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

(Redirected from 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.[1] 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.[2] 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.

Men's 400 metres
at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
The finish of the men's 400 metres final. Left-right: Wint, Whitfield, McKenley.
VenueEmpire Stadium
DatesAugust 4 (heats and quarterfinals)
August 5 (semifinals and final)
Competitors53 from 28 nations
Winning time46.2 =OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Arthur Wint
 Jamaica
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Herb McKenley
 Jamaica
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Mal Whitfield
 United States
← 1936
1952 →
Official Video Highlights

Background

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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).[1]

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

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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.[1][3]

Records

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

World record   Herb McKenley (JAM) 45.9 Milwaukee, United States 2 July 1948
Olympic record   Bill Carr (USA) 46.2 Los Angeles, United States 5 August 1932

Schedule

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All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 4 August 1948 15:30
17:15		 Round 1
Quarterfinals
Thursday, 5 August 1948 15:00
16:45		 Semifinals
Finals

Results

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Round 1

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

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jimmy Reardon   Ireland 48.4 Q
2 Marko Račič   Yugoslavia 50.5 Q
3 Chen Yinglang   Republic of China 50.9
4 Georgios Karageorgos   Greece 54.5

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Herb McKenley   Jamaica 48.4 Q
2 Rune Larsson   Sweden 49.2 Q
3 Ferenc Bánhalmi   Hungary 49.6
4 Jaime Aparicio   Colombia 50.8
5 Guillermo Evans   Argentina 51.8

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Zvonko Sabolović   Yugoslavia 49.9 Q
2 Kurt Lundquist   Sweden 50.0 Q
3 Antonio Pocovi   Argentina 50.7
4 Mario Rosas   Colombia 51.4
5 Labib Hasso   Iraq 56.8

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 George Rhoden   Jamaica 48.4 Q
2 Dennis Shore   South Africa 49.0 Q
3 Oskar Hardmeier   Switzerland 49.2
4 Angel García   Cuba 50.2
5 Bill Ramsay   Australia 50.3

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jacques Lunis   France 49.3 Q
2 Folke Alnevik   Sweden 50.2 Q
3 Carlos Monges   Mexico 50.9

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Dave Bolen   United States 50.1 Q
2 John Bartram   Australia 50.8 Q
3 Hazzard Dill   Bermuda 53.0

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Leslie Lewis   Great Britain 48.9 Q
2 Bjørn Vade   Norway 49.6 Q
3 Ernie McCullough   Canada 49.9
4 Walter Keller   Switzerland 50.3
5 Runar Holmberg   Finland 50.6

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mal Whitfield   United States 48.3 Q
2 Bill Roberts   Great Britain 48.9 Q
3 Don McFarlane   Canada 49.5
4 Olavi Talja   Finland 50.4
5 Max Trepp   Switzerland 50.9

Heat 9

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Arthur Wint   Jamaica 47.7 Q
2 Francis Schewetta   France 48.9 Q
3 John De Saram   Ceylon 51.2
4 Tauno Suvanto   Finland 51.5
5 Doğan Acarbay   Turkey 53.0

Heat 10

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Morris Curotta   Australia 49.1 Q
2 Rosalvo Ramos   Brazil 49.2 Q
3 Raymond Crapet   France 49.4
4 Kemal Horulu   Turkey 51.5

Heat 11

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 George Guida   United States 49.0 Q
2 Derek Pugh   Great Britain 49.3 Q
3 Gustavo Ehlers   Chile 49.5
4 Stefanos Petrakis   Greece 54.5

Heat 12

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Herman Kunnen   Belgium 50.0 Q
2 Bob McFarlane   Canada 50.6 Q
3 Reynir Sigurðsson   Iceland 51.4
4 Jaime Hitelman   Chile 51.5
5 Stylianos Stratakos   Greece 52.8

Quarterfinals

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

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mal Whitfield   United States 48.0 Q
2 George Rhoden   Jamaica 48.6 Q
3 Rosalvo Ramos   Brazil 48.7 Q
4 Leslie Lewis   Great Britain 49.2
5 Zvonko Sabolović   Yugoslavia 49.5
6 Folke Alnevik   Sweden 50.6

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Arthur Wint   Jamaica 47.7 Q
2 Morris Curotta   Australia 48.4 Q
3 Dennis Shore   South Africa 48.5 Q
4 Bill Roberts   Great Britain 48.6
5 Bjørn Vade   Norway 49.7
— Herman Kunnen   Belgium DNS

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Herb McKenley   Jamaica 48.0 Q
2 George Guida   United States 48.0 Q
3 Rune Larsson   Sweden 48.8 Q
4 John Bartram   Australia 49.9
5 Francis Schewetta   France 49.9
6 Marko Račič   Yugoslavia 52.1

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Dave Bolen   United States 48.0 Q
2 Jimmy Reardon   Ireland 48.3 Q
3 Bob McFarlane   Canada 48.4 Q
4 Kurt Lundquist   Sweden 48.4
5 Derek Pugh   Great Britain 48.8
6 Jacques Lunis   France 48.9

Semifinals

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

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Notes
1 Arthur Wint   Jamaica 46.3 Q
2 Morris Curotta   Australia 47.2 Q
3 Mal Whitfield   United States 47.4 Q
4 George Rhoden   Jamaica 47.7
5 Jimmy Reardon   Ireland 47.8
— Rune Larsson   Sweden DNS

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Notes
1 Herb McKenley   Jamaica 47.3 Q
2 Dave Bolen   United States 47.9 Q
3 George Guida   United States 48.3 Q
4 Dennis Shore   South Africa 48.8
5 Rosalvo Ramos   Brazil 49.1
6 Bob McFarlane   Canada 51.7

Final

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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.[1][4]

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

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "400 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's 400 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  3. ^ Official Report, pp. 246–47.
  4. ^ Official Report, p. 228.
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