Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay

Men's 4 × 400 metres relay
at the Games of the V Olympiad
Men's 4 × 400 metres relay; at the Games of the V Olympiad
	The winning American relay team.
Venue	Stockholm Olympic Stadium
Dates	July 14, 1912 (semifinals); July 15, 1912 (final)
Competitors	28 from 7 nations
Medalists
	1920 →

The men's 4 × 400 metres relay was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the debut of the event, which along with the 4 × 100 metre relay marked the first relays of equal legs in the athletics programme (a medley relay had been held in 1908). The competition was held on Sunday, July 14, 1912, and on Monday, July 15, 1912. Twenty-eight runners from seven nations competed.^[1] NOCs could enter 1 team of 4 athletes, with up to 2 reserves.^[2]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.

World Record	3:18.2	Harry Schaaf Harry Gissing James Rosenberger Mel Sheppard	New York (USA)	September 4, 1911
Olympic Record	–	none	–	–

Great Britain, in the first semifinal, set the inaugural Olympic record with 3:19.0.

In the final, the United States set a new world record with 3:16.6.

Results

The final: Edward Lindberg passing over the baton to Ted Meredith.

Semifinals

All semifinals were held on Sunday, July 14, 1912.

Semifinal 1

Place	Athletes	Time	Qual.
1	George Nicol, Ernest Henley, James Soutter, Cyril Seedhouse (GBR)	3:19.0 OR	QF
2	Mel Brock, John Howard, Thomas Gallon, John Tait (CAN)	3:22.2

Semifinal 2

Place	Athletes	Time	Qual.
1	Mel Sheppard, Edward Lindberg, Ted Meredith, Charles Reidpath (USA)	3:23.3	QF
2	Hanns Braun, Max Herrmann, Heinrich Burkowitz, Erich Lehmann (GER)	3:28.5

Semifinal 3

Place	Athletes	Time	Qual.
1	Charles Lelong, Robert Schurrer, Pierre Failliot, Charles Poulenard (FRA)	3:22.5	QF
2	Paul Zerling, John Dahlin, Eric Lindholm, Knut Stenborg (SWE)	3:25.0
3.	Ervin Szerelemhegyi, Ödön Bodor, István Déván, Frigyes Wiesner (HUN)	3:29.4

Final

The final was held on Monday, July 15, 1912.

Place	Athletes	Time
1	Mel Sheppard, Edward Lindberg, Ted Meredith, Charles Reidpath (USA)	3:16.6 WR
2	Charles Lelong, Robert Schurrer, Pierre Failliot, Charles Poulenard (FRA)	3:20.7
3	George Nicol, Ernest Henley, James Soutter, Cyril Seedhouse (GBR)	3:23.2

References

^ "Athletics at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's 4 × 400 metres Relay". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
^ Official report, p. 61.

External links

Bergvall, Erik (ed.) (1913). Adams-Ray, Edward (trans.). (ed.). The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 1 January 2007.

[SR-1] "Athletics at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's 4 × 400 metres Relay". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2017.

[OR61-2] Official report, p. 61.

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