The men's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1961 Summer Universiade was held at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia, Bulgaria,[1] on 31 August and 1 September 1961.
Morale's winning margin was 1.66 seconds which as of 2024 remains the only time the men's 400 metres hurdles was won by more than 1.1 seconds at these games.
Medalists
edit| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
Salvatore Morale Italy
|
Georgiy Chevychalov Soviet Union
|
Elio Catalo Italy
|
Results
editHeats
edit| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Salvatore Morale | Italy |
51.65 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Wiesław Król |  Poland |
52.74 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Albert Grawitz |  West Germany |
52.87 | |
| 4 | 1 | Michael Robinson |  Great Britain |
53.17 | |
| 5 | 1 | Jacques Pennewaert |  Belgium |
53.25 | |
| 6 | 1 | Raúl Fernández |  Cuba |
55.3 | |
| 1 | 2 | Georgiy Chevychalov | Soviet Union |
53.07 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Elio Catalo | Italy |
53.65 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Miroslav Jaroš |  Czechoslovakia |
53.9 | |
| 4 | 2 | Janusz Wolf | Poland |
54.0 | |
| 5 | 2 | Dimitar Dimitrov |  Bulgaria |
54.2 | |
| 6 | 2 | Aydin Tunali |  Turkey |
57.9 | |
| 1 | 3 | Valeriu Jurcă |  Romania |
53.26 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | John Cooper | Great Britain |
53.42 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Keiko Iijima |  Japan |
53.47 | |
| 4 | 3 | Jürgen Demmel | West Germany |
54.2 | |
| 5 | 3 | Abdul Saleh |  Indonesia |
55.9 |
Final
edit| Rank | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Salvatore Morale | Italy |
50.14 | |
 |
Georgiy Chevychalov | Soviet Union |
51.80 | |
 |
Elio Catalo | Italy |
52.33 | |
| 4 | Wiesław Król | Poland |
52.76 | |
| 5 | John Cooper | Great Britain |
53.3 | |
| 6 | Valeriu Jurcă | Romania |
53.7 |