Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay explained

These are the official results of the men's 4 × 100 metres relay event at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico. The event was held on Saturday and Sunday, 19 and 20 October 1968. There were a total number of 19 nations competing. The race was won by the United States in world record time.^[1]

During the heats, Jamaica had equalled the world record 38.6 (38.65) and improved upon it in the semi-finals 38.3 (38.39).

The random seeding of the final had semifinal 1 winner, with the fastest time, Jamaica in lane 5, but semifinal 2 winner Cuba in lane one and semifinal 2 runner up United States in lane 2, both regarded as inferior lanes. While Charles Greene got a quick start, USA struggled with poor handoffs so East Germany in lane 4 was the clear leader on the backstretch, with Jamaica and Cuba the closest competitors and Mel Pender racing to catch up. Through the turn Ronnie Ray Smith continued to chase Pablo Montes. East Germany still had the lead going into the final handoff, USA still behind Cuba but with a smooth handoff and France in competitive position. The East Germans took three attempts to finally make a handoff, losing ground. Once with baton in hand Jim Hines was clearly faster than Enrique Figuerola, catching him halfway down the straightaway and on to a two-metre victory. Lennox Miller equally outran Harald Eggers, but Roger Bambuck was able to hold off Miller and dive for the bronze medal for France.

The USA's time was a Fully automatic timing world record that was faster than the hand timed mark from before the Olympics. Miller had been the anchor of that previous record as well as the two Jamaican records earlier in the competition, though the 1967 USC record was never accepted as a world record by the IAAF because Miller was from a different country from his teammates (who included Earl McCullouch and O. J. Simpson).

Medalists

Charles Greene
Mel Pender
Ronnie Ray Smith
Jim Hines

Hermes Ramírez
Juan Morales
Pablo Montes
Enrique Figuerola

Gérard Fenouil
Jocelyn Delecour
Claude Piquemal
Roger Bambuck

Records

These were the standing World and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1968 Summer Olympics.

World Record	38.4yA	Earl McCullouch Fred Kuller O. J. Simpson Lennox Miller	Provo (USA)	17 June 1967
Olympic Record	39.0	Paul Drayton Gerry Ashworth Richard Stebbins Bob Hayes	Tokyo (JPN)	21 October 1964

Results

Final

Held on Sunday 20 October 1968

RANK	ATHLETES	TIME
	• Charles Greene • Mel Pender • Ronnie Ray Smith • Jim Hines	38.24 (WR)
	• Hermes Ramírez • Juan Morales • Pablo Montes • Enrique Figuerola	38.40
	• Gérard Fenouil • Jocelyn Delecour • Claude Piquemal • Roger Bambuck	38.43
4.		38.4
5.		38.6
6.		38.7
7.		39.2
8.		39.2

Semifinals

Held on Saturday 19 October 1968

Heat 1

RANK	NATION	ATHLETES	TIME
1.			38.3 (WR)
2.			38.7
3.			38.9
4.			38.9
5.			39.4
6.			39.5
7.			39.6
8.			40.8

Heat 2

RANK	ATHLETES	TIME
1.	• Hermes Ramírez • Juan Morales • Pablo Montes • Enrique Figuerola	38.6
2.	• Charles Greene • Mel Pender • Ronnie Ray Smith • Jim Hines	38.6
3.	• Gérard Fenouil • Jocelyn Delecour • Claude Piquemal • Roger Bambuck	38.8
4.		39.4
5.		39.9
-		DQ
-		DQ
-		DQ

Heats

Held on Saturday 19 October 1968

Heat 1

RANK	NATION	ATHLETES	TIME
1.			38.7
2.			38.8
3.			38.9
4.			39.4
5.			39.4
6.			39.8
7.			41.4

Heat 2

RANK	NATION	ATHLETES	TIME
1.			38.6
2.			39.0
3.			39.1
4.			39.3
5.			39.6
6.			40.0
7.			40.0

Heat 3

RANK	NATION	ATHLETES	TIME
1.			38.9
2.			39.0
3.			40.2
4.			40.6
5.			41.5

External links

Notes and References

Web site: Athletics at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games: Men's 4 × 100 metres Relay . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417173807/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1968/ATH/mens-4-x-100-metres-relay.html . dead . 17 April 2020 . 15 August 2017 . sports-reference.com.