The men's 400 metres sprint event at the 1932 Olympic Games took place on August 4 and August 5 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Twenty-seven athletes from 15 nations competed. The 1930 Olympic Congress in Berlin had reduced the limit from 4 athletes per NOC to 3 athletes.Official Report, p. 377. The event was won by Bill Carr of the United States, that nation's second consecutive title and sixth overall in the event (all by different men). Ben Eastman's silver marked the first time countrymen had gone one-two in the event since the United States did it at the first three Olympics (1896, 1900, and 1904, including a podium sweep in 1904).

Background

This was the ninth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The defending gold medalist, Ray Barbuti of the United States, did not return, but 1928 silver medalist Jimmy Ball of Canada and bronze medalist Joachim Büchner of Germany did. The United States had a strong team, led by Ben Eastman (who had just set the world record at 46.4 seconds) and Bill Carr (who had beaten Eastman at the U.S. Olympic trials and the IC4A championships).

New Zealand appeared in the event for the first time. The United States made its ninth 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. With fewer athletes than previous editions, the first round was reduced to 6 heats (vs. 15 in 1928). Each heat had between 4 and 6 athletes. The top three runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals. There were 3 quarterfinals of 6 runners each; the top four athletes in each quarterfinal heat advanced to the semifinals. The semifinals featured 2 heats of 6 runners each. The top two runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making a six-man final.Official Report, pp. 410–13.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics.

Bill Carr broke the Olympic record in the semifinals (with a 47.2 second mark) and the world record in the final (officially at 46.2 seconds, auto-timed at 46.28 seconds).

Schedule

Date Time Round Thursday, 4 August 1932 14:30 16:00 Heats Quarterfinals Friday, 5 August 1932 14:30 16:30 Semifinals Final

Results

Heats

Six heats were held; the fastest three runners advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Heat 1 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Adolf Metzner 50.4 2 Seikan Oki 50.5 3 Alex Wilson 50.5 4 Kell Areskoug 50.7

Heat 2 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Ben Eastman 49.0 2 Joachim Büchner 49.3 3 Hjalmar Johannessen 49.5 4 Carlos de Anda 49.8

Heat 3 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Börje Strandvall 49.8 2 Jimmy Ball 50.0 3 Iwao Masuda 50.1 4 Sten Pettersson 50.2

Heat 4 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Bill Carr 48.8 2 George Golding 49.0 3 Crew Stoneley 49.1 4 Walter Nehb 49.4 5 Khristos Mantikas 49.6 6 Manuel Álvarez 49.9

Heat 5 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Felix Rinner 49.2 2 Godfrey Rampling 49.5 3 Willie Walters 49.8 4 Stuart Black 49.9 5 Seiken Cho 50.0

Heat 6 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 James Gordon 50.6 2 Ray Lewis 50.7 3 Domingos Puglisi 50.8 4 Richard Arguello 50.9

Quarterfinals

Three heats were held; the four fastest runners in each heat advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Bill Carr 48.4 2 Willie Walters 48.5 3 George Golding 48.6 4 Alex Wilson 49.6 5 Domingos Puglisi 50.1 6 Iwao Masuda Unknown

Quarterfinal 2 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 James Gordon 48.6 2 Godfrey Rampling 48.8 3 Joachim Büchner 48.9 4 Jimmy Ball 49.3 5 Hjalle Johannesen 49.4 6 Seikan Oki Unknown

Quarterfinal 3 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Ben Eastman 48.8 2 Felix Rinner 48.9 3 Börje Strandvall 49.0 4 Crew Stoneley 49.1Q 5 Ray Lewis 49.1 6 Adolf Metzner 49.2

Semifinals

Two heats were held; the fastest three runners advanced to the final round.

Semifinal 1 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Bill Carr 47.2 , 2 Alex Wilson 47.8 3 George Golding 48.0 4 Godfrey Rampling 48.0 5 Felix Rinner 48.8 6 Joachim Büchner 49.2

Semifinal 2 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Ben Eastman 47.6 2 Willie Walters 48.2 3 James Gordon 48.2 4 Börje Strandvall 48.4 5 Crew Stoneley 48.6 6 Jimmy Ball 49.0

Final

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 4 Bill Carr 46.28 2 Ben Eastman 46.50 3 Alex Wilson 47.4 4 1 Willie Walters 48.2 5 5 James Gordon 48.2 6 6 George Golding 48.8

References