Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres event at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia took place between 26 and 29 July. There were 62 competitors from 42 countries. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress.

The event was won by Michael Johnson of the United States. A few days later, Johnson would become the only man to win both the 400 metres and the 200 metres in the same Olympics. Johnson's 400 metres victory in Atlanta was the first of his two wins; he would become the only man to repeat as gold medalist in the event when he won again in 2000. More generally, his win was the fourth in what would ultimately be 7 consecutive American victories stretching from 1984 to 2008 and the 16th overall title in the event by the United States. Roger Black's silver medal was Great Britain's first in the event since 1936; Davis Kamoga's bronze was Uganda's first in the event ever.

Background

This was the 23rd appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The only two finalists from 1992 to return were bronze medalist Samson Kitur of Kenya and seventh-place finisher Ibrahim Ismail Muftah of Qatar. Michael Johnson of the United States was the clear favorite, having won the last two world championships. His countryman Butch Reynolds had come in second both times, as well as having won silver in the 1988 Olympics. Roger Black of Great Britain, 1991 world championship runner-up, 1986 and 1990 European champion, and 1994 European runner-up, was probably the strongest non-American challenger.

Algeria, Comoros, Cyprus, Saint Lucia, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, and Yemen appeared in this event for the first time. The United States made its 22nd appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Competition format

The competition retained the basic four-round format from 1920. The "fastest loser" system, introduced in 1964, was used for the first round. There were 8 first-round heats, each with 7 or 8 runners. The top three runners in each heat advanced, along with the next eight fastest overall (in contrast to previous instances where there were 8 heats, which used a top-four with no-fastest-loser rule). The 32 quarterfinalists were divided into 4 quarterfinals with 8 runners each; the top four athletes in each quarterfinal heat advanced to the semifinals, with no "fastest loser" spots. The semifinals featured 2 heats of 8 runners each. The top four runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making an eight-man final.Official Report, vol. 3, pp. 72–73.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics.

In the final Michael Johnson set a new Olympic record by 0.01 seconds with 43.49 seconds.

Schedule

Following the 1984 schedule, the event was held on four separate days, with each round being on a different day.

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

Date Time Round Friday, 26 July 1996 19:00 Round 1 Saturday, 27 July 1996 19:55 Quarterfinals Sunday, 28 July 1996 20:26 Semifinals Monday, 29 July 1996 21:10 Final

Results

Round 1

Heat 1

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 3 Roger Black 45.28 2 2 Neil de Silva 45.34 3 1 Štefan Balošák 45.86 4 6 Jude Monye 46.10 5 7 Michael Joubert 46.30 6 5 Kossi Akoto 46.94 — 8 Moustafa Abdel Naser 4 Amar Hecini

Heat 2

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 5 Davian Clarke 45.54 2 7 Sanderlei Parrela 45.60 3 1 Troy Douglas 45.61 4 6 Charles Gitonga 45.62 5 2 Piotr Rysiukiewicz 46.07 6 3 Mohamed Hamed Al-Bishi 46.82 7 8 Ivan Jean-Marie 47.13 8 4 Hassan Abdou 50.17

Heat 3

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 6 Alvin Harrison 44.69 2 5 Ibrahim Ismail Muftah 45.61 3 2 Paul Greene 46.12 4 8 Shigekazu Omori 46.30 5 3 Laurent Clerc 46.42 6 4 Shon Ju-Il 46.74 7 7 Subul Babo 48.15 — 1 Justice Dipeba

Heat 4

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 6 Eswort Coombs 45.84 2 5 Jean-Louis Rapnouil 45.93 3 3 Du'aine Ladejo 46.27 4 2 Troy McIntosh 46.42 5 7 Valdinei da Silva 46.61 6 1 Richard Jones 46.99 7 4 Mpho Morobe 47.54 8 8 Mohamed Amir 49.67

Heat 5

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 8 Sugath Thilakaratne 45.79 2 3 Michael Johnson 45.80 3 6 Alejandro Cárdenas 45.85 4 1 Bobang Phiri 45.94 5 5 Kennedy Ochieng 45.99 6 2 Euripidis Dimosthenous 46.76 7 4 Emmanuel Rubayiza 49.20 — 7 Francis Ogola

Heat 6

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 7 Butch Reynolds 45.42 2 3 Arnaud Malherbe 45.75 3 6 Tawanda Chiwira 45.89 4 5 Mathias Rusterholz 45.92 5 1 Dawda Jallow 46.73 6 4 Eugene Farrell 47.18 7 2 Casimiro Asumu Nze 50.14 — 8 Ibrahim Hassan

Heat 7

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 1 Clement Chukwu 45.18 2 8 Samson Kitur 45.39 3 5 Michael McDonald 45.50 4 6 Hendrick Mokganyetsi 45.89 5 4 Osmar dos Santos 46.16 6 2 Robert Guy 46.80 7 7 Martial Biguet 48.92 8 3 Anwar Mohamed Ali 50.81

Heat 8

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 2 Sunday Bada 45.19 2 7 Iwan Thomas 45.22 3 1 Davis Kamoga 45.56 4 5 Roxbert Martin 46.01 5 8 Mark Ladbrook 46.28 6 6 Carl Oliver 47.41 7 3 Kimitene Biyago 48.88 — 4 Ibrahim Ouédraogo

Eliminated in heats

Ranks are unofficial.

