Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay
These are the official results of the 4 × 100 metres relay event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. There were a total number of 29 nations competing.
U.S. team who was defending the gold medal won in Los Angeles was favored to win the event, but fumbled an exchange in a heat and was disqualified.
A French team, including three members of the bronze medal winning team here, would claim the world record two years later.
Medalists
Records
These were the standing World and Olympic records prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.| World Record | 37.83 |  Sam Graddy Ron Brown Calvin Smith Carl Lewis | Los Angeles | August 11, 1984 |
| Olympic Record | 37.83 | Sam Graddy Ron Brown Calvin Smith Carl Lewis | Los Angeles | August 11, 1984 |
Final
- Held on Saturday October 1, 1988
| RANK | NATION | ATHLETES | TIME |
| • Viktor Bryzhin • Vladimir Krylov • Vladimir Muravyov • Vitaliy Savin | 38.19 | ||
| • Elliot Bunney • John Regis • Mike McFarlane • Linford Christie | 38.28 | ||
| • Bruno Marie-Rose • Daniel Sangouma • Gilles Quénéhervé • Max Morinière | 38.40 | ||
| 4. | • Christopher Faulknor • Gregory Meghoo • Clive Wright • John Mair | 38.47 | |
| 5. | • Ezio Madonia • Sandro Floris • Pierfrancesco Pavoni • Stefano Tilli | 38.54 | |
| 6. | • Fritz Heer • Christian Haas • Peter Klein • Dirk Schweisfurth | 38.55 | |
| 7. | • Desai Williams • Atlee Mahorn • Cyprian Enweani • Brian Morrison | 38.93 | |
| 8. | • György Bakos • Laszlo Karaffa • István Tatar • Attila Kovács | 39.19 |
Semifinals
- Heat 1
| RANK | NATION | ATHLETES | TIME |
| 1. | • Bruno Marie-Rose • Daniel Sangouma • Gilles Queneherve • Max Moriniere | 38.49 | |
| 2. | • Elliot Bunney • John Regis • Mike McFarlane • Linford Christie | 38.52 | |
| 3. | • Christopher Faulknor • Gregory Meghoo • Clive Wright • John Mair | 38.75 | |
| 4. | • Fritz Heer • Christian Haas • Peter Klein • Dirk Schweisfurth | 38.75 | |
| 5. | • Shinji Aoto • Kenji Yamauchi • Koji Kurihara • Susumu Takano | 38.90 | |
| 6. | • Victor Edet • Olapade Adeniken • Isiaq Adeyanju • Olatunji Olobia | 39.05 | |
| 7. | • Nak-Kun Sung • Duk-Sup Shim • Bock-Sup Kim • Jae-Keun Chang | 39.05 | |
| 8. | • Rashid Marzouq S. M. Al-Abdulla • Faraj Marzouqs. Abdulla • Saad Muftahmubarak • Talal Mansoor | 41.19 |
- Heat 2
| RANK | NATION | ATHLETES | TIME |
| 1. | • Viktor Bryzhin • Vladimir Krylov • Vladimir Muravyov • Vitaliy Savin | 38.55 | |
| 2. | • Ezio Madonia • Sandro Floris • Pierfrancesco Pavoni • Stefano Tilli | 38.65 | |
| 3. | • György Bakos • Laszlo Karaffa • István Tatar • Attila Kovács | 38.84 | |
| 4. | • Andrew Mowatt • Atlee Mahorn • Desai Williams • Brian Morrison | 38.94 | |
| 5. | • John Myles-Mills • Eric Akogyiram • Salaam Gariba • Nelson Boateng | 39.46 | |
| 6. | • Elkana Nyang'au • Kennedy Ondiek • Simon Kipkemboi • Peter Wekesa | 39.47 | |
