# Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay

The men's 4 × 100 metres relay was held on 9 and 10 September 1972.

## Heats

The top four teams in each of the four heats advanced to the semifinal round.

### Heat one

| Rank | Names | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Aleksandr Kornelyuk, Vladimir Lovetskiy, Juris Silovs, Valeriy Borzov | Soviet Union | 39.15 |
| 2 | Jobst Hirscht, Karlheinz Klotz, Gerhard Wucherer, Klaus Ehl | West Germany | 39.17 |
| 3 | Manfred Kokot, Bernd Borth, Hans-Jürgen Bombach, Siegfried Schenke | East Germany | 39.17 |
| 4 | Georg Regner, Axel Nepraunik, Gert Nöster, Helmut Lang | Austria | 40.49 |
| 5 | Luis Alers, Guillermo González, Pedro Ferrer, Jorge Vizcarrondo | Puerto Rico | 41.34 |
| 6 | Mohamed Jaman Al-Dosari, Mansour Al-Juaid, Bilal Said Al-Azma, Said Khalil Al-Dosari | Saudi Arabia | 43.35 |
| - | Muhammad Younis, Norman Brinkworth, Muhammad Siddiq, Nusrat Iqbal Sahi | Pakistan | DNS |
| - | Abdulazeez Abdulkareem, Malik Murdhi, Mohamed Mubarak, Younis Abdallah Rabee | Kuwait | DNS |

### Heat two

| Rank | Names | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Patrick Bourbeillon, Jean-Pierre Grès, Gérard Fenouil, René Metz | France | 39.01 |
| 2 | Jaroslav Matoušek, Juraj Demeč, Jiří Kynos, Luděk Bohman | Czechoslovakia | 39.31 |
| 3 | Rex Bazunu, James Olakunle, Benedict Majekodunmi, Kola Abdulai | Nigeria | 39.66 |
| 4 | Humberto Galea, Félix Mata, Alberto Marchán, Jesús Rico | Venezuela | 39.74 |
| 5 | Kouakou Komenan, Amadou Meïté, Kouami N’Dri, Gaoussou Koné | Ivory Coast | 39.81 |
| 6 | Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa, Alfred Rabenja, André Ralainasolo, Henri Rafaralahy | Madagascar | 40.58 |
| 7 | Lee Chung-ping, Su Wen-ho, Chen Chin-long, Chen Ming-chi | Republic of China | 41.78 |
| - | Andrew Sartee, Thomas O'Brien Howe, Dominic Saidu, Thomas Nma | Liberia | DNS |

### Heat three

| Rank | Names | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Stanisław Wagner, Tadeusz Cuch, Jerzy Czerbniak, Zenon Nowosz | Poland | 39.11 |
| 2 | Ohene Karikari, James Addy, Sandy Osei-Agyemang, George Daniels | Ghana | 39.46 |
| 3 | Antti Rajamäki, Raimo Vilén, Erik Gustafsson, Markku Juhola | Finland | 39.54 |
| 4 | José Triana, Juan Morales, Hermes Ramírez, Pablo Montes | Cuba | 39.65 |
| 5 | Malang Mané, Christian Dorosario, Momar N’Dao, Barka Sy | Senegal | 40.95 |
| 6 | Somsakdi Boontud, Surapong Ariyamongkol, Panus Ariyamongkol, Anat Ratanapol | Thailand | 41.04 |
| - | Michael Fray, Donald Quarrie, Lennox Miller, Horace Levy | Jamaica | DNS |
| - | Ainsely Armstrong, Rudolph Reid, Bertram Lovell, Hasely Crawford | Trinidad and Tobago | DNS |

