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:

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 RoundFriday, 27 August 2004 21:00 Round 1Saturday, 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 6Timothy Benjamin, Sean Baldock, Malachi Davis, Matthew Elias 3:02.40 Q, SB 2 5Yuki Yamaguchi, Jun Osakada, Tomohiro Ito, Mitsuhiro Sato 3:02.71 Q 3 2Ingo Schultz, Kamghe Gaba, Ruwen Faller, Bastian Swillims 3:02.77 Q 4 8John Steffensen, Clinton Hill, Patrick Dwyer, Mark Ormrod 3:03.06 q 5 1Oganeditse Moseki, Johnson Kubisa, California Molefe, Kagiso Kilego 3:03.32 q, SB 6 7Stilianos Dimotsios, Anastasios Gousis, Panagiotis Sarris, Periklis Iakovakis 3:04.27SB 7 4Ahmed Douhou, Ibrahima Wade, Abderrahim El Haouzy, Leslie Djhone 3:04.39 3Michael Campbell, Michael Blackwood, Jermaine Gonzales, Davian Clarke

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

Final

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

References

External links IAAF Athens 2004 Olympic Coverage