# Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay

The men's 4 × 400 metres relay was the longer of the two men's relays on the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 20 October and 21 October 1964. 20 teams, for a total of 80 athletes, from 20 nations entered, with 3 teams of 4 not starting in the first round. The first round was held on 20 October with the final on 21 October.
The final of the 4 × 400 relay was the last event on the athletics schedule to begin, though the marathon was still in progress when the 4 × 400 finished.

## Results
### First round

The top two teams in each of the 3 heats as well as the two fastest remaining teams advanced.

#### First round, heat 1

| Place | Nation | Athletes | Time |
| 1 | United States | Henry Carr Ollan Cassell Mike Larrabee Ulis Williams | 3:05.3 |
| 2 | Soviet Union | Hryhoriy Sverbetov Viktor Bychkov Vasyl Anisimov Vadym Arkhypchuk | 3:07.4 |
| 3 | France | Germain Nelzy Michel Hiblot Bernard Martin Jean Pierre Boccardo | 3:07.5 |
| 4 | India | Makhan Singh Amrit Pal Ajmer Singh Milkha Singh | 3:08.8 |
| 5 | Japan | Toru Honda Hirotada Hayase Yoshihiro Amano Masami Yoshida | 3:12.3 |
| 6 | Senegal | Daour M'baye Guèye Daniel Thiaw Mamadou N'Diaye Papa M'Baye N'Diaye | 3:12.5 |
| — | Uganda | Unknown | Did not start |

#### First round, heat 2

| Place | Nation | Athletes | Time |
| 1 | Trinidad and Tobago | Edwin Skinner Kent Bernard Edwin Roberts Wendell Mottley | 3:05.0 |
| 2 | Poland | Marian Filipiuk Ireneusz Kluczek Stanisław Swatowski Andrzej Badeński | 3:07.2 |
| 3 | Italy | Bruno Bianchi Salvatore Morale Roberto Frinolli Sergio Bello | 3:07.6 |
| 4 | Australia | Peter Vassella Gary Knoke Gary Eddy Ken Roche | 3:08.2 |
| — | Hungary | Unknown | Did not start |
| — | Iraq | Unknown | Did not start |

#### First round, heat 3

| Place | Nation | Athletes | Time |
| 1 | Great Britain | Tim Graham Adrian Metcalfe John Cooper Robbie Brightwell | 3:04.7 |
| 2 | United Team of Germany | Jörg Jüttner Hans-Ullrich Schulz Johannes Schmitt Manfred Kinder | 3:04.9 |
| 3 | Jamaica | Laurie Khan Malcolm Spence Mel Spence George E. Kerr | 3:05.3 |
| 4 | Switzerland | Jean-Louis Descloux Hansjörg Bosshard Marius Theiler Peter Laeng | 3:09.3 |
| 5 | Ghana | James Addy Brobbey Mensah Samuel Zanya Bugri Ebenezer Quartey | 3:10.4 |
| 6 | Malaysia | Karu Selvaratnam Kuda Ditta Mohamed bin Abdul Rahman Victor Asirvatham | 3:17.6 |
| 7 | Thailand | Somsakdi Tongsuke Nipon Pensuvapap Adisorn Vitsudhamakul Manun Bumroonspruek | 3:18.4 |

### Final

Carr moved from initial position to anchor for the United States team as they set a new world record, followed closely by Great Britain and Northern Ireland as well as Trinidad and Tobago. All three teams were under the old world record time.
France also shuffled their lineup, moving Nelzy to third from first.
| Place | Nation | Athletes | Time |
| 1 | United States | Ollan Cassell Mike Larrabee Ulis Williams Henry Carr | 3:00.7 WR |
| 2 | Great Britain | Tim Graham Adrian Metcalfe John Cooper Robbie Brightwell | 3:01.6 |
| 3 | Trinidad and Tobago | Edwin Skinner Kent Bernard Edwin Roberts Wendell Mottley | 3:01.7 |
| 4 | Jamaica | Laurie Khan Malcolm Spence Melville Spence George E. Kerr | 3:02.3 |
| 5 | United Team of Germany | Jörg Jüttner Hans-Ullrich Schulz Johannes Schmitt Manfred Kinder | 3:04.3 |
| 6 | Poland | Marian Filipiuk Ireneusz Kluczek Stanisław Swatowski Andrzej Badeński | 3:05.3 |
| 7 | Soviet Union | Hryhoriy Sverbetov Viktor Bychkov Vasyl Anisimov Vadym Arkhypchuk | 3:05.9 |
| 8 | France | Michel Hiblot Bernard Martin Germain Nelzy Jean Pierre Boccardo | 3:07.4 |