# Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay

The men's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program was held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 27 to 28. The sixteen teams competed in a two-heat qualifying round in which the first three teams from each heat, together with the next two fastest teams, were given a place in the final race.
The American dominance in this relay event had become increasingly clear, having swept the medals in the 400 metres five days earlier. From an explosive start in the final, Otis Harris led off for the U.S. team and gave them a relentless lead over the rest of the field throughout the race. With no other team aiming to chase the Americans on the home stretch, the foursome of Harris, Derrick Brew, Olympic 400 metres champion Jeremy Wariner, and Darold Williamson stormed away to an effortless triumph in a time of 2:55.91, 4.69 seconds ahead of the silver-winning Aussie squad. As of 2023, this is the greatest winning margin in this relay at the Olympics. Meanwhile, the Nigerians stayed much closer with Japan and Great Britain on the final bend, until they outlasted the rivals in a desperately tight finish for the bronze.
The victory also helped the Americans compensate for the surprising runner-up finish of their team in the earlier sprint relay.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | United States (USA) Jerome Young Antonio Pettigrew Tyree Washington Michael Johnson | 2:54.20 | Uniondale, United States | 22 July 1998 |
| Olympic record | United States (USA) Andrew Valmon Michael Johnson Quincy Watts Steve Lewis | 2:55.74 | Barcelona, Spain | 8 August 1992 |
No new records were set during the competition.

## Qualification

The qualification period for athletics was 1 January 2003 to 9 August 2004. A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter one qualified relay team per relay event, with a maximum of six athletes. For this event, an NOC would be invited to participate with a relay team if the average of the team's two best times, obtained in IAAF-sanctioned meetings or tournaments, would be among the best sixteen, at the end of this period.

## Schedule

All times are Greece Standard Time (UTC+2)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Friday, 27 August 2004 | 21:00 | Round 1 |
| Saturday, 28 August 2004 | 22:25 | Final |

## Results
### Round 1

Qualification rule: The first three teams in each heat (Q) plus the next two fastest overall (q) moved on to the final.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Lane | Nation | Competitors | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6 | Great Britain | Timothy Benjamin, Sean Baldock, Malachi Davis, Matthew Elias | 3:02.40 | Q, SB |
| 2 | 5 | Japan | Yuki Yamaguchi, Jun Osakada, Tomohiro Ito, Mitsuhiro Sato | 3:02.71 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Germany | Ingo Schultz, Kamghe Gaba, Ruwen Faller, Bastian Swillims | 3:02.77 | Q |
| 4 | 8 | Australia | John Steffensen, Clinton Hill, Patrick Dwyer, Mark Ormrod | 3:03.06 | q |
| 5 | 1 | Botswana | Oganeditse Moseki, Johnson Kubisa, California Molefe, Kagiso Kilego | 3:03.32 | q, SB |
| 6 | 7 | Greece | Stilianos Dimotsios, Anastasios Gousis, Panagiotis Sarris, Periklis Iakovakis | 3:04.27 | SB |
| 7 | 4 | France | Ahmed Douhou, Ibrahima Wade, Abderrahim El Haouzy, Leslie Djhone | 3:04.39 | |
| | 3 | Jamaica | Michael Campbell, Michael Blackwood, Jermaine Gonzales, Davian Clarke | DSQ | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Lane | Nation | Competitors | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6 | United States | Kelly Willie, Derrick Brew, Andrew Rock, Darold Williamson | 2:59.30 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Nigeria | James Godday, Musa Audu, Saul Weigopwa, Enefiok Udo-Obong | 3:01.60 | Q, SB |
| 3 | 2 | Bahamas | Andrae Williams, Dennis Darling, Nathaniel McKinney, Christopher Brown | 3:01.74 | Q, SB |
| 4 | 5 | Russia | Aleksandr Larin, Andrey Rudnitskiy, Oleg Mishukov, Ruslan Mashchenko | 3:03.35 | |
| 5 | 8 | Poland | Piotr Rysiukiewicz, Piotr Klimczak, Marcin Marciniszyn, Marek Plawgo | 3:03.69 | |
| 6 | 4 | Ukraine | Volodymyr Demchenko, Yevgeniy Zyukov, Myhaylo Knysh, Andriy Tverdostup | 3:04.01 | |
| 7 | 7 | Spain | Eduardo Iván Rodríguez, David Canal, Luis Flores, Antonio Manuel Reina | 3:05.03 | SB |
| | 1 | South Africa | Marcus La Grange, Hendrick Mokganyetsi, Ockert Cilliers, Arnaud Malherbe | DNF | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Nation | Competitors | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | United States | Otis Harris, Derrick Brew, Jeremy Wariner, Darold Williamson | 2:55.91 | SB |
| | 1 | Australia | John Steffensen, Mark Ormrod, Patrick Dwyer, Clinton Hill | 3:00.60 | SB |
| | 3 | Nigeria | James Godday, Musa Audu, Saul Weigopwa, Enefiok Udo-Obong | 3:00.90 | SB |
| 4 | 6 | Japan | Yuki Yamaguchi, Jun Osakada, Tomohiro Ito, Mitsuhiro Sato | 3:00.99 | SB |
| 5 | 5 | Great Britain | Timothy Benjamin, Sean Baldock, Malachi Davis, Matthew Elias | 3:01.07 | SB |
| 6 | 7 | Bahamas | Nathaniel McKinney, Aaron Cleare, Andrae Williams, Christopher Brown | 3:01.88 | |
| 7 | 8 | Germany | Ingo Schultz, Kamghe Gaba, Ruwen Faller, Bastian Swillims | 3:02.22 | |
| 8 | 2 | Botswana | Johnson Kubisa, California Molefe, Gaolesiela Salang, Kagiso Kilego | 3:02.49 | SB |