Rank Athlete Nation Time 33 Osmar dos Santos 46.16 34 Mark Ladbrook 46.28 35 Michael Joubert 46.30 Shigekazu Omori 46.30 37 Troy McIntosh 46.42 Laurent Clerc 46.42 39 Valdinei da Silva 46.61 40 Richard Jones 46.69 41 Dawda Jallow 46.73 42 Shon Ju-Il 46.74 43 Evripides Demosthenous 46.76 44 Robert Guy 46.80 45 Mohamed Hamed Al-Bishi 46.82 46 Kossi Akoto 46.94 47 Ivan Jean-Marie 47.13 48 Eugene Farrell 47.18 49 Carl Oliver 47.41 50 Mpho Morobe 47.54 51 Subul Babo 48.15 52 Kimitene Biyago 48.88 53 Martial Biguet 48.92 54 Emmanuel Rubayiza 49.20 55 Mohamed Amir 49.67 56 Casimiro Asumu Nze 50.14 57 Hassan Abdou 50.17 58 Anwar Mohamed Ali 50.81 — Ibrahim Hassan Francis Ogola Moustafa Abdel Naser Amar Hecini — Ibrahim Ouédraogo Justice Dipeba

Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals were held on 27 July 1996. The top four in each heat advanced to the semifinals.

Quarterfinal 1

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 3 Sunday Bada 44.88 2 4 Davian Clarke 44.98 3 6 Samson Kitur 45.03 4 2 Troy Douglas 45.26 5 5 Arnaud Malherbe 45.26 6 7 Tawanda Chiwira 45.38 7 8 Mathias Rusterholz 45.72 8 1 Piotr Rysiukiewicz 46.19

Quarterfinal 2

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 3 Roger Black 44.72 2 4 Ibrahim Ismail Muftah 44.96 3 5 Butch Reynolds 45.21 4 8 Štefan Balošák 45.32 5 7 Alejandro Cárdenas 45.33 6 1 Bobang Phiri 45.51 7 6 Sanderlei Parrela 45.72 8 2 Kennedy Ochieng 45.72

Quarterfinal 3

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 6 Michael Johnson 44.62 2 7 Roxbert Martin 44.74 3 8 Davis Kamoga 44.82 4 4 Neil de Silva 45.02 5 3 Clement Chukwu 45.24 6 2 Du'aine Ladejo 45.62 7 5 Sugath Thilakaratne 45.78 8 1 Paul Greene 46.22

Quarterfinal 4

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 4 Alvin Harrison 44.79 2 6 Iwan Thomas 45.04 3 7 Michael McDonald 45.26 4 5 Eswort Coombs 45.43 5 3 Jean-Louis Rapnouil 45.74 6 1 Hendrick Mokganyetsi 46.48 — 2 Jude Monye — 8 Charles Gitonga

Eliminated in quarterfinals

Ranks are unofficial.

Rank Athlete Nation Time 17 Clement Chukwu 45.24 18 Arnaud Malherbe 45.26 19 Alejandro Cardenas 45.33 20 Tawanda Chiwira 45.38 21 Bobang Phiri 45.51 22 Du'aine Ladejo 45.62 23 Sanderlei Parrela 45.72 24 Mathias Rusterholz 45.72 25 Kennedy Ochieng 45.72 26 Jean-Louis Rapnouil 45.74 27 Sugath Thilakaratne 45.78 28 Piotr Rysiukiewicz 46.19 29 Paul Greene 46.22 30 Hendrik Mokganyetsi 46.48 31 Jude Monye 32 Charles Gitonga

Semifinals

The semifinals were held on 28 July 1996. The top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 4 Roger Black 44.69 2 3 Davian Clarke 44.87 3 6 Ibrahim Ismail Muftah 45.02 4 5 Alvin Harrison 45.04 5 2 Samson Kitur 45.17 6 7 Štefan Balošák 45.59 7 8 Troy Douglas 46.33 — 1 Butch Reynolds

Semifinal 2

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 5 Michael Johnson 44.59 2 6 Roxbert Martin 44.81 3 1 Davis Kamoga 44.85 4 3 Iwan Thomas 45.01 5 4 Sunday Bada 45.30 6 8 Eswort Coombs 45.36 7 2 Michael McDonald 45.48 8 7 Neil de Silva 45.56

Eliminated in semifinals

Ranks are unofficial.

Rank Athlete Nation Time 9 Samson Kitur 45.17 10 Sunday Bada 45.30 11 Eswort Coombs 45.36 12 Michael McDonald 45.48 13 Neil de Silva 45.56 14 Štefan Balošák 45.59 15 Troy Douglas 46.33 16 Butch Reynolds

Final

The final was held on 29 July 1996.

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 4 Michael Johnson 43.49 3 Roger Black 44.41 2 Davis Kamoga 44.53 4 1 Alvin Harrison 44.62 5 8 Iwan Thomas 44.70 6 5 Roxbert Martin 44.83 7 6 Davian Clarke 44.99 — 7 Ibrahim Ismail Muftah

See also Women's 400 metres

References

External links Official Report Results