Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay



The men's 4 × 100 meters relay was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics program. It was the debut of the event, which along with the 4 × 400-meter relays marked the first relays of equal legs in the athletics program (a medley relay had been held in 1908). The competition was held on Monday, July 8, 1912, and on Tuesday, July 9, 1912. NOCs could enter 1 team of 4 athletes, with up to 2 reserves.

Thirty-three runners from 8 nations competed. Only Germany replaced one runner.

Context
Though this was the Olympic debut of the event, the 4 × 100 metres relay had been held at meets going back to at least 1897. Meets like the Penn Relays had contested 4 × 440 yards and 4 × 220 yards relays before, but not over the 4 × 110 yard distance or its metric equivalent. Although a sprint medley relay had been held in 1908, this was the first Olympic relay race to take place using batons and exchange zones, rather than exchanging via hand touch.

Records
The previous world record was 43.5 seconds, set by a German team in May 1912.

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, 42.3 seconds, became the first official world record for the 4 × 100 meters 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: d'Arcy beat Rau and Lindberg in a close and exciting contest.

Afterwards, the German team were disqualified as Kern had passed the 20 metre line before receiving the baton from Herrmann. This left no bronze medalist in the event.