The men's 400 metres was the third-shortest of the men's track races in the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 17 October, 18 October, and 19 October 1964. 55 athletes from 36 nations entered, with 5 not starting in the first round. The first two rounds were held on 17 October, with the semifinals on 18 October and the final on 19 October. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 0.1 seconds by Mike Larrabee of the United States, the third consecutive and tenth overall victory for an American in the event. Trinidad and Tobago and Poland each earned their first medal in the 400 metres.
Background
This was the fifteenth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the finalists from 1960 returned. The United States again had a strong team; Henry Carr would have been favored, but ran only in the 200 metres and the 4 × 400 metres relay. Ulis Williams was the 1962 and 1963 AAU champion, but Mike Larrabee matched the world record to win the U.S. Olympic trials. Other contenders included 1962 European champion Robbie Ian Brightwell of Great Britain and Wendell Mottley of Trinidad and Tobago.
Hong Kong, Iran, the Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Tanzania appeared in this event for the first time. South Korea and Mongolia had entrants, but did not start. The United States made its fifteenth 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. A significant change, however, was the introduction of the "fastest loser" system. Previously, advancement depended solely on the runners' place in their heat. The 1964 competition added advancement places to the fastest runners across the heats in the first round who did not advance based on place. The 1964 event also increased the standard heat size to 8 athletes.
There were 7 heats in the first round, each scheduled to have 7 or 8 athletes but with one dropping to as low as 5 after withdrawals. The top four runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals, along with the next four fastest runners overall. There were 4 quarterfinals of 8 runners each; the top four athletes in each quarterfinal heat advanced to the semifinals. 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. 2, pp. 25–26.
Records
Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
No records were set during this event.
Schedule
All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
Date Time Round Saturday, 17 October 1964 10:0015:00 Round 1Quarterfinals Sunday, 18 October 1964 15:20 Semifinals Monday, 19 October 1964 13:00 Final
Results
First round
The top four runners in each of the 7 heats advanced.
Heat 1
Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Wendell Mottley 45.9 45.94 2 Robbie Ian Brightwell 46.1 46.13 3 Jean-Pierre Boccardo 46.6 46.63 4 Gary Eddy 46.9 46.92 5 Stanisław Swatowski 47.6 – 6 István Gyulai 48.0 – 7 Didier Mejía 48.1 – — Chang Jong Kil –
Heat 2
Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Kent Bernard 46.8 46.80 2 Sergio Bello 47.5 47.54 3 Vadym Arkhypchuk 47.7 47.70 4 Tim Graham 48.4 – 5 Arsenio Jazmin 49.9 – — Amarsanaa Dulam – Wesley Johnson – Samuel Owusa-Mensah –
Heat 3
Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Andrzej Badeński 46.4 46.46 2 Adrian Peter Metcalfe 46.7 46.79 3 Jörg Jüttner 47.0 47.06 4 Rupert Hoilette 47.5 47.50 5 Amos Omolo 47.6 47.65 6 Juan Carlos Dyrzka 48.3 – 7 Amadou Gakou 50.1 – 8 Daniel Thomas 50.4 –
Heat 4
Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Ulis Williams 46.2 46.20 2 Edwin Skinner 46.5 46.50 3 Tegegn Bezabih 46.7 46.73 4 Peter Vassella 46.7 46.77 5 Johannes Schmitt 46.9 46.90 6 Muhammad Sadiq 47.3 – 7 Víctor Maldonado 47.7 – 8 Jacques Pennewaert 47.7 –
Heat 5
Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Ollan Cassell 46.8 46.81 2 William Crothers 46.8 46.86 3 James Addy 47.2 47.27 4 Pedro Grajales 47.2 47.28 5 Viktor Bychkov 47.3 47.32 6 Jürgen Kalfelder 47.7 47.77 7 Yoyaga Dit Coulibaly 48.8 – — George E. Kerr –
Heat 6
Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Mike Larrabee 46.8 46.88 2 Ebenezer Quartey 47.1 47.12 3 Peter Laeng 47.1 47.12 4 Hryhoriy Sverbetov 47.3 47.37 5 Ken Roche 47.4 47.43 6 Somsakdi Tongsuke 48.9 – 7 Jasim Karim Kuraishi 49.5 –
Heat 7
Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Josef Trousil 47.0 47.04 2 Wilson Kiprugut 47.1 47.04 3 Laurie Khan 47.2 47.25 4 Ireneusz Kluczek 47.3 47.35 5 Hortensio Fucil 47.9 47.95 6 Hayase Hirotada 48.5 – 7 William Hill 48.7 – 8 Hossein Ghafourizadeh 50.8 –
Quarterfinals
The four fastest runners in each of the four heats advanced to the semifinals.
Quarterfinal 1
Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Wendell Mottley 45.8 45.88 2 Ollan Cassell 46.2 46.24 3 Jean Pierre Boccardo 46.3 46.34 4 Peter Vassella 46.5 46.55 5 Peter Laeng 46.7 46.72 6 Sergio Bello 46.9 46.93 7 Ebenezer Quartey 47.0 47.06 8 Muhammad Sadiq 48.0 –
Quarterfinal 2
Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Andrzej Badeński 46.5 46.51 2 William Crothers 46.7 46.73 3 Tim Graham 46.8 46.83 4 Laurie Khan 46.9 46.97 5 Josef Trousil 47.2 47.22 6 Johannes Schmitt 47.2 47.24 7 Ken Roche 48.0 – 8 Hryhoriy Sverbetov 48.0 –
Quarterfinal 3
Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Mike Larrabee 46.5 46.57 2 Kent Bernard 46.7 46.73 3 Robbie Ian Brightwell 47.1 47.15 4 Jörg Jüttner 47.2 47.22 5 Rupert Hoilette 47.6 47.60 6 Gary Eddy 47.6 47.65 7 Wilson Kiprugut 47.7 – 8 Vadym Arkhypchuk 47.9 –
Quarterfinal 4
Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Edwin Skinner 46.9 46.90 2 Ulis Williams 46.9 46.96 3 Tegegn Bezabih 47.2 47.23 4 James Addy 47.3 47.37 5 Adrian Peter Metcalfe 47.8 47.81 6 P. A. Grajales Escobar 47.8 47.86 7 Viktor Bychkov 47.9 47.91 — Ireneusz Kluczek –
Semifinals
The top four runners in each of the two semifinals advanced to the final.
Semifinal 1
Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Robbie Ian Brightwell 45.7 45.79 2 Wendell Mottley 45.9 45.96 3 Ulis Williams 46.2 46.29 4 Peter Vassella 46.5 46.52 5 Jörg Jüttner 46.7 46.78 6 Laurie Khan 47.0 – 7 Tegegn Bezabih 47.1 – 8 Jean Pierre Boccardo 47.1 –
Semifinal 2
Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Mike Larrabee 46.0 46.02 2 Andrzej Badeński 46.2 46.21 3 Edwin Skinner 46.5 46.50 4 Tim Graham 46.5 46.53 5 Ollan Cassell 46.6 46.69 6 William Crothers 46.9 46.96 7 Kent Bernard 47.1 47.08 8 James Addy 47.6 47.67
Final
Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 5 Mike Larrabee 45.1 45.15 7 Wendell Mottley 45.2 45.24 2 Andrzej Badeński 45.6 45.64 4 6 Robbie Ian Brightwell 45.7 45.75 5 8 Ulis Williams 46.0 46.01 6 1 Tim Graham 46.0 46.08 7 3 Peter Vassella 46.3 46.32 8 4 Edwin Skinner 46.8 –
References