Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. The competition was held on Friday, July 12, 1912, and on Saturday, July 13, 1912. Forty-nine runners from 16 nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.Official report, p. 61. The event was won by Charles Reidpath of the United States, the nation's fourth title in the event. Hanns Braun of Germany took silver, the nation's first medal in the men's 400 metres.

Background

It was the fifth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the finalists from 1908 returned. The favorites were all among by the American team: 1909 and 1911 AAU champion Edward Lindberg, 1911 IC4A champion Donnell Young, and 1912 IC4A champion Charles Reidpath.

Australasia, Austria, Bohemia, Japan, Portugal, Russia, and South Africa appeared in the event for the first time. The United States made its fifth appearance in the event, the only nation to compete in it at every Olympic Games to that point.

Competition format

The competition consisted of three rounds. The first round had 15 heats, ranging from 1 to 6 runners. The top two runners in each heat advanced to the semifinals. The semifinal was to consist of 5 heats of 6 runners each, but one semifinal had only 5 runners because one preliminary heat had only had 1 runner. Only the top runner in each semifinal heat advanced, making a five-man final. The first two rounds were run without lanes, but an incident in the last semifinal resulted in the final being held with strings demarking lanes.Official Report, pp. 357–60.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.

(*) unofficial 440 yards (= 402.34 m)

(**) This track was 536.45 metres= mile in circumference.

The Olympic record of 48.4 seconds, set at the previous Olympics, fell in the final. Charles Reidpath broke the record with a 48.2 second performance. Reidpath's time was ratified by the IAAF as the inaugural official world record. Hanns Braun also broke the old Olympic record and Edward Lindberg tied it, en route to silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Schedule

Date Time Round Friday, 12 July 1912 11:00 16:15 Round 1 Semifinals Saturday, 13 July 1912 15:00 Final

Results

Heats

All heats were held on Friday, July 12, 1912.

Heat 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 James Rosenberger 50.4 2 Charles Poulenard 50.7 3 Wladyslaw Ponurski Unknown — Claude Ross

Heat 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Ernest Haley 1:06.6 2 Mel Sheppard 1:06.6

Heat 3

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Hanns Braun 50.6 2 Ted Meredith Unknown 3 Armando Cortesão Unknown

Heat 4

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Paul Zerling 55.4 2 Yahiko Mishima 55.5

Heat 5

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Charles Lelong 50.2 2 Donnell Young 50.4 3 István Déván Unknown 4 Gustav Möller Unknown

Heat 6

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Knut Stenborg 1:01.6

Heat 7

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Carroll Haff 50.4 2 Emilio Lunghi 50.5 3 Max Herrmann Unknown

Heat 8

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Frigyes Wiesner 50.8 2 John Dahlin 51.0 3 Georges Malfait Unknown

Heat 9

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Eric Lindholm 51.4 2 Jacob Pedersen 51.6 3 Heinrich Burkowitz 51.7 4 Václav Labík 52.0

Heat 10

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Edward Lindberg 50.6 2 James Soutter Unknown 3 Franco Giongo Unknown

Heat 11

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Clarence Edmundson 50.2 2 Ernest Henley Unknown 3 Mel Brock Unknown 4 Pyotr Gayevsky Unknown

Heat 12

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 George Nicol 50.0 2 Ira Davenport Unknown 3 Thomas Gallon Unknown 4 Erich Lehmann Unknown 5 Georges Rolot Unknown 6 Ödön Bodor Unknown

Heat 13

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Jacques Person 55.4 2 Joseph Wells 1:01.2

Heat 14

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Cyril Seedhouse 51.5 2 Ervin Szerelemhegyi Unknown — Alexander Pedersen 51.9

Heat 15

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 George Patching 51.1 2 Charles Reidpath 51.2 3 Heinrich Wenseler Unknown 4 Alan Patterson Unknown 5 Robert Schurrer Unknown

Semifinals

All semi-finals were held on Friday, July 12, 1912.

Semifinal 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Charles Reidpath 48.7 2 Clarence Edmundson Unknown 3 George Nicol Unknown 4 Frigyes Wiesner Unknown 5 Charles Poulenard Unknown — John Dahlin

Semifinal 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Edward Lindberg 48.9 2 Eric Lindholm 50.2 3 Charles Lelong Unknown — Jacques Person Cyril Seedhouse Joseph Wells

Semifinal 3

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Ted Meredith 48.8 2 Mel Sheppard 48.9 3 George Patching 50.5 4 Knut Stenborg 50.5 5 Jacob Pedersen Unknown 6 Ernest Henley Unknown

Semifinal 4

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Carroll Haff 49.7 2 Emilio Lunghi Unknown 3 Ervin Szerelemhegyi Unknown — Ernest Haley James Rosenberger Yahiko Mishima

Semifinal 5

Young crossed the finish line in first, but was disqualified for elbowing Braun and knocking him to the outside of the track as Braun tried to cut in front of him. This incident resulted in lanes being used for the final the next day.Official Report, p. 359.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Hanns Braun 49.2 2 Ira Davenport Unknown 3 James Soutter Unknown 4 Paul Zerling Unknown — Donnell Young

Final

The final was held on Saturday, July 13, 1912. It was held in lanes because of the incident between Young and Braun in the semifinals. There were three false starts before the race finally started legally. Meredith led early with a strong pace. Braun took the lead around the halfway mark. Reidpath finished strong, passing Braun in the final 15 metres.Official Report, p. 360.

Reidpath's time broke the Olympic record; it was also recognized as the inaugural world record in the event at the formation of World Athletics (then known as the IAAF).

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 3 Charles Reidpath 48.2 2 Hanns Braun 48.3 5 Edward Lindberg 48.4 4 1 Ted Meredith 49.2 5 4 Carroll Haff 49.5

References

External links