The men's
400 metres
The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...
sprint event at the
1948 Olympic Games took place between August 4 and August 5. Fifty-three athletes from 28 nations competed.
The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by
Jamaican Arthur Wint coming from almost 10 meters back to catch teammate and world record holder
Herb McKenley
The Hon. Herbert Henry McKenley OM (10 July 1922 – 26 November 2007) was a Jamaican track and field sprinter. He competed at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics in six events in total, and won one gold and three silver medals.
Born in Pleasant Vall ...
.
This was Jamaica's first Olympic gold medal in any event, and broke a string of 3 straight American victories in the men's 400 metres.
Background
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
The Hon. Herbert Henry McKenley OM (10 July 1922 – 26 November 2007) was a Jamaican track and field sprinter. He competed at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics in six events in total, and won one gold and three silver medals.
Born in Pleasant Vall ...
of Jamaica was the "heavy favorite," having recently broken the world record. Top challengers included fellow Jamaican
Arthur Wint
Arthur Stanley Wint OD MBE (25 May 1920 – 19 October 1992) was a Jamaican Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