Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay

The 4 × 400 metres relay races at the 1984 Summer Olympics was contested as part of the athletics program.^[1]

Summary

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 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]

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
United States (USA) Ray Armstead Alonzo Babers Antonio McKay Sunder Nix Walter McCoy* Willie Smith*	Great Britain (GBR) Kriss Akabusi Todd Bennett Garry Cook Phil Brown	Nigeria (NGR) Innocent Egbunike Rotimi Peters Moses Ugbusien Sunday Uti

Note: * mark athletes who ran in the heats only

Abbreviations

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

Records

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

Results

Final

Rank	Team	Name	Result	Notes
	United States (USA)	Sunder Nix, Ray Armstead, Alonzo Babers, Antonio McKay	2:57.91
	Great Britain (GBR)	Kriss Akabusi, Garry Cook, Todd Bennett, Phil Brown	2:59.13
	Nigeria (NGR)	Sunday Uti, Moses Ugbusien, Rotimi Peters, Innocent Egbunike	2:59.32
4	Australia (AUS)	Bruce Frayne, Darren Clark, Gary Minihan, Rick Mitchell	2:59.70	NR
5	Italy (ITA)	Roberto Tozzi, Ernesto Nocco, Roberto Ribaud, Pietro Mennea	3:01.44
6	Barbados (BAR)	Richard Louis, David Peltier, Clyde Edwards, Elvis Forde	3:01.60	NR
7	Uganda (UGA)	John Goville, Moses Kyeswa, Peter Rwamuhanda, Mike Okot	3:02.09	NR
8	Canada (CAN)	Michael Sokolowski, Doug Hinds, Brian Saunders, Tim Béthune	3:02.82

Semi-final

Heat 1

Rank	Team	Name	Result	Notes
1	United States (USA)	Sunder Nix, Walter McCoy, Willie Smith, Antonio McKay	3:00.19	Q
2	Great Britain (GBR)	Kriss Akabusi, Garry Cook, Todd Bennett, Phil Brown	3:02.98	Q
3	Canada (CAN)	Michael Sokolowski, Doug Hinds, Brian Saunders, Tim Béthune	3:03:93	Q
4	Uganda (UGA)	John Goville, Moses Kyeswa, Peter Rwamuhanda, Mike Okot	3:04.02	Q
5	West Germany (FRG)	Martin Weppler, Uwe Schmitt, Jörg Vaihinger, Erwin Skamrahl	3:04.69
6	Ivory Coast (CIV)	Georges Kablan Degnan, Avognan Nogboum, René Djédjémel Mélédjé, Gabriel Tiacoh	3:04.87
7	Sweden (SWE)	Tommy Johansson, Erik Josjö, Christer Gullstrand, Thomas Nyberg	3:09.40
8	Japan (JPN)	Susumu Takano, Shigenori Omori, Ryoichi Yoshida, Hiroki Fuwa	3:10.73

Heat 2

Rank	Team	Name	Result	Notes
1	Nigeria (NGR)	Sunday Uti, Moses Ugbusien, Rotimi Peters, Innocent Egbunike	3:02.22	Q
2	Australia (AUS)	Peter Van Miltenburg, Gary Minihan, Bruce Frayne, Darren Clark	3:03:79	Q
3	Italy (ITA)	Roberto Tozzi, Ernesto Nocco, Roberto Ribaud, Donato Sabia	3:03:87	Q
4	Barbados (BAR)	Richard Louis, David Peltier, Clyde Edwards, Elvis Forde	3:03:89	Q
5	Brazil (BRA)	João Batista da Silva, Wilson David Santos, José-Luiz Barbosa, Gerson A. Souza	3:03:99
6	Jamaica (JAM)	Steve Griffiths, Mark Senior, Karl Smith, Devon Morris	3:04.24
7	Kenya (KEN)	John Anzrah, Elijah Sogomo, Jason Opicho, David Kitur	3:04.74

Heats