Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay

The men's 4 × 100 metres relay was the shorter of the two men's relays on the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 20 October and 21 October 1964. 21 teams, for a total of 85 athletes, from 21 nations competed, with 1 team of 4 not starting in the first round. The first round and the semifinals were held on 20 October with the final on 21 October.

Men's 4 × 100 metres relay at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Venue	Olympic Stadium
Dates	20–21 October 1964
Competitors	85 from 21 nations
Medalists
Paul Drayton Gerry Ashworth Richard Stebbins Bob Hayes  United States Andrzej Zieliński Wieslaw Maniak Marian Foik Marian Dudziak  Poland Paul Genevay Bernard Laidebeur Claude Piquemal Jocelyn Delecour  France

Official Video Highlights @54:25 Video on YouTube

The traditionally strong American team was weakened by the injuries to Mel Pender and Trent Jackson. The defending champions United Team of Germany (with no returning members) failed to get out of the semi-finals.

The final began with Andrzej Zieliński out fast, making up the stagger on American substitute Paul Drayton on his outside. The Poles exchanged smoothly and their 4th place runner from the finals Wieslaw Maniak held a foot advantage on (plus the stagger) on Gerry Ashworth. Inside of them, France and Jamaica were making strong showings. Claude Piquemal put France into the lead through the turn with Jamaica, USSR and Poland all ahead when substitute Richard Stebbins handed off to Bob Hayes 3 meters behind France's Jocelyn Delecour. Hayes making up the gap halfway down the straightaway then pulled away to a clear American victory and new world record. 3 meters behind Hayes, Poland's Marian Dudziak was able to out lean Delecour for silver. The United States' Bob Hayes ran the final 100m of the relay in 8.6 seconds according to some estimate. This remains the fastest anchor leg of all time.

Delecour famously said to Drayton before the relay final that, "You can't win, all you have is Bob Hayes." Drayton was able to reply afterwards, "That's all we need."

Results

First round

The top four teams in each of the 3 heats as well as the four fastest remaining team advanced.

First round, heat 1

Place	Nation	Athletes	Time
1	Italy	Livio Berruti, Ennio Preatoni, Sergio Ottolina, Pasquale Giannattasio	39.7 seconds
2	Poland	Andrzej Zieliński, Wieslaw Jan Maniak, Marian Foik, Marian Dudziak	39.9 seconds
3	Great Britain	Peter Radford, Ronald Jones, Menzies Campbell, Lynn Davies	40.1 seconds
4	Hungary	Huba Rozsnyai, Csaba Csutoras, Laszlo Mihalyfi, Gyula Rabai	40.3 seconds
5	Nigeria	Sydney Asiodu, Folu Erinle, James Omagbemi, Abdul Amu	40.4 seconds
6	Malaysia	Mazlan Hamzah, John Daukom, Canagasabai Kunalan, Mani Jegathesan	41.4 seconds
—	Iraq	Jasim Karim Kuraishi, Samir Vincent, Khalid Tawfik Lazim, Khudher Zalada	Did not finish

First round, heat 2

Place	Nation	Athletes	Time
1	United States	Paul Drayton, Gerry Ashworth, Richard Stebbins, Bob Hayes	39.8 seconds
2	Venezuela	Arquímedes Herrera, Lloyd Murad, Rafael Romero, Hortensio Fucil	40.1 seconds
3	United Team of Germany	Heinz Erbstosser, Rainer Berger, Peter Wallach, Volker Löffler	40.2 seconds
4	Senegal	Malang Mané, Bassirou Doumbia, Malick Diop, Alioune Sow	40.5 seconds
5	India	Anthony Coutinho, Makhan Singh, Kenneth Powell, Rajasekaran Pichaya	40.6 seconds
6	Japan	Iijima Hideo, Kamata Masaru, Kiyoshi Asai, Yojiro Muro	41.0 seconds
7	Thailand	Taweesit Arjtaweekul, Suthi Manyakass, Maitri Vilaikit, Chalit Kanitasut	41.8 seconds

First round, heat 3

Place	Nation	Athletes	Time
1	France	Paul Genevay, Bernard Laidebeur, Claude Piquemal, Jocelyn Delecour	39.8 seconds
2	Jamaica	Pablo McNeil, Patrick Robinson, Lynn Headley, Dennis Johnson	40.1 seconds
3	Soviet Union	Edvin Ozolin, Boris Zubov, Gusman Kosanov, Boris Savchuk	40.1 seconds
4	Australia	Bob Lay, Eric Bigby, William Earle, Gary Holdsworth	40.6 seconds
5	Ghana	Michael Okantey, Michael Ahey, Ebenezer Addy, Stanley Fabian Allotey	40.8 seconds
6	Uganda	Aggrey Awori, Erasmus Amukun, James Odongo Oduka, Amos Omolo	41.4 seconds
7	Philippines	Arnulfo Valles, Miguel Ebreo, Claro Pellosis, Rogelio Onofre	41.7 seconds

Semifinals

The top four teams in each of the two semifinals advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Okorafor took Amu's place for Nigeria.

