Prior to this competition, the existing world and Pan American Games records were as follows:
KEY:
|
WR |
World Record
|
GR |
Pan American Record
|
Rank |
Heat |
Nation |
Competitors |
Time |
Notes
|
1 |
1 |
United States |
James Walker, Herman Frazier, Maurice Peoples, Tony Darden |
3:06.4 |
Q
|
2 |
1 |
Trinidad and Tobago |
Michael Solomon, Raffer Mahammed, Joseph Coombs, Willie Alexander |
3:09.3 |
Q
|
3 |
1 |
Canada |
Dough Hinds, Frank van Doorn, Glenn Bogue, Bryan Saunders |
3:10.1 |
Q
|
4 |
2 |
Jamaica |
Ian Stapleton, Floyd Brown, Bert Cameron, Colin Bradford |
3:10.15 |
Q
|
5 |
1 |
Antigua and Barbuda |
Lester Flax, Elroy Turner, Fred Sowerby, Paul Richards |
3:12.4 |
q
|
6 |
2 |
Brazil |
Donizete Araújo, Geraldo José Pegado, Delmo da Silva, Antônio Dias Ferreira |
3:14.51 |
Q
|
7 |
2 |
Cuba |
Frank Montiéh, Carlos Álvarez, Alberto Juantorena, Pedro Tanis |
3:15.5 |
Q
|
8 |
1 |
Dominican Republic |
Francisco Solis, Anatalio Ramírez, Gil Fortuna, Rafael Félix |
3:15.7 |
q
|
|
2 |
Puerto Rico |
Víctor Ramos, Gustavo Rivera, Carlos Yambot, Julio Ferrer |
DQ |
|
[3]
Rank
|
Nation
|
Competitors
|
Time
|
Notes
|
|
United States
|
James Walker, Herman Frazier, Maurice Peoples, Tony Darden
|
3:03.8
|
|
|
Jamaica
|
Ian Stapleton, Floyd Brown, Bert Cameron, Colin Bradford
|
3:04.7
|
|
|
Cuba
|
Frank Montiéh, Carlos Álvarez, Alberto Juantorena, Pedro Tanis
|
3:06.3
|
|
4
|
Canada
|
Dough Hinds, Frank van Doorn, Glenn Bogue, Bryan Saunders
|
3:09.2
|
|
5
|
Brazil
|
Donizete Araújo, Geraldo José Pegado, Delmo da Silva, Antônio Dias Ferreira
|
3:10.9
|
|
6
|
Trinidad and Tobago
|
Michael Solomon, Raffer Mahammed, Joseph Coombs, Willie Alexander
|
3:11.6
|
|
7
|
Dominican Republic
|
Francisco Solis, Anatalio Ramírez, Gil Fortuna, Rafael Félix
|
3:14.1
|
|
8
|
Antigua and Barbuda
|
Lester Flax, Elroy Turner, Fred Sowerby, Paul Richards
|
3:14.6
|
|