| Final | time | | 1. United States | 38.2s | Charles Greene | Mel Pender | Ronald Smith | James Hines | | 2. Cuba | 38.3s | Hermes Ramírez | Juan Morales | Pablo Montes | Enrique Figuerola | | 3. France | 38.4s | Gerard Fenouil | Josselyn Delecour | Claude Piquemal | Roger Bambuck | | 4. Jamaica | 38.4s | Errol Stewart | Michael Fray | Clifton Forbes | Lennox Miller | | 5. East Germany | 38.6s | Heinz Erbstösser | Hartmut Schelter | Peter Haase | Harald Eggers | | 6. West Germany | 38.7s | Karl-Peter Schmidtke | Gert Metz | Gerhard Wucherer | Joachim Eigenherr | | 7. Italy | 39.2s | Sergio Ottolina | Ennio Preatoni | Angelo Sguazzero | Livio Berruti | | 8. Poland | 39.2s | Wieslaw Maniak | Edward Romanowski | Zenon Nowosz | Marian Dudziak |
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The altitude did wonders for the times. Cuba won the first heat from the
USA – 38.7 to 38.8, both national records – with Greene leaving the
USA more than 5m back on the first leg. Jamaica then equalled the
world record with 38.6, and the GDR won the final heat in 38.9,
equalling the European record. Later in the day Jamaica and the GDR
improved to 38.3 (38.39), a new world record, and 38.7 (38.72), a
European best. Cuba then edged the USA, 38.6 for both teams, with
France third in 38.8, again national records for all teams. The normally
well drilled Soviet team dropped the baton, after almost doing so in
their heat.
In the final Charlie Greene was no longer hobbling, and the USA
were in contact with Cuba and Jamaica, as both Caribbean teams had
poor changeovers. Cuba showed better speed than the rest until the last
changeover when Figuerola took over with 1.5m to spare over Hines.
France were half a metre behind the USA. The technically proficient
GDR team was in second place just ahead of the USA. Hines ran a
scorching leg, almost certainly sub-9 seconds, to win by 2m from
Cuba, while Bambuck just held off Miller, who lost only a metre to
Hines. The first four teams crushed the pre-Olympic world record.
| Heat 1 | Time | Ath.1 | Ath.2 | Ath.3 | Ath.4 | | 1. Jamaica | 38.3s | Errol Stewart | Michael Fray | Clifton Forbes | Lennox Miller | | 2. East Germany | 38.7s | Heinz Erbstösser | Hartmut Schelter | Peter Haase | Harald Eggers | | 3. West Germany | 38.9s | Karl-Peter Schmidtke | Gert Metz | Gerhard Wucherer | Joachim Eigenherr | | 4. Poland | 38.9s | Wieslaw Maniak | Edward Romanowski | Zenon Nowosz | Marian Dudziak | | 5. Great Britain | 39.4s | Joseph Speake | Ronald Jones | Ralph Banthorpe | Barrie Kelly | | 6. Trinidad and Tobago | 39.5s | Raymond Fabien | Winston Short | Carl Archer | Edwin Roberts | | 7. Cml | 39.6s | Atta Kouaukou | N'dri Kouame | Boy Diby | Gaoussou Kone | | 8. Malaisia | 40.8s | Manikavasagam Jegathesan | Krishnan Thambusamy | Gunaratnam Rajalingam | Jai Hock Lim |
| Heat 2 | Time | Ath.1 | Ath.2 | Ath.3 | Ath.4 | | 1. Cuba | 38.6s | Hermes Ramírez | Juan Morales | Pablo Montes | Enrique Figuerola | | 2. United States | 38.6s | Charles Greene | Mel Pender | Ronald Smith | James Hines | | 3. France | 38.8s | Gerard Fenouil | Josselyn Delecour | Claude Piquemal | Roger Bambuck | | 4. Italy | 39.4s | Sergio Ottolina | Ennio Preatoni | Angelo Sguazzero | Livio Berruti | | 5. Ghana | 39.9s | Edward Owusu | Micheal Ahey | William Quaye | James Addy | | -. Bahamas | DQ | | | -. Nigeria | DQ | | | -. Soviet Union | DQ | |
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