Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles

The men's 400 metres hurdles at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 38 competitors, with five qualifying heats (38 runners) and two semifinals (16) before the final (8) took place on Sunday September 25, 1988.[1] One athlete did not start, so there were 37 competitors from 28 nations.[2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Andre Phillips of the United States, the nation's second consecutive and 14th overall victory in the event. Amadou Dia Ba earned Senegal's first medal in the event with his silver. Dia Ba broke up a potential American sweep, as 1976 and 1984 champion Edwin Moses took bronze and Kevin Young placed fourth. Moses was the second man to earn three medals in the event (after Morgan Taylor from 1924 to 1932).

Men's 400 metres hurdles
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Soviet stamp commemorating 1988 Olympic athletics
VenueOlympic Stadium
Dates23 September 1988 (quarterfinals)
24 September 1988 (semifinals)
25 September 1988 (final)
Competitors38 from 28 nations
Winning time47.19 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Andre Phillips
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Amadou Dia Ba
 Senegal
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Edwin Moses
 United States
← 1984
1992 →

Background

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This was the 19th time the event was held. It had been introduced along with the men's 200 metres hurdles in 1900, with the 200 being dropped after 1904 and the 400 being held through 1908 before being left off the 1912 programme. However, when the Olympics returned in 1920 after World War I, the men's 400 metres hurdles was back and would continue to be contested at every Games thereafter.

Three of the eight finalists from the 1984 Games returned: gold medalist (and 1976 champion) Edwin Moses of the United States, bronze medalist Harald Schmid of West Germany, and fifth-place finisher Amadou Dia Bâ of Senegal. Fourth-place finisher Sven Nylander of Sweden was entered but did not start. Moses had won over 100 consecutive finals in nearly 10 years starting in August 1977, but had finally been beaten in June 1987. No longer unbeatable, Moses had still won the 1987 World Championships and the 1988 U.S. Olympic trials—both featured very strong fields.[2]

Barbados, Fiji, Honduras, Nepal, Sierra Leone, and South Korea each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 18th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Competition format

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The competition used the three-round format used every Games since 1908 (except the four-round competition in 1952): quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. Ten sets of hurdles were set on the course. The hurdles were 3 feet (91.5 centimetres) tall and were placed 35 metres apart beginning 45 metres from the starting line, resulting in a 40 metres home stretch after the last hurdle. The 400 metres track was standard.

There were 5 quarterfinal heats with between 7 and 8 athletes each. The top 3 men in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals along with the next fastest 1 overall. The 16 semifinalists were divided into 2 semifinals of 8 athletes each, with the top 4 in each semifinal advancing to the 8-man final.[2]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.

World record   Edwin Moses (USA) 47.02 Koblenz, West Germany 31 August 1983
Olympic record   Edwin Moses (USA) 47.64 Montreal, Canada 25 July 1976

Andre Phillips set a new Olympic record in the final with a time of 47.19 seconds.

Schedule

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All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (UTC+10)

Date Time Round
Friday, 23 September 1988 11:10 Quarterfinals
Saturday, 24 September 1988 16:00 Semifinals
Sunday, 25 September 1988 13:35 Final

Results

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Quarterfinals

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The quarterfinals were held on Friday September 23, 1988.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Amadou Dia Ba   Senegal 49.41 Q
2 Klaus Ehrle   Austria 50.10 Q
3 John Graham   Canada 50.30 Q
4 Hwang Hong-Chul   South Korea 50.52
5 Philip Harries   Great Britain 50.81
6 Jasem Aldowaila   Kuwait 51.87
7 Dambar Kunwar   Nepal 56.80
Sven Nylander   Sweden DNS

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Harald Schmid   West Germany 49.77 Q
2 Simon Kitur   Kenya 49.88 Q
3 Alain Cuypers   Belgium 50.42 Q
4 Ahmed Ghanem   Egypt 50.44
5 Ryoichi Yoshida   Japan 50.49
6 Samuel Matete   Zambia 51.06
7 Domingo Cordero   Puerto Rico 51.26
8 Jorge Fidel Ponce   Honduras 55.38

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Edwin Moses   United States 49.38 Q
2 Edgar Itt   West Germany 50.10 Q
3 José Alonso   Spain 50.12 Q
4 Leigh Miller   Australia 50.53
5 Branislav Karaulić   Yugoslavia 51.32
6 Allan Ince   Barbados 52.76
7 Oral Selkridge   Antigua and Barbuda 53.44

