The men's 4 × 100 metres relay event at the 1936 Olympic Games took place on August 9. The United States team of Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, Foy Draper and Frank Wykoff won in a world record time of 39.8.

On the day before the 4×100-meter relay event at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, U.S. track coaches Lawson Robertson and Dean Cromwell altered the team's lineup. They removed Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller–two Jewish-American athletes—and replaced them with African-American sprinters Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe. The adjusted American squad (Owens, Metcalfe, Foy Draper, and Frank Wykoff) subsequently won the gold medal and set a world record time of 39.8 seconds. Owens won his fourth and final gold medal, capping off a unique achievement at these Games.

Coach Lawson Robertson officially justified the choice by stating that the team needed its fastest possible sprinters because the German host nation was allegedly hiding its best runners to stage an upset victory. Modern historians, as well as Glickman himself, view the decision as an act of political appeasement directed by Olympic officials, notably Avery Brundage. Critics argue that Brundage and Cromwell sought to prevent the domestic embarrassment of the Nazi regime, while Stoller noted the decision as a severe professional disappointment in his diaries but did not attribute it to antisemitism.

Results

Heats

The fastest two teams in each of the three heats advanced to the final round.

Heat 1

Rank Country Competitors Time Notes 1 Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, Foy Draper, Frank Wykoff 40.0 =WR 2 Orazio Mariani, Gianni Caldana, Elio Ragni, Tullio Gonnelli 41.1 3 Eric Grimbeek, Pat Dannaher, Tom Lavery, Marthinus Theunissen 41.7 4 Toivo Ahjopalo, Toivo Sariola, Palle Virtanen, Aki Tammisto 42.0 Takayoshi Yoshioka, Monta Suzuki, Mutsuo Taniguchi, Masao Yazawa DSQ

Heat 2

Rank Country Athletes Time Notes 1 Tjeerd Boersma, Wil van Beveren, Chris Berger, Tinus Osendarp 41.3 2 Juan Lavenás, Antonio Sande, Carlos Hofmeister, Tomás Beswick 41.9 3 Mario Minai, Gyula Gyenes, József Kovács, József Sir 42.0 4 Charles Wiard, Don Finlay, Walter Rangeley, Alan Pennington 42.4 5 Maurice Carlton, Pierre Dondelinger, Paul Bronner, Robert Paul 42.6 6 Poh Kimseng, Huang Yingjie, Chen Kingkwan, Liu Changchun 44.8

Heat 3

Rank Country Athletes Time Notes 1 Wilhelm Leichum, Erich Borchmeyer, Erwin Gillmeister, Gerd Hornberger 41.4 2 Sam Richardson, Bruce Humber, Lee Orr, Howard McPhee 41.5 3 Lennart Lindgren, Irvin Ternström, Östen Sandström, Åke Stenqvist 41.5 4 Albert Jud, Bernard Marchand, Georges Meyer, Paul Hänni 42.2

Final

Rank Country Athletes Time Notes Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, Foy Draper, Frank Wykoff 39.8 WR Orazio Mariani, Gianni Caldana, Elio Ragni, Tullio Gonnelli 41.1 Wilhelm Leichum, Erich Borchmeyer, Erwin Gillmeister, Gerd Hornberger 41.2 4 Juan Lavenás, Antonio Sande, Carlos Hofmeister, Tomás Beswick 42.2 5 Sam Richardson, Bruce Humber, Lee Orr, Howard McPhee 42.7 Tjeerd Boersma, Wil van Beveren, Chris Berger, Tinus Osendarp DSQ

Key: DSQ = Disqualified, WR = World record

References