| The track had not been kind to the sprinters at the 1928 Olympics, the heavy surface slowing times appreciably. However, the lack of big international quality 4 x 400m races meant that the world record from 1924 was vulnerable. The USA led from the gun, but after two legs their advantage was just 2m over Canada, with Germany a similar distance behind in third place. “Bud” Spencer extended the USA lead to 6m with a 47.8 leg, though Byléhn produced the fastest 400m of the race (47.4) to bring Sweden into contact with Canada. The individual champion, Barbuti, took the USA home 5m ahead in the world record time of 3:14.2, with Germany a clear second ahead of Canada. The British team, thought to be of medal capability lost two seconds when Craner started too early and had to retrace his steps to take the baton. |
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Results |
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| 4 x 400 m |
Men |
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Final |
5 August |
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| Rank |
Mark |
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Team |
Country |
NOC |
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Records |
| 1 |
3.14.2 |
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George Baird 48.2, Emerson Spencer 47.8, Fred Alderman 49.4, Ray Barbuti 48.8 |
United States |
USA |
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WR |
| 2 |
3.14.8 |
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Otto Neumann 48.8, Richard Krebs 49.2, Harry Storz 48.2, Hermann Engelhard 48.6 |
Germany |
GER |
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| 3 |
3.15.4 |
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Alex Wilson 49.2, Phil Edwards 48.6, Stanley Glover 50.0, James Ball47.6 |
Canada |
CAN |
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| 4 |
3.15.8 |
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Björn Kugelberg 51.0, Bertil von Wachenfeldt 49.4, Erik Byléhn 47.4, Sten-Pelle Pettersson 48.0 |
Sweden |
SWE |
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| 5 |
3.16.4 |
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Roger Leigh-Wood 48.9, William Craner 51.4, John Rinkel 48.5, Douglas Lowe 47.6 |
Great Britain |
GBR |
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| 6 |
3.19.4 |
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Georges Krotoff, Joseph Jackson, Georges Dupont, René Féger |
France |
FRA |
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| 4 x 400 m |
Men |
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Round One Heat One |
4 August |
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| Rank |
Mark |
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Team |
Country |
NOC |
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Records |
| 1 |
3.21.4 |
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Q |
George Baird , Emerson Spencer , Fred Alderman , Ray Barbuti |
United States |
USA |
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| 2 |
3.22.0 |
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Q |
Alex Wilson , Phil Edwards , Stanley Glover , James Ball |
Canada |
CAN |
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| 3 |
3.23.2 |
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Mór Gerő, László Magdics, István Sugár, Antal Odri |
Hungary |
HUN |
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| 4 |
3.24.2 |
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Feliks Malanowski, Zygmunt Weiss, Stefan Kostrzewski, Klemens Biniakowski |
Poland |
POL |
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| 5 |
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Philippe Coenjaerts, Émile Vercken, François Prinsen, Émile Langenraedt |
Belgium |
BEL |
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| 4 x 400 m |
Men |
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Round One Heat Two |
4 August |
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| Rank |
Mark |
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Team |
Country |
NOC |
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Records |
| 1 |
3.20.8 |
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Q |
Otto Neumann , Richard Krebs , Harry Storz , Hermann Engelhard |
Germany |
GER |
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| 2 |
3.21.2 |
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Q |
Björn Kugelberg, Bertil von Wachenfeldt , Erik Byléhn , Sten-Pelle Pettersson |
Sweden |
SWE |
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| 3 |
3.22.6 |
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Giacomo Carlini, Luigi Facelli, Guido Cominotto, Ettore Tavernari |
Italy |
ITA |
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| 4 |
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Andries Hoogerwerf, Adje Paulen, Harry Broos, Rinus van den Berge |
Netherlands |
NED |
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| 5 |
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Johann Bartl, Karel Kněnický, Vilém Šindler, Jaroslav Vykoupil |
Czechoslovakia |
TCH |
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| 6 |
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Stelios Benardis, Renos Frangoudis, Vangelis Moiropoulos, Vasilios Stavrinos |
Greece |
GRE |
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| 4 x 400 m |
Men |
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Round One Heat Three |
4 August |
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| Rank |
Mark |
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Team |
Country |
NOC |
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Records |
| 1 |
3.20.6 |
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Q |
Roger Leigh-Wood, William Craner, John Rinke, Douglas Lowe |
Great Britain |
GBR |
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| 2 |
3.23.0 |
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Q |
Georges Krotoff, Joseph Jackson, Georges Dupont, René Féger |
France |
FRA |
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| 3 |
3.23.4 |
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Alfonso García, José Lucílo Iturbe, Jesús Moraila, Víctor Villaseñor |
Mexico |
MEX |
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