Competitors 33 from 8 nations | ||
 | ||
Venue Stockholm Olympic Stadium Dates July 8, 1912 (heats, semifinals)
July 9, 1912 (final) | ||
The men's 4 x 100 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 4x400 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 Monday, July 8, 1912 and on Tuesday, July 9, 1912.
Contents
Thirty-three runners from 8 nations competed. Only Germany replaced one runner.
Records
The record for the new event progressed quickly, with the Canadians winning the first heat. The Americans and then the Swedes then took the record, with the Germans tying the Swedes. The British took the record in the first semifinal, only to lose it quickly to the Swedes in the second. This time, the Germans running in the third semifinal bested the Swedish team's time to take the record for themselves after replacing Karl Halt with Otto Röhr as their lead-off runner.
The German team held the record at the finish, despite finishing in second (and then being disqualified for a baton-passing fault) in the final. Their disqualification left the event without a bronze medalist, making it the only athletics event to award only two medals.
The record of the German team with 42.3 became the first official world record for the 4x100 metres relay.
Heats
All heats were held on Monday, July 8, 1912.
Only two teams were eliminated after the first round.
Heat 1
Heat 2
Heat 3
Heat 4
Heat 5
Heat 6
Semifinals
All semifinals were held on Monday, July 8, 1912.
Semifinal 1
The United States team was disqualified after a baton-passing fault on the first transfer.
Semifinal 2
Semifinal 3
Final
The final was held on Tuesday, July 9, 1912.
Rau, erasing a deficit held since the first runners in the order, finished barely behind d'Arcy but the German team had committed a fault with its second baton passing as Kern passed the 20 metre line before receiving the baton. The Germans were disqualified, leaving no bronze medalist in the event as the British team finished with the gold and the Swedes moved up to second place.