The 4 × 400 metres relay at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Stadio Olimpico on September 5 and September 6.
Note: * Indicates athletes who ran in preliminary rounds.
Existing records at the start of the event.
| World Record |  United States (USA)
|
2:56.16 | Mexico City, Mexico | October 20, 1968 |
| Championship Record |  Soviet Union (URS)
|
3:00.79 | Helsinki, Finland | August 14, 1983 |
All times shown are in seconds.
| AR area record | CR championship record | GR games record | NR national record | OR Olympic record | PB personal best | SB season best | WL world leading (in a given season) |
| DNS = did not start | DQ = disqualification | NM = no mark (i.e. no valid result) | Q = qualification by place in heat | q = qualification by overall place |
| Rank | Team | Name | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
United States
|
Danny Everett, Roddie Haley, Antonio McKay, Butch Reynolds | 2:57.29 | CR |
|
 Great Britain
|
Derek Redmond, Kriss Akabusi, Roger Black, Philip Brown) | 2:58.86 | AR |
|
 Cuba
|
Leandro Peñalver, Agustin Pavó, Lázaro Martínez, Roberto Hernández | 2:59.16 | NR |
| 4 |  West Germany
|
Norbert Dobeleit, Mark Henrich, Edgar Itt, Harald Schmid | 2:59.96 | NR |
| 5 |  Kenya
|
Joseph Sainah, John Anzrah, Elijah Bitok, David Kitur | 3:01.67 | |
| 6 |  Jamaica
|
Mark Senior, Devon Morris, Winthrop Graham, Bert Cameron | 3:04.53 | |
| ** | Soviet Union
|
Yevgeniy Lomtyev, Vladimir Prosin, Aleksandr Kurochkin, Vladimir Krylov | DNF | |
| ** |  Nigeria
|
Moses Ugbisie, Joseph Falaye, Henry Amike, Innocent Egbunike | DNS |
| Rank | Team | Name | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cuba
|
Leandro Peñalver, Agustin Pavó, Lázaro Martínez, Roberto Hernández | 3:00.99 | Q |
| 2 | Great Britain
|
Mark Thomas, Kriss Akabusi, Todd Bennett, Philip Brown | 3:01.47 | Q |
| 3 | Soviet Union
|
Arkadiy Kornilov, Yevgeniy Lomtyev, Vladimir Prosin, Aleksandr Kurochkin | 3:01.61 | Q |
| 4 | Nigeria
|
Moses Ugbisie, Joseph Falaye, Henry Amike, Innocent Egbunike | 3:01.92 | Q |
| 5 |  Canada
|
Andre Smith, Courtney Brown, John Graham, Anton Skerritt | 3:02.90 | |
| 6 |  France
|
Aldo Canti, Jean-Jacques Boussemart, Patrick Barré, Yann Quentrec | 3:03.41 | |
| 7 |  Japan
|
Koichi Konakatomi, Kenji Yamauchi, Hiromi Kawasumi, Susumu Takano | 3:04.86 | |
| 8 |  Spain
|
Cayetano Cornet, Antonio Sánchez, José Alonso, Angel Heras | 3:06.41 |
| Rank | Team | Name | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States
|
Danny Everett, Michael Franks, Raymond Pierre, Antonio McKay | 2:59.06 | CR Q |
| 2 | Kenya
|
Joseph Sainah, Elijah Bitok, David Kitur, John Anzrah | 3:00.73 | Q |
| 3 | Jamaica
|
Mark Senior, Devon Morris, Winthrop Graham, Bert Cameron | 3:01.08 | NR Q |
| 4 | West Germany
|
Peter Schwelm, Edgar Itt, Klaus Just, Mark Henrich | 3:01.18 | Q |
| 5 |  Yugoslavia
|
Branislav Karaulić, Slobodan Popović, Slobodan Branković, Ismail Mačev | 3:03.30 | NR |
| 6 |  Italy
|
Marcello Pantone, Vito Petrella, Tiziano Gemelli, Roberto Ribaud | 3:03.91 | |
| 7 |  Australia
|
Robert Stone, Gary Minihan, Peter Stubbs, Darren Clark | 3:04.59 | |
| ** |  East Germany
|
Jens Carlowitz, Frank Möller, Mathias Schersing, Thomas Schönlebe | DNF |
| Rank | Team | Name | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States
|
Danny Everett, Michael Franks, Raymond Pierre, Antonio McKay | 3:03.00 | Q |
| 2 | East Germany
|
Mathias Schersing, Michael Schimmer, Jens Carlowitz, Thomas Schönlebe | 3:03.57 | Q |
| 3 | Yugoslavia
|
Branislav Karaulić, Slobodan Popović, Slobodan Branković, Ismail Mačev | 3:03.89 | Q |
| 4 | Nigeria
|
Moses Ugbisie, Joseph Falaye, Henry Amike, Innocent Egbunike | 3:03.90 | Q |
| 5 | Canada
|
Andre Smith, Courtney Brown, John Graham, Anton Skerritt | 3:04.08 | q |
| 6 | Spain
|
Cayetano Cornet, Antonio Sánchez, José Alonso, Angel Heras | 3:05.02 | q |
| 7 |  Ivory Coast
|
Akissi Kpidi, Zongo Kuyo, Djedjemel Anatole, René Mélédjé | 3:05.34 | |
| 8 |  Ireland
|
Kieran Finn, Gerry Delaney, John Barry, Peter Sinclair | 3:07.18 |
| Rank | Team | Name | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenya
|
Joseph Sainah, Elijah Bitok, Tito Sawe, John Anzrah | 3:02.32 | Q |
| 2 | Cuba
|
Leandro Peñalver, Agustin Pavó, Lázaro Martínez, Roberto Hernández | 3:02.62 | Q |
| 3 | Soviet Union
|
Arkadiy Kornilov, Yevgeniy Lomtyev, Vladimir Prosin, Aleksandr Kurochkin | 3:02.79 | Q |
| 4 | Jamaica
|
Mark Senior, Devon Morris, Winthrop Graham, Bert Cameron | 3:05.11 | Q |
| 5 |  Czechoslovakia
|
Jindrich Roun, Stanislav Navesnak, Jozef Kucej, Lubos Balosak | 3:05.44 | |
| 6 |  Brazil
|
Washington Rodrigues, Sérgio Menezes, Gerson A. Souza, José Luíz Barbosa | 3:05.64 |
| Rank | Team | Name | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Britain
|
Mark Thomas, Kriss Akabusi, Todd Bennett, Philip Brown | 3:03.75 | Q |
| 2 | Japan
|
Koichi Konakatomi, Kenji Yamauchi, Hiromi Kawasumi, Susumu Takano | 3:03.86 | Q |
| 3 | West Germany
|
Peter Schwelm, Mark Henrich, Klaus Just, Edgar Itt | 3:03.87 | Q |
| 4 | Australia
|
Robert Stone, Gary Minihan, Peter Stubbs, Darren Clark | 3:04.22 | Q |
| 5 | Italy
|
Marcello Pantone, Vito Petrella, Andrea Montanari, Roberto Ribaud | 3:04.64 | q |
| 6 | France
|
Aldo Canti, Jean-Jacques Boussemart, Patrick Barré, Yann Quentrec | 3:04.64 | q |
| 7 |  Chinese Taipei
|
Lin Kuang-liang, Hsu Ruo-ta, Lee Shiun-long, Lin Tsai-tien | 3:11.45 |
