1972
1. East Germany .......................................................... 3:22.95
(Kasling 52.2, Kuhne 52.0, Seidler 50.5, Zehrt 50.3)
2. United States ............................................................ 3:25.15
(Fergerson 51.8, Manning 51.9, Toussaint 51.3, Hammond 50.2)
3. West Germany .......................................................... 3:26.51
(Ruckes 53.3, Bodding 51.6, Falck 51.2, Wilden 50.6)
1976
1. East Germany ............................................................. 3:19.23
(Maletzki 50.5, Rohde 49.5, Streidt 49.5, Lathan 49.7)
2. United States ............................................................... 3:22.81
(Sapenter 51.8, Ingram 50.0, Jiles 51.3, Bryant 49.7)
3. Soviet Union ................................................................ 3:24.24
(Klimovicha, Aksenova, Sokolova, Ilyina)
1980
1. Soviet Union ................................................................. 3:20.12
(Prorochenko 50.2, Goyshchik 51.5, Zyuskova 49.7, Bagryantseva 48.8)
2. East Germany .............................................................. 3:20.35
(Lowe 50.6, Krug 50.5, Lathan 51.0, Koch 48.3)
3. Great Britain ................................................................. 3:27.5
(Macdonald, Scutt, Hoyte-Smith, Hartley)
1984
1. United States ................................................................ 3:18.29
(Leatherwood 50.50, S. Howard 48.83, Brisco 49.23, Cheeseborough 49.73)
2. Canada ......................................................................... 3:21.21
(Crooks 50.30, Killingbeck 50.22, Richardson 50.62, Payne 50.07)
3. West Germany .............................................................. 3:22.98
(Schulte-Mattler 51.73, Thimm 50.25, Gaugel 50.65, Bussmann 50.35)
1988
1. Soviet Union .................................................................. 3:15.18 WR
(Ledovskaya 50.1, Nazarova 47.9, Pinigina 49.3, Bryzgina 47.9)
2. United States ................................................................. 3:15.51
(D. Howard 49.7, Dixon 49.2, Brisco 48.5, Griffith Joyner 48.1)
3. East Germany ................................................................ 3:18.29
(Neubauer 50.7, Emmelmann 49.6, Busch 49.1, Moller 48.9)
1992
1. Soviet Union .................................................................... 3:20.20
(Ruzina 51.5, Dzhigalova 50.1, Nazarova II 49.1, Bryzgina 49.5)
2. United States .................................................................. 3:20.92
(Kaiser 51.4, Torrence 49.8, Miles-Clark 49.5, Stevens 50.2)
3. Great Britain .................................................................... 3:24.23
(Smith 51.3, Douglas 52.0, Stoute 50.5, Gunnell 50.4)
1996
1. United States ................................................................... 3:20.91
(Stevens 51.68, Malone 50.27, Graham 49.49, Miles-Clark 49.47)
2. Nigeria ............................................................................. 3:21.04
(Afolabi 51.13, Yusuf 49.72, Opara 51.29, Ogunkoya 48.90)
3. Germany .......................................................................... 3:21.14
(Rohlander 51.72, Kisabaka 50.43, Rucker 50.36, Breuer 48.63)
2000
1. United States ....................................................................3:22.62
(Miles-Clark Jearl, Hennagan Monique, Jones Marion, Colander-Richardson LaTasha) 
2. Jamaica ..........................................................................  3:23.25
(Richards Sandie, Scott Catherine, Hemmings Deon, Graham Lorraine) 
3. Russia ...........................................................  .................3:23.46
(Sotnikova Yuliya, Goncharenko Svetlana, Kotlyarova Olga, Privalova Irina) 

Medals
3 - 4 - 0  USA
3 - 0 - 1  Soviet Union
2 - 1 - 1  East Germany
0 - 1 - 0  Canada
0 - 1 - 0  Nigeria
0 - 1 - 0  Jamaica
0 - 0 - 2  West Germany
0 - 0 - 2  Great Britain
0 - 0 - 1  Germany
0 - 0 - 1  Russia