The 4 × 400 metres relay races at the 1984 Summer Olympics was contested as part of the athletics program.[1]
The final saw Sunday Uti start off with a strong leg in lane 7, giving the Nigerian team the lead going in to the first handoff. Moses Ugbusien took the baton rather casually, the slow start giving Darren Clark the chance to pass during the curve, putting Australia into the lead at the break. Taking an efficient tangent from lane 8, Ray Armstead gained ground on Ugbusien, moving to his shoulder to try to make a pass for the Americans on the stretch, 4 meters behind Clark who was running a 43.86 split, which exactly equalled Lee Evans' world record at the time. Ugbusien didn't relent and the two teams passed virtually even. On the handoff, Alonzo Babers got the edge, trying to keep up with Rotimi Peters. The long striding Babers took off in pursuit of Gary Minihan, with the three teams well ahead of the next pursuing team from Great Britain. Coming off the final turn, Babers smoothly went past Minihan and pulled away to a 7-meter lead by the handoff to Antonio McKay.[2] Behind the action at the front, Todd Bennett steadily chipped away what was more than a 10-meter deficit to put Britain but a step behind Nigeria at the final handoff.[3] McKay kept the American lead for the victory. There a was a battle for the other medals, with Rick Mitchell holding the Australian advantage of about two meters over Innocent Egbunike for Nigeria, with Phil Brown another step back for Britain. With Egbunike training at an American university Azusa Pacific, he was quite familiar to the spectators. Down the backstretch, Egbunike gained on Mitchell, moving on to his outside shoulder to pounce coming off the final turn. Behind Egbunike, Brown was staying in close contact still on the inside. Then, as Egbunike attacked, Brown went to the outside making it three abreast with 70 meters to go. Mitchell couldn't keep up, but Egbunike and Brown ran stride for stride for 50 meters. In the final 20 meters, Brown gained a slight advantage and crossed the line ahead for the silver medal. Nigeria's consolation was the African continental record.[4]
Ray Armstead Alonzo Babers Antonio McKay Sunder Nix Walter McCoy | Kriss Akabusi Todd Bennett Garry Cook Phil Brown | Innocent Egbunike Rotimi Peters Moses Ugbusien Sunday Uti |
Note: * mark athletes who ran in the heats only
| Q | automatic qualification | |
| q | qualification by rank | |
| DNS | did not start | |
| NM | no mark | |
| OR | olympic record | |
| WR | world record | |
| AR | area record | |
| NR | national record | |
| PB | personal best | |
| SB | season best |
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1984 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 2:56.16 |  Vincent Matthews Ron Freeman Larry James Lee Evans | Mexico City (MEX) | October 20, 1968 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Record | 2:56.16 | Vincent Matthews Ron Freeman Larry James Lee Evans | Mexico City (MEX) | October 20, 1968 |
| Rank | Team | Name | Result | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunder Nix, Ray Armstead, Alonzo Babers, Antonio McKay | 2:57.91 | ||||
| Kriss Akabusi, Garry Cook, Todd Bennett, Phil Brown | 2:59.13 | ||||
| Sunday Uti, Moses Ugbusien, Rotimi Peters, Innocent Egbunike | 2:59.32 | ||||
| 4 | Bruce Frayne, Darren Clark, Gary Minihan, Rick Mitchell | 2:59.70 | |||
| 5 | Roberto Tozzi, Ernesto Nocco, Roberto Ribaud, Pietro Mennea | 3:01.44 | |||
| 6 | 3:01.60 | ||||
| 7 | John Goville, Moses Kyeswa, Peter Rwamuhanda, Mike Okot | 3:02.09 | |||
| 8 | Michael Sokołówski, Doug Hinds, Brian Saunders, Tim Béthune | 3:02.82 |
