Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres sprint event at the 1948 Olympic Games took place between August 4 and August 5. Fifty-three athletes from 28 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by 0.2 seconds by Jamaican Arthur Wint coming from almost 10 meters back to catch teammate and world record holder Herb McKenley. This was Jamaica's first Olympic gold medal in their debut participation at the Games, and broke a string of 3 straight American victories in the men's 400 metres.

Background

This was the eleventh appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Bill Roberts of Great Britain was the only finalist from 1936 to return after the 12-year gap. Herb McKenley of Jamaica was the "heavy favorite," having recently broken the world record. Top challengers included fellow Jamaican Arthur Wint and American Mal Whitfield (fresh off a win in the 800 metres).

In addition to Jamaica winning gold in its first appearance in the event, Bermuda, Ceylon, Colombia, Cuba, Iceland, Iraq, Turkey, and Yugoslavia competed in the 400 metres for the first time. The United States made its eleventh appearance in the event, the only nation to compete in it at every Olympic Games to that point.

Competition format

The competition retained the basic four-round format from 1920. There were 12 heats in the first round, each with between 3 and 5 athletes. The top two runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals. There were 4 quarterfinals of 6 runners each; the top three athletes in each quarterfinal heat advanced to the semifinals. The semifinals featured 2 heats of 6 runners each. The top three runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making a six-man final.Official Report, pp. 246–47.

Records Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

Schedule All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1) Date Time RoundWednesday, 4 August 1948 15:3017:15Round 1QuarterfinalsThursday, 5 August 1948 15:0016:45SemifinalsFinals

Results Round 1

The fastest two runners in each of the twelve heats advanced to the quarterfinals.

Heat 1 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Jimmy Reardon 48.4 2 Marko Račič 50.5 3 Chen Yinglang 50.9 4Georgios Karageorgos 54.5

Heat 2 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Herb McKenley 48.4 2 Rune Larsson 49.2 3 Ferenc Bánhalmi 49.6 4Jaime Aparicio 50.8 5Guillermo Evans 51.8

Heat 3 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Zvonko Sabolović 49.9 2 Kurt Lundquist 50.0 3 Antonio Pocovi 50.7 4Mario Rosas 51.4 5Labib Hasso 56.8

Heat 4 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 George Rhoden 48.4 2 Dennis Shore 49.0 3 Oskar Hardmeier 49.2 4Angel García 50.2 5Bill Ramsay 50.3

Heat 5 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Jacques Lunis 49.3 2 Folke Alnevik 50.2 3 Carlos Monges 50.9

Heat 6 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Dave Bolen 50.1 2 John Bartram 50.8 3 Hazzard Dill 53.0

Heat 7 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Leslie Lewis 48.9 2 Bjørn Vade 49.6 3 Ernie McCullough 49.9 4Walter Keller 50.3 5Runar Holmberg 50.6

Heat 8 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Mal Whitfield 48.3 2 Bill Roberts 48.9 3 Don McFarlane 49.5 4Olavi Talja 50.4 5Max Trepp 50.9

Heat 9 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Arthur Wint 47.7 2 Francis Schewetta 48.9 3 John De Saram 51.2 4Tauno Suvanto 51.5 5Doğan Acarbay 53.0

Heat 10 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Morris Curotta 49.1 2 Rosalvo Ramos 49.2 3 Raymond Crapet 49.4 4Kemal Horulu 51.5

Heat 11 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 George Guida 49.0 2 Derek Pugh 49.3 3 Gustavo Ehlers 49.5 4Stefanos Petrakis 54.5

Heat 12 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Herman Kunnen 50.0 2 Bob McFarlane 50.6 3 Reynir Sigurðsson 51.4 4 Jaime Hitelman 51.5 5 Stylianos Stratakos 52.8

Quarterfinals

The fastest three runners in each of the four heats advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Mal Whitfield 48.0 2 George Rhoden 48.6 3 Rosalvo Ramos 48.7 4Leslie Lewis 49.2 5Zvonko Sabolović 49.5 6Folke Alnevik 50.6

Quarterfinal 2 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Arthur Wint 47.7 2 Morris Curotta 48.4 3 Dennis Shore 48.5 4Bill Roberts 48.6 5Bjørn Vade 49.7 — Herman Kunnen

Quarterfinal 3 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Herb McKenley 48.0 2 George Guida 48.0 3 Rune Larsson 48.8 4John Bartram 49.9 5Francis Schewetta 49.9 6Marko Račič 52.1

Quarterfinal 4 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Dave Bolen 48.0 2 Jimmy Reardon 48.3 3 Bob McFarlane 48.4 4Kurt Lundquist 48.4 5Derek Pugh 48.8 6Jacques Lunis 48.9

Semifinals

The fastest three runners in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.

Semifinal 1 Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Notes 1 Arthur Wint 46.3 2 Morris Curotta 47.2 3 Mal Whitfield 47.4 4George Rhoden 47.7 5Jimmy Reardon 47.8 — Rune Larsson

Semifinal 2 Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Notes 1 Herb McKenley 47.3 2 Dave Bolen 47.9 3 George Guida 48.3 4Dennis Shore 48.8 5Rosalvo Ramos 49.1 6Bob McFarlane 51.7

Final

McKenley was known for starting fast and stayed true to form in this race, hitting the halfway mark at 21.6 seconds (a split which would have placed him 6th in the final of the 200 metre event itself). Wint, however, powered through the second half and caught McKenley with 20–30 metres to go. Neither Curotta nor any of the Americans had much chance at winning behind the two Jamaicans.Official Report, p. 228.

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (hand) Notes 3 Arthur Wint 46.2 2 Herb McKenley 46.4 4 Mal Whitfield 46.9 4 1 Dave Bolen 47.2 5 5 Morris Curotta 47.9 6 6 George Guida 50.2

References

External links Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad, The (1948). The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad. LA84 Foundation. Retrieved 5 September 2016.