| Final | Time | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | | 1. United States | 2:57.29 | Danny Everett | Roddie Haley | Antonio McKay | Harry Reynolds | | 2. Great Britain | 2:58.86 | Derek Redmond | Kriss Akabusi | Roger Black | Philip Brown | | 3. Cuba | 2:59.16 | Leandro Penalver | Agustin Pavo | Lazaro Martinez | Roberto Hernandez | | 4. West Germany | 2:59.96 | Norbert Dobeleit | Mark Henrich | Edgar Itt | Harald Schmid | | 5. Kenya | 3:01.67 | Joseph Sainah | John Anzrah | Elijah Bitok | David Kitur | | 6. Jamaica | 3:04.53 | Mark Senior | Devon Morris | Winthrop Graham | Bert Cameron | | -. Soviet Union | DNF | Yevgeniy Lomtyev | Vladimir Prosin | Aleksandr Kurochkin | Vladimir Krylov | | -. Nigeria | DNS | Moses Ugbisie | Joseph Falaye | Henry Amike | Innocent Egbunike |
| Semi-Finals | Saturday 05.09 |
| Heat 1 | Time | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | | 1. Cuba | 3:00.99 | Leandro Penalver | Agustin Pavo | Lazaro Martinez | Roberto Hernandez | | 2. Great Britain | 3:01.47 | Mark Thomas | Kriss Akabusi | Todd Bennett | Philip Brown | | 3. Soviet Union | 3:01.61 | Arkadiy Kornilov | Yevgeniy Lomtyev | Vladimir Prosin | Aleksandr Kurochkin | | 4. Nigeria | 3:01.92 | Moses Ugbisie | Joseph Falaye | Henry Amike | Innocent Egbunike | | 5. Canada | 3:02.90 | Andre Smith | Courtney Brown | John Graham | Anton Skerritt | | 6. France | 3:03.41 | Aldo Canti | Jean-Jacques Boussemart | Patrick Barre | Yann Quentrec | | 7. Japan | 3:04.86 | Koichi Konakatomi | Kenji Yamauchi | Hiromi Kawasumi | Susumu Takano | | 8. Spain | 3:06.41 | Cayetano Cornet | Antonio Sanchez | Jose Alonso | Angel Heras |
| Heat 2 | Time | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | | 1. United States | 2:59.06 | Danny Everett | Michael Franks | Raymond Pierre | Antonio McKay | | 2. Kenya | 3:00.73 | Joseph Sainah | Elijah Bitok | David Kitur | John Anzrah | | 3. Jamaica | 3:01.08 | Mark Senior | Devon Morris | Winthrop Graham | Bert Cameron | | 4. West Germany | 3:01.18 | Peter Schwelm | Edgar Itt | Klaus Just | Mark Henrich | | 5. Yugoslavia | 3:03.30 | Branislav Karaulic | Slobodan Popovic | Slobodan Brankovic | Ismail Macev | | 6. Italy | 3:03.91 | Marcello Pantone | Vito Petrella | Tiziano Gemelli | Roberto Ribaud | | 7. Australia | 3:04.59 | Robert Stone | Gary Minihan | Peter Stubbs | Darren Clark | | -. East Germay | DNF | Jens Carlowitz | Frank Moller | Mathias Schersing | Thomas Schonlebe |
| Heat 1 | Time | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | | 1. United States | 3:03.00 | Danny Everett | Michael Franks | Raymond Pierre | Antonio McKay | | 2. East Germany | 3:03.57 | Mathias Schersing | Michael Schimmer | Jens Carlowitz | Thomas Schonlebe | | 3. Yugoslavia | 3:03.89 | Branislav Karaulic | Slobodan Popovic | Slobodan Brankovic | Ismail Macev | | 4. Nigeria | 3:03.90 | Moses Ugbisie | Joseph Falaye | Henry Amike | Innocent Egbunike | | 5. Canada | 3:04.08 | Andre Smith | Courtney Brown | John Graham | Anton Skerritt | | 6. Spain | 3:05.02 | Cayetano Cornet | Antonio Sanchez | Jose Alonso | Angel Heras | | 7. Ivory Coast | 3:05.34 | Akissi Kpidi | Zongo Kuyo | Djedjemel Anatole | Rene Meledje | | 8. Ireland | 3:07.18 | Kieran Finn | Gerry Delaney | John Barry | Peter Sinclair |
| Heat 2 | Time | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | | 1. Kenya | 3:02.32 | Joseph Sainah | Elijah Bitok | Tito Sawe | John Anzrah | | 2. Cuba | 3:02.62 | Leandro Penalver | Agustin Pavo | Lazaro Martinez | Roberto Hernandez | | 3. Soviet Union | 3:02.79 | Arkadiy Kornilov | Yevgeniy Lomtyev | Vladimir Prosin | Aleksandr Kurochkin | | 4. Jamaica | 3:05.11 | Mark Senior | Devon Morris | Winthrop Graham | Bert Cameron | | 5. Czechoslovakia | 3:05.44 | Jindrich Roun | Stanislav Navesnak | Jozef Kucej | Lubos Balosak | | 6. Brazil | 3:05.64 | Washington Rodrigues | Sergio Menezes | Gerson A. Souza | Jose Luiz Barbosa |
| Heat 3 | Time | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | | 1. Great Britain | 3:03.75 | Mark Thomas | Kriss Akabusi | Todd Bennett | Philip Brown | | 2. Japan | 3:03.86 | Koichi Konakatomi | Kenji Yamauchi | Hiromi Kawasumi | Susumu Takano | | 3. West Germany | 3:03.87 | Peter Schwelm | Mark Henrich | Klaus Just | Edgar Itt | | 4. Australia | 3:04.22 | Robert Stone | Gary Minihan | Peter Stubbs | Darren Clark | | 5. Italy | 3:04.64 | Marcello Pantone | Vito Petrella | Andrea Montanari | Roberto Ribaud | | 6. France | 3:04.64 | Aldo Canti | Jean-Jacques Boussemart | Patrick Barre | Yann Quentrec | | 7. Taiwan | 3:11.45 | Kuang-Liang Lin | Ruo-Ta Hsu | Shiun-Long Lee | Tsai-Tien Lin |
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