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Kevin Young   United States 49.35 Q
2 Kriss Akabusi   Great Britain 49.62 Q
3 Gideon Yego   Kenya 49.80 Q
4 Jozef Kucej   Czechoslovakia 49.89
5 Rok Kopitar   Yugoslavia 50.54
6 Hamidou M'Baye   Senegal 50.58
7 Benjamin Grant   Sierra Leone 51.73
8 Joseph Rodan   Fiji 53.66

Quarterfinal 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Andre Phillips   United States 49.34 Q
2 Winthrop Graham   Jamaica 49.40 Q
3 Joseph Maritim   Kenya 49.64 Q
4 Toma Tomov   Bulgaria 49.66 q
5 Max Robertson   Great Britain 50.67
6 Ahmed Hamada Jassim   Bahrain 51.34
7 Yousif Al-Dossary   Saudi Arabia 53.51

Semifinals

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The semifinals were held on Saturday September 24, 1988.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes LANE
1 3 Edwin Moses   United States 47.89 Q
2 5 Kevin Young   United States 48.56 Q
3 1 Harald Schmid   West Germany 48.93 Q
4 6 Kriss Akabusi   Great Britain 49.22 Q
5 4 Joseph Maritim   Kenya 49.50
6 8 José Alonso   Spain 49.57
7 2 Klaus Ehrle   Austria 51.04
8 7 John Graham   Canada 51.33

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes LANE
1 5 Andre Phillips   United States 48.19 Q
2 6 Winthrop Graham   Jamaica 48.37 Q
3 4 Amadou Dia Ba   Senegal 48.48 Q
4 2 Edgar Itt   West Germany 48.86 Q
5 3 Toma Tomov   Bulgaria 48.90
6 1 Simon Kitur   Kenya 49.74
7 7 Alain Cuypers   Belgium 49.75
8 Gideon Yego   Kenya DSQ

Final

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Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
  6 Andre Phillips   United States 47.19 OR
  5 Amadou Dia Ba   Senegal 47.23 NR
  3 Edwin Moses   United States 47.56
4 2 Kevin Young   United States 47.94
5 4 Winthrop Graham   Jamaica 48.04
6 7 Kriss Akabusi   Great Britain 48.69
7 1 Harald Schmid   West Germany 48.76
8 8 Edgar Itt   West Germany 48.78

Results summary

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Rank Athlete Nation Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Notes
  Andre Phillips   United States 49.34 48.19 47.19 OR
  Amadou Dia Ba   Senegal 49.41 48.48 47.23 NR
  Edwin Moses   United States 49.38 47.89 47.56
4 Kevin Young   United States 49.35 48.56 47.94
5 Winthrop Graham   Jamaica 49.40 48.37 48.04
6 Kriss Akabusi   Great Britain 49.62 49.22 48.69
7 Harald Schmid   West Germany 49.77 48.93 48.76
8 Edgar Itt   West Germany 50.10 48.86 48.78
9 Toma Tomov   Bulgaria 49.66 48.90 Did not advance
10 Joseph Maritim   Kenya 49.64 49.50
11 José Alonso   Spain 50.12 49.57
12 Simon Kitur   Kenya 49.88 49.74
13 Alain Cuypers   Belgium 50.42 49.75
14 Klaus Ehrle   Austria 50.10 51.04
15 John Graham   Canada 50.30 51.33
16 Gideon Yego   Kenya 49.80 DSQ
17 Jozef Kucej   Czechoslovakia 49.89 Did not advance
18 Ahmed Ghanem   Egypt 50.44
19 Ryoichi Yoshida   Japan 50.49
20 Hwang Hong-Chul   South Korea 50.52
21 Leigh Miller   Australia 50.53
22 Rok Kopitar   Yugoslavia 50.54
23 Hamidou M'Baye   Senegal 50.58
24 Max Robertson   Great Britain 50.67
25 Philip Harries   Great Britain 50.81
26 Samuel Matete   Zambia 51.06
27 Domingo Cordero   Puerto Rico 51.26
28 Branislav Karaulić   Yugoslavia 51.32
29 Ahmed Hamada Jassim   Bahrain 51.34
30 Benjamin Grant   Sierra Leone 51.73
31 Jasem Aldowaila   Kuwait 51.87
32 Allan Ince   Barbados 52.76
33 Oral Selkridge   Antigua and Barbuda 53.44
34 Yousif Al-Dossary   Saudi Arabia 53.51
35 Joseph Rodan   Fiji 53.66
36 Jorge Fidel Ponce   Honduras 55.38
37 Dambar Kunwar   Nepal 56.80
Sven Nylander   Sweden DNS

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Men's 400 metres Hurdles". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "400 metres Hurdles, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
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