Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay
The men's 4 × 100 metres relay event at the 1936 Olympic Games took place on August 9. The United States team of Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, Foy Draper and Frank Wykoff won in a world record time of 39.8. Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller were originally slated to compete in the American relay team but were replaced by Owens and Metcalfe prior to the start of the race. There were speculations that their Jewish heritage contributed to the decision "not to embarrass the German hosts"; however, given that African-Americans were also heavily disliked by the Nazis, Glickman and Stoller's replacement with black American athletes Owens and Metcalfe does not support this theory. Others just say that Owens and Metcalfe were in a better physical condition, and that was the main reason behind the replacement.
Results
Heats
The fastest two teams in each of the three heats advanced to the final round.Heat 1
| Rank | Country | Competitors | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, Foy Draper, Frank Wykoff | 40.0 | =WR | |
| 2 | Orazio Mariani, Gianni Caldana, Elio Ragni, Tullio Gonnelli | 41.1 | ||
| 3 | Eric Grimbeek, Pat Dannaher, Tom Lavery, Marthinus Theunissen | 41.7 | ||
| 4 | Toivo Ahjopalo, Toivo Sariola, Palle Virtanen, Aki Tammisto | 42.0 | ||
| Takayoshi Yoshioka, Monta Suzuki, Mutsuo Taniguchi, Masao Yazawa | DSQ |
Heat 2
| Rank | Country | Athletes | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Tjeerd Boersma, Wil van Beveren, Chris Berger, Tinus Osendarp | 41.3 | ||
| 2 | Juan Lavenás, Antonio Sande, Carlos Hofmeister, Tomás Beswick | 41.9 | ||
| 3 | Mario Minai, Gyula Gyenes, József Kovács, József Sir | 42.0 | ||
| 4 | Charles Wiard, Don Finlay, Walter Rangeley, Alan Pennington | 42.4 | ||
| 5 | Maurice Carlton, Pierre Dondelinger, Paul Bronner, Robert Paul | 42.6 | ||
| 6 | Poh Kimseng, Huang Yingjie, Chen Kingkwan, Liu Changchun | 44.8 |
Heat 3
| Rank | Country | Athletes | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Wilhelm Leichum, Erich Borchmeyer, Erwin Gillmeister, Gerd Hornberger | 41.4 | ||
| 2 | Sam Richardson, Bruce Humber, Lee Orr, Howard McPhee | 41.5 | ||
| 3 | Lennart Lindgren, Irvin Ternström, Östen Sandström, Åke Stenqvist | 41.5 | ||
| 4 | Albert Jud, Bernard Marchand, Georges Meyer, Paul Hänni | 42.2 |
Final
| Rank | Country | Athletes | Time | Notes |
| Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, Foy Draper, Frank Wykoff | 39.8 | WR | ||
| Orazio Mariani, Gianni Caldana, Elio Ragni, Tullio Gonnelli | 41.1 | |||
| Wilhelm Leichum, Erich Borchmeyer, Erwin Gillmeister, Gerd Hornberger | 41.2 | |||
| 4 | Juan Lavenás, Antonio Sande, Carlos Hofmeister, Tomás Beswick | 42.2 | ||
| 5 | Sam Richardson, Bruce Humber, Lee Orr, Howard McPhee | 42.7 | ||
| Tjeerd Boersma, Wil van Beveren, Chris Berger, Tinus Osendarp | DSQ |
Key: DSQ = Disqualified, WR = World record