steve Lewis
Kevin Robinzine
Butch Reynolds
2:56.16=WR
Med 2.png Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica  (JAM)Howard Davis
Devon Morris
Winthrop Graham
Bert Cameron
3:00.30
Med 3.png Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany  (FRG)Norbert Dobeleit
Edgar Itt
Jörg Vaihinger
Ralf Lübke
3:00.56
4.Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany  (GDR)Jens Carlowitz
Mathias Schersing
Frank Möller
Thomas Schönlebe
3:01.13
5.Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain  (GBR)Brian Whittle
Kriss Akabusi
Todd Bennett
Philip Brown
3:02.00
6.Flag of Australia.svg  Australia  (AUS)Robert Ballard
Mark Garner
Miles Murphy
Darren Clark
3:02.49
7.Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria  (NGR)Sunday Uti
Moses Ugbusien
Henry Amike
Innocent Egbunike
3:02.50
8.Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya  (KEN)Tito Sawe
Lucas Sang
Paul Ereng
Simeon Kipkemboi
3:04.69

Semifinals

RANKNATIONHEAT 1TIME
1.Flag of the United States.svg  United States  (USA)Andrew Valmon
Kevin Robinzine
Antonio McKay
Steve Lewis
3:02.84
2.Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya  (KEN)Tito Sawe
Lucas Sang
Paul Ereng
Simeon Kipkemboi
3:03.24
3.Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain  (GBR)Brian Whittle
Kriss Akabusi
Todd Bennett
Philip Brown
3:04.60
4.Flag of Australia.svg  Australia  (AUS)Miles Murphy
Mark Garner
Robert Ballard
Darren Clark
3:06.63
5.Flag of Barbados.svg  Barbados  (BAR)Seibert Straughn
Richard Louis
Allan Ince
Elvis Forde
3:06.93
6.Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast  (CIV)Akissi Kpidi
René Djédjémel Mélédjé
Djétenan Kouadio
Gabriel Tiacoh
3:07.15
7.Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal  (POR)Paulo Curvelo
Filipe Lomba
Antonio Abrantes
Alvaro Silva
3:07.75
8.Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada  (CAN)John Graham
Carl Folkes
Paul Osland
Anton Skerritt
3:09.48


RANKNATIONHEAT 2TIME
1.Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany  (GDR)Jens Carlowitz
Frank Möller
Mathias Schersing
Thomas Schönlebe
3:00.60
2.Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany  (FRG)Norbert Dobeleit
Mark Henrich
Jörg Vaihinger
Ralf Lübke
3:00.66
3.Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica  (JAM)Trevor Graham
Devon Morris
Bert Cameron
Howard Davis
3:00.94
4.Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria  (NGR)Sunday Uti
Moses Ugbusien
Henry Amike
Innocent Egbunike
3:01.13
5.Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia  (YUG)Branislav Karaulić
Slobodan Popović
Slobodan Branković
Ismail Mačev
3:01.59
6.Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan  (JPN)Hirofumi Koike
Kenji Yamauchi
Hiromi Kawasumi
Susumu Takano
3:03.80
7.Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal  (SEN)Ousmane Diarra
Babacar Niang
Moussa Fall
Amadou Dia Ba
3:07.19
8.Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan  (PAK)Bashir Ahmed
Mohammad Sadaqat
Mohammad Afzal
Muhammad Fayyaz
3:09.50

Heats

RANKNATIONHEAT 1TIME
1.Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany  (FRG)Bodo Kuhn
Mark Henrich
Jörg Vaihinger
Ralf Lübke
3:03.90
2.Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain  (GBR)Brian Whittle
Paul Harmsworth
Todd Bennett
Philip Brown
3:04.18
3.Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan  (JPN)Hirofumi Koike
Kenji Yamauchi
Hiromi Kawasumi
Susumu Takano
3:05.93
4.Flag of Australia.svg  Australia  (AUS)Robert Ballard
Mark Garner
Leigh Miller
Miles Murphy
3:05.93
5.Flag of Barbados.svg  Barbados  (BAR)Seibert Straughn
Richard Louis
Allan Ince
Elvis Forde
3:06.03
6.Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  Sierra Leone  (SLE)Horace Dove-Edwin
Felix Sandy
Benjamin Grant
David Sawyer
3:10.47
7.Flag of Oman (1970-1995).svg  Oman  (OMA)Sulaiman Al-Habsi
Mohamed Amer Al-Malki
Abdullah Al-Khalidi
• Mansour Al-Baloushi
3:12.89
8.Flag of South Korea (1984-1997).svg  South Korea  (KOR)Hwang Hong-cheol
Yun Nam-han
Yu Tae-gyeong
Jo Jin-saeng
3:14.71


RANKNATIONHEAT 2TIME
1.Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica  (JAM)Howard Burnett
Devon Morris
Trevor Graham
Howard Davis
3:04.00
2.Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia  (YUG)Branislav Karaulić
Slobodan Popović
Slobodan Branković
Ismail Mačev
3:05.62
3.Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal  (POR)Paulo Curvelo
Filipe Lomba
Antonio Abrantes
Álvaro Silva
3:07.75
4.Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany  (GDR)Jens Carlowitz
Michael Schimmer
Mathias Schersing
Thomas Schönlebe
3:08.13
5.Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada  (CAN)John Graham
Carl Folkes
Paul Osland
Anton Skerritt
3:09.52
6.Flag of Antigua and Barbuda.svg  Antigua and Barbuda  (ANT)Howard Lindsay
Alfred Browne
Oral Selkridge
Larry Miller
3:11.04


RANKNATIONHEAT 3TIME
1.Flag of the United States.svg  United States  (USA)Andrew Valmon
Kevin Robinzine
Antonio McKay
Steve Lewis
3:02.16
2.Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya  (KEN)Tito Sawe
Lucas Sang
Paul Ereng
Simeon Kipkemboi
3:05.21
3.Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria  (NGR)Sunday Uti
Moses Ugbusien
Henry Amike
Innocent Egbunike
3:06.59
4.Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal  (SEN)Ousmane Diarra
Babacar Niang
Moussa Fall
Amadou Dia Ba
3:06.93
5.Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast  (CIV)Akissi Kpidi
Anatole Zongo Kuyo
Lancine Fofana
Gabriel Tiacoh
3:07.40
6.Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan  (PAK)Bashir Ahmad
Muhammad Sadaqat
Muhammad Afzal
Muhammad Fayyaz
3:08.54
7.Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana  (BOT)Joseph Ramotshabi
Kebapetse Gaseitsiwe
Benny Kgarametso
Sunday Maweni
3:13.16

See also

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References

  1. "Athletics at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Men's 4 × 400 metres Relay". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  2. "Summer Olympic World Records: Best Performances in Each Event". Bleacher Report .
  3. "Seoul 1988 Athletics - Olympic Results by Discipline".