| — | • Tao Li • Jianming Cai • Feng Li • Chen Zheng | DNF | |
| — | • Arnaldo Abrantes • Pedro Curvelo • Pedro Agostinho • Luis Barroso | DSQ |
Qualifying heats
- Heat 1
| RANK | NATION | ATHLETES | TIME |
| 1. | • Bruno Marie-Rose • Daniel Sangouma • Gilles Queneherve • Max Moriniere | 38.87 | |
| 2. | • Victor Edet • Davison Ezinwa • Abdullahi Tetengi • Olatunji Olobia | 39.15 | |
| 3. | • Ezio Madonia • Sandro Floris • Pierfrancesco Pavoni • Stefano Tilli | 39.20 | |
| 4. | • Seong Nak-gun • Sim Deok-seop • Kim Bok-seop • Jang Jae-geun | 39.61 | |
| 5. | • Cheng Hsin-Fu • Lee Shiunn-Long • Nai Hui-Fang • Wu Chin-jing | 40.40 | |
| 6. | • Moses Musonge • Joseph Ssali • John Goville • Mike Okot | 41.39 | |
| 7. | • Ismail Asif Waheed • Ibrahim Manik • Abdul Razzak Aboobakur • Mohamed Hanim | 44.31 |
- Heat 2
| RANK | NATION | ATHLETES | TIME |
| 1. | • Viktor Bryzhin • Vladimir Krylov • Vladimir Muravyov • Vitaliy Savin | 38.82 | |
| 2. | • Fritz Heer • Christian Haas • Peter Klein • Dirk Schweisfurth | 39.01 | |
| 3. | • John Myles-Mills • Eric Akogyiram • Salaam Gariba • Nelson Boateng | 39.13 | |
| 4. | • Tao Li • Jianming Cai • Feng Li • Chen Zheng | 39.67 | |
| 5. | • Rashid Sheban Marzouk • Faraj Marzouqs. Abdulla • Saad Muftahmubarak • Talal Mansoor | 40.05 | |
| 6. | • Armand Biniakounou • Hygien-Nicaise Lombocko • Henri Ndinga • Pierre Ndinga | 41.26 | |
| — | • Joseph Diaz • Amadou M'Baye • Babacar Pouye • Ibrahima Tamba | DSQ | |
| — | • Mardi Lestari • Kresno Eko Pambudi • Elieser Wattebosi • Mohamed Yusuf | DNF |
- Heat 3
| RANK | NATION | ATHLETES | TIME |
| 1. | • Andrew Mowatt • Atlee Mahorn • Desai Williams • Brian Morrison | 39.41 | |
| 2. | • Christopher Faulknor • Gregory Meghoo • Clive Wright • John Mair | 39.53 | |
| 3. | • Kaoru Matsubara • Shinji Aoto • Koji Kurihara • Takahiro Kasahara | 39.70 | |
| 4. | • Elkana Nyang'au • Kennedy Ondiek • Simon Kipkemboi • Peter Wekesa | 40.30 | |
| 5. | • Supas Tiprod • Visut Watanasin • Anuwat Sermsiri • Chainarong Wangganon | 40.57 | |
| 6. | • St. Clair Soleyne • Alfred Browne • Howard Lindsay • Larry Millers | 41.18 | |
| 7. | • Francis Keita • Horace Dove-Edwin • Benjamin Grant • Felix Sandy | 41.19 | |
| — | • Florencio Gascón • Enrique Talavera • Valentín Rocandio • José Javier Arqués | DNF |
- Heat 4
| RANK | NATION | ATHLETES | TIME |
| 1. | • György Bakos • László Karaffa • István Tatár • Attila Kovács | 39.12 | |
| 2. | • Elliot Bunney • John Regis • Mike McFarlane • Linford Christie | 39.17 | |
| 3. | • Arnaldo Abrantes • Pedro Curvelo • Pedro Agostinho • Luis Barroso | 39.61 | |
| 4. | • Herman Adam • Eduardo Nava • Antonio Ruíz • Miguel Elizondo | 40.31 | |
| 5. | • Fortune Ogouchi • Patrice Mahoulikponto • Dossou Vignissy • Issa Alassane-Ousséni | 41.52 | |
| 6. | • Mohamed Shah Alam • Shahanuddin Choudhury • Mohamed Hossain Milzer • Mohamed Shah Jalal | 41.78 | |
| — | • Dennis Mitchell • Albert Robinson • Calvin Smith • Lee McNeill | DSQ |