Heat 1
| Rank | Team | Name | Result | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3:00.19 | Q | |||
| 2 | Kriss Akabusi, Garry Cook, Todd Bennett, Phil Brown | 3:02.98 | Q | ||
| 3 | Michael Sokołówski, Doug Hinds, Brian Saunders, Tim Béthune | 3:03:93 | Q | ||
| 4 | John Goville, Moses Kyeswa, Peter Rwamuhanda, Mike Okot | 3:04.02 | Q | ||
| 5 | Martin Weppler, Uwe Schmitt, Jörg Vaihinger, Erwin Skamrahl | 3:04.69 | |||
| 6 | Georges Kablan Degnan, Avognan Nogboum, René Djédjémel Mélédjé, Gabriel Tiacoh | 3:04.87 | |||
| 7 | Tommy Johansson, Erik Josjö, Christer Gullstrand, Thomas Nyberg | 3:09.40 | |||
| 8 | Susumu Takano, Shigenori Omori, Ryoichi Yoshida, Hiroki Fuwa | 3:10.73 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Team | Name | Result | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunday Uti, Moses Ugbusien, Rotimi Peters, Innocent Egbunike | 3:02.22 | Q | ||
| 2 | Peter Van Miltenburg, Gary Minihan, Bruce Frayne, Darren Clark | 3:03:79 | Q | ||
| 3 | 3:03:87 | Q | |||
| 4 | Richard Louis, David Peltier, Clyde Edwards, Elvis Forde | 3:03:89 | Q | ||
| 5 | João Batista da Silva, Wilson David Santos, José-Luiz Barbosa, Gerson A. Souza | 3:03:99 | |||
| 6 | 3:04.24 | ||||
| 7 | John Anzrah, Elijah Sogomo, Jason Opicho, David Kitur | 3:04.74 |
Heat 1
| Rank | Team | Name | Result | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Van Miltenburg, Gary Minihan, Bruce Frayne, Rick Mitchell | 3:03:72 | Q | ||
| 2 | Michael Sokołówski, Doug Hinds, Brian Saunders, Tim Béthune | 3:04.47 | Q | ||
| 3 | 3:06.81 | q | |||
| 4 | Tommy Johansson, Erik Josjö, Christer Gullstrand, Thomas Nyberg | 3:07.32 | q | ||
| 5 | Shigenori Omori, Ryoichi Yoshida, Hiroki Fuwa, Susumu Takano | 3:08.16 | q | ||
| 6 | Leonardo Loforte, Pedro Gonçalvo, André Titos, Henrique Ferreira | 3:08.95 | |||
| 7 | Rashid Al-Jirbi, Ibrahim Khamis, Mubarak Ismail Amber, Ibrahim Aziz | 3:19.90 |
| Rank | Team | Name | Result | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (Kriss Akabusi, Garry Cook, Todd Bennett, Phil Brown) | 3:06.10 | Q | ||
| 2 | (Roberto Ribaud, Ernesto Nocco, Mauro Zuliani, Donato Sabia) | 3:06.28 | Q | ||
| 3 | (John Goville, Moses Kyeswa, Peter Rwamuhanda, Mike Okot) | 3:06.65 | q | ||
| 4 | (Yann Quentrec, Didier Dubois, Jacques Fellice, Aldo Canti) | 3:08.33 | |||
| 5 | (Alfred Browne, Larry Miller, Howard Lindsay, Dale Jones) | 3:10.95 | |||
| 6 | (Guy Hill, Jerry Molyneaux, Dean Greenaway, Lindel Hodge) | 3:11.89 | |||
| 7 | (Ernest Tche Noubossie, Jean-Pierre Abossolo-Ze, Barnabe Messomo, Mama Moluh) | 3:16.00 |
| Rank | Team | Name | Result | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richard Louis, David Peltier, Clyde Edwards, Elvis Forde | 3:03:31 | Q | ||
| 2 | Martin Weppler, Uwe Schmitt, Thomas Giessing, Erwin Skamrahl | 3:03:33 | Q | ||
| 3 | Georges Kablan Degnan, Avognan Nogboum, René Djédjémel Mélédjé, Gabriel Tiacoh | 3:03:50 | q | ||
| 4 | Steve Griffiths, Mark Senior, Dennis Wallace, Devon Morris | 3:03:85 | q | ||
| 5 | (João Batista da Silva, José Luíz Barbosa, Antônio Dias Ferreira, Gerson A. Souza) | 3:05.08 | q |
Heat 4
| Rank | Team | Name | Result | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (Willie Smith, Ray Armstead, Alonzo Babers, Walter McCoy) | 3:01.44 | Q | ||
| 2 | (John Anzrah, Simon Kitur, Jason Opicho, Elijah Sogomo) | 3:06.07 | Q | ||
| 3 | (Sunday Uti, Moses Ugbusien, Rotimi Peters, Innocent Egbunike) | 3:06.34 | q | ||
| 4 | (Manuel González, Benjamín González, Antonio Sánchez, Angel Heras) | 3:08.79 | |||
| 5 | (Barakat Al-Sharji, Amor Alheshimi, Sulaiman Alakbary, Mohamed Amer Al-Malky) | 3:15.87 |