### Heat four

| Rank | Names | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Larry Black, Robert Taylor, Gerald Tinker, Eddie Hart | United States | 38.96 |
| 2 | Vincenzo Guerini, Ennio Preatoni, Luigi Benedetti, Pietro Mennea | Italy | 39.29 |
| 3 | Berwyn Price, Don Halliday, Dave Dear, Brian Green | Great Britain | 39.63 |
| 4 | Antoine Nkounkou, Louis Nkanza, Jean-Pierre Bassegela, Théophile Nkounkou | Republic of the Congo | 39.86 |
| 5 | Danny Smith, Harry Lockhart, Walter Callander, Mike Sands | Bahamas | 40.48 |
| 6 | Obedi Mwanga, Norman Chihota, Claver Kamanya, Hamad Ndee | Tanzania | 41.07 |
| - | Sisaye Feleke, Solomon Belay, Kebede Bedasso, Egzi-Gebre-Gebre | Ethiopia | DNF |
| - | José Luis Sánchez Paraíso, Manuel Carballo, Francisco García, Luis Sarría | Spain | DNF |

## Semifinals

The top four teams in each of the two heats advanced to the final.
Heat one
| Rank | Names | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Larry Black, Robert Taylor, Gerald Tinker, Eddie Hart | United States | 38.54 |
| 2 | Jobst Hirscht, Karlheinz Klotz, Gerhard Wucherer, Klaus Ehl | West Germany | 38.86 |
| 3 | Stanisław Wagner, Tadeusz Cuch, Jerzy Czerbniak, Zenon Nowosz | Poland | 38.90 |
| 4 | Jaroslav Matoušek, Juraj Demeč, Jiří Kynos, Luděk Bohman | Czechoslovakia | 39.01 |
| 5 | José Triana, Juan Morales, Hermes Ramírez, Pablo Montes | Cuba | 39.04 |
| 6 | Kola Abdulai, Rex Bazunu, James Olakunle, Timon Oyebami | Nigeria | 39.73 |
| 7 | Ohene Karikari, James Addy, Sandy Osei-Agyemang, George Daniels | Ghana | 39.99 |
| - | Georg Regner, Axel Nepraunik, Günther Würfel, Helmut Lang | Austria | DQ |
Heat two
| Rank | Names | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Patrick Bourbeillon, Jean-Pierre Grès, Gérard Fenouil, Bruno Cherrier | France | 39.00 |
| 2 | Aleksandr Kornelyuk, Vladimir Lovetsky, Juris Silovs, Valeriy Borzov | Soviet Union | 39.00 |
| 3 | Manfred Kokot, Bernd Borth, Hans-Jürgen Bombach, Siegfried Schenke | East Germany | 39.06 |
| 4 | Vincenzo Guerini, Ennio Preatoni, Luigi Benedetti, Pietro Mennea | Italy | 39.21 |
| 5 | Antti Rajamäki, Raimo Vilén, Erik Gustafsson, Markku Juhola | Finland | 39.30 |
| 6 | Les Piggot, Don Halliday, Dave Dear, Brian Green | Great Britain | 39.47 |
| 7 | Humberto Galea, Félix Mata, Alberto Marchán, Jesús Rico | Venezuela | 39.74 |
| 8 | Antoine Nkounkou, Louis Nkanza, Jean-Pierre Bassegela, Théophile Nkounkou | Republic of the Congo | 39.97 |

## Final

| Rank | Names | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Larry Black, Robert Taylor, Gerald Tinker, Eddie Hart | United States | 38.19 | WR |
| | Aleksandr Kornelyuk, Vladimir Lovetsky, Juris Silovs, Valeriy Borzov | Soviet Union | 38.50 | |
| | Jobst Hirscht, Karlheinz Klotz, Gerhard Wucherer, Klaus Ehl | West Germany | 38.79 | |
| 4 | Jaroslav Matoušek, Juraj Demeč, Jiří Kynos, Luděk Bohman | Czechoslovakia | 38.82 | |
| 5 | Manfred Kokot, Bernd Borth, Hans-Jürgen Bombach, Siegfried Schenke | East Germany | 38.90 | |
| 6 | Stanisław Wagner, Tadeusz Cuch, Jerzy Czerbniak, Zenon Nowosz | Poland | 39.03 | |
| 7 | Patrick Bourbeillon, Jean-Pierre Grès, Gérard Fenouil, Bruno Cherrier | France | 39.14 | |
| 8 | Vincenzo Guerini, Ennio Preatoni, Luigi Benedetti, Pietro Mennea | Italy | 39.14 | |