Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Thursday, August 19, 1920, and on Friday, August 20, 1920. 37 runners from 16 nations competed. No nation had more than 4 runners, suggesting the limit had been reduced from the 12 maximum in force in 1908 and 1912. The event was won by Bevil Rudd of South Africa, the nation's first title (and first medal) in the event. Nils Engdahl's bronze was Sweden's first medal in the 400 metres.

Background

This was the sixth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The only returning finalist from the pre-war 1912 Games was Ted Meredith of the United States, who had finished 4th in Stockholm and who had broken the world record in 1916. Other favored entrants included 1919 AAU champion Frank Shea of the United States, 1919 AAA champion Guy Butler of Great Britain, and 1920 AAA champion Bevil Rudd of South Africa.

Czechoslovakia, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, India, Luxembourg, and Spain appeared in the event for the first time. The United States made its sixth appearance in the event, the only nation to compete in it at every Olympic Games to that point.

Competition format

Despite the smaller field than 1912 (37 athletes, down from 49), the competition expanded from three rounds to four. The first round had 10 heats, with 3 or 4 runners each. The top two runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals. There were 4 quarterfinals, with 5 runners in each; the top three athletes in each heat advanced to the semifinals. The semifinals featured 2 heats of 6 runners each. Again, the top three runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making a six-man final.Official Report, pp. 90–92.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1920 Summer Olympics.

(*) 440 yards (= 402.34 m)

No records were set during this event.

Schedule

Date Time Round Thursday, 19 August 1920 09:3015:15 Round 1Quarterfinals Friday, 20 August 1920 14:0016:15 SemifinalsFinal

Results Times were generally only published for the winners of each heat. Some of the times listed below are estimates based on contemporary reports of the races.

Round 1

Heat 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Robert Lindsay 52.0 2 Clarence Oldfield 52.2 3 Tolly Bolin 52.6 — Émile Barral — Fritiof Andersen — Jean Colbach

Heat 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Gaston Féry 51.2 2 John Ainsworth-Davis 51.5 3 Karel Frankenstein 52.5 4 Francis Irvine 52.5 — William Hunt

Heat 3

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Frank Shea 50.8 2 Henry Dafel 51.2 3 Sven Krokström 51.6 — Josef Teplý

Heat 4

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Ted Meredith 51.6 2 Géo André 52.3 3 Giuseppe Bernardoni 52.8 — Dimitrios Karabatis — Gensabulo Noguchi

Heat 5

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Bevil Rudd 51.6 2 Erik Wilén 52.0 3 Reinhold Saulmann 52.4 4 Giovanni Tosi 52.6 — August Sørensen a.Reinhold Saulmann's time is given as 52.2 by contemporary Estonian reports.

Heat 6

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Robert Emery 52.6 2 Guy Butler 53.2 3 Karel Přibyl 54.0 4 Jules Migeot 55.1 — Shinichi Yamaoka

Heat 7

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 George Schiller 50.4 2 Nils Engdahl 50.6 3 Maurice Delvart 51.0 4 Einar Mangset 51.4 — Eduard Hašek

Heat 8

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Eric Sundblad 52.0 2 Hec Phillips 52.3 3 Agide Simonazzi 53.0 4 Purma Bannerjee 53.1 — Paul Hammer

Heat 9

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Omer Corteyn 52.2 2 Hedges Worthington-Eyre 52.6 3 Jean Proess 53.2 4 José García Lorenzana 53.4 — Johannes Villemson

Heat 10

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 François Morren 51.6 2 Miguel García Onsalo 52.0 3 Eugène Bayon 52.4 — Ahmed Khairy — Ernesto Ambrosini

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Nils Engdahl 50.4 2 John Ainsworth-Davis 50.7 3 Robert Emery 50.7 4 François Morren 50.8 5 Clarence Oldfield 51.1

Quarterfinal 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Gaston Féry 50.6 2 Guy Butler 50.7 3 Ted Meredith 50.8 4 Erik Wilén 51.0 5 Hec Phillips 51.4

Quarterfinal 3

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Henry Dafel 50.8 2 George Schiller 51.1 3 Eric Sundblad 51.2 4 Robert Lindsay 51.6 5 Omer Corteyn 52.0

Quarterfinal 4

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Frank Shea 51.0 2 Bevil Rudd 51.3 3 Géo André 51.6 4 Miguel García Onsalo 52.8 5 Hedges Worthington-Eyre 53.2

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Nils Engdahl 49.4 2 Bevil Rudd 49.7 3 John Ainsworth-Davis 49.9 4 Robert Emery 50.2 5 George Schiller 6 Gaston Féry 51.0

Semifinal 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Frank Shea 50.0 2 Guy Butler 50.2 3 Henry Dafel 50.4 4 Ted Meredith 50.6 5 Géo André 51.6 — Eric Sundblad

Final

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time 1 Bevil Rudd 49.6 5 Guy Butler 50.1 6 Nils Engdahl 50.2 4 3 Frank Shea 50.4 5 4 John Ainsworth-Davis 50.6 6 2 Henry Dafel 50.6

References

Further reading