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.[1] NOCs could enter 1 team of 4 athletes, with up to 2 reserves.[2]

Men's 4 × 100 metres relay
at the Games of the V Olympiad
The winning British relay team.
VenueStockholm Olympic Stadium
DatesJuly 8, 1912 (heats, semifinals)
July 9, 1912 (final)
Competitors33 from 8 nations
Medalists
Victor d'Arcy
Willie Applegarth
Henry Macintosh
David Jacobs
 Great Britain
Knut Lindberg
Charles Luther
Ivan Möller
Ture Person
 Sweden

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

Records

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 with 42.3 became the first official world record for the 4 × 100 meters relay.

Results

Heats

All heats were held on Monday, July 8, 1912.

Only two teams were eliminated after the first round.

Heat 1

PlaceAthletesTimeQual.
1 Frank McConnell, Frank Lukeman, Harry Beasley, John Howard (CAN)46.2 ORQS

Heat 2

PlaceAthletesTimeQual.
1 Ira Courtney, Frank Belote, Clement Wilson, Carl Cooke (USA)43.7 ORQS

Heat 3

PlaceAthletesTimeQual.
1 David Jacobs, Henry Macintosh, Willie Applegarth, Victor d'Arcy (GBR)45.0QS

Heat 4

PlaceAthletesTimeQual.
1 Ivan Möller, Charles Luther, Ture Person, Knut Lindberg (SWE)43.6 ORQS

Heat 5

PlaceAthletesTimeQual.
1 Karl Halt, Max Herrmann, Erwin Kern, Richard Rau (GER)43.6 =ORQS
2 Gustav Kröjer, Rudolf Rauch, Fritz Weinzinger, Fritz Fleischer (AUT)44.8

Heat 6

PlaceAthletesTimeQual.
1 Ferenc Szobota, Vilmos Rácz, Pál Szalay, István Jankovich (HUN)43.7QS
2 Pierre Failliot, Georges Rolot, Charles Lelong, René Mourlon (FRA)43.8

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.

PlaceAthletesTimeQual.
1 David Jacobs, Henry Macintosh, Willie Applegarth, Victor d'Arcy (GBR)43.0 ORQF
 Ira Courtney, Frank Belote, Clement Wilson, Carl Cooke (USA)Disqualified

Semifinal 2

PlaceAthletesTimeQual.
1 Ivan Möller, Charles Luther, Ture Person, Knut Lindberg (SWE)42.5 ORQF
2 Ferenc Szobota, Vilmos Rácz, Pál Szalay, István Jankovich (HUN)42.9

Semifinal 3

PlaceAthletesTimeQual.
1 Otto Röhr, Max Herrmann, Erwin Kern, Richard Rau (GER)42.3 ORQF
2 Frank McConnell, Frank Lukeman, Harry Beasley, John Howard (CAN)43.5

Final

The final was held on Tuesday, July 9, 1912.

Rau, erasing a deficit held since the first runners in the order, finished barely behind d'Arcy but the German team had committed a fault with its second baton passing as Kern passed the 20 metre line before receiving the baton. The Germans were disqualified, leaving no bronze medalist in the event as the British team finished with the gold and the Swedes moved up to second place.

PlaceAthletesTime
1 David Jacobs, Henry Macintosh, Willie Applegarth, Victor d'Arcy (GBR)42.4
2 Ivan Möller, Charles Luther, Ture Person, Knut Lindberg (SWE)42.6
 Otto Röhr, Max Herrmann, Erwin Kern, Richard Rau (GER)Disqualified

References

  1. "Athletics at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's 4 × 100 metres Relay". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  2. Official report, p. 61.
  3. Vic d'Arcy. sports-reference.com
  4. Olympia 1912 Stockholm. gettyimages.co.uk

Sources

  • Bergvall, Erik (ed.) (1913). Adams-Ray, Edward (trans.). (ed.). The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  • Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 1 January 2007.
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