The American team tied the old Olympic record at 39.5 seconds.

Place	Nation	Athletes	Time
1	United States	Paul Drayton, Gerry Ashworth, Richard Stebbins, Bob Hayes	39.5 seconds =OR
2	France	Paul Genevay, Bernard Laidebeur, Claude Piquemal, Jocelyn Delecour	39.7 seconds
3	Jamaica	Pablo McNeil, Patrick Robinson, Lynn Headley, Dennis Johnson	39.6 seconds
4	Great Britain	Peter Radford, Ronald Jones, Menzies Campbell, Lynn Davies	40.1 seconds
5	Australia	Robert William Lay, Eric James Bigby, William Joseph Earle, Gary Alfred Holdsworth	40.1 seconds
6	Nigeria	Sydney Asiodu, Folu Erinle, James Omagbemi, Lawrence Okoroafor	40.1 seconds
7	Hungary	Huba Rozsnyai, Csaba Csutoras, Laszlo Mihalyfi, Gyula Rabai	40.3 seconds
8	Ghana	Michael Okantey, Michael Ahey, Ebenezer Addy, Stanley Fabian Allotey	40.7 seconds

Semifinal 2

Place	Nation	Athletes	Time
1	Italy	Livio Berruti, Ennio Preatoni, Sergio Ottolina, Pasquale Giannattasio	39.6 seconds
2	Poland	Andrzej Zieliński, Wieslaw Maniak, Marian Foik, Marian Dudziak	39.6 seconds
3	Venezuela	Arquimedes Herrera, Lloyd Murad, Rafael Romero, Hortensio Herrera Fucil	39.6 seconds
4	Soviet Union	Edvin Ozolin, Boris Zubov, Gusman Kosanov, Boris Savchuk	39.7 seconds
5	United Team of Germany	Heinz Erbstosser, Rainer Berger, Peter Wallach, Volker Loffler	40.1 seconds
6	Senegal	Malang Mané, Bassirou Doumya, Malick Diop, Alioune Sow	40.2 seconds
7	India	Anthony Francis Coutinho, Makhan Singh, Kenneth Lawrence Powell, Rajasekaran Pichaya	40.5 seconds
8	Japan	Iijima Hideo, Kamata Masaru, Asai Kiyoshi, Muro Yojiro	40.6 seconds

Final

Venezuela and Italy tied the old Olympic record. The United States, Poland, France, Jamaica, and the Soviet Union all broke it, with the U.S. also breaking the world record. The United States' Bob Hayes ran the final 100m of the relay in 8.6 seconds, passing three teams and bringing the U.S. from 4th to 1st place. This was considered the fastest anchor leg of all time until the 1980s.

Place	Lane	Nation	Athletes	Time
1	7	United States	Paul Drayton, Gerry Ashworth, Richard Stebbins, Bob Hayes	39.0 seconds WR
2	6	Poland	Andrzej Zieliński, Wieslaw Maniak, Marian Foik, Marian Dudziak	39.3 seconds
3	2	France	Paul Genevay, Bernard Laidebeur, Claude Piquemal, Jocelyn Delecour	39.3 seconds
4	4	Jamaica	Pablo McNeil, Patrick Robinson, Lynn Headley, Dennis Johnson	39.4 seconds
5	8	Soviet Union	Edvin Ozolin, Boris Zubov, Gusman Kosanov, Boris Savchuk	39.4 seconds
6	5	Venezuela	Arquimedes Herrera, Lloyd Murad, Rafael Romero, Hortensio Herrera Fucil	39.5 seconds
7	3	Italy	Livio Berruti, Ennio Preatoni, Sergio Ottolina, Pasquale Giannattasio	39.5 seconds
8	1	Great Britain	Peter Radford, Ronald Jones, Menzies Campbell, Lynn Davies	39.6 seconds

References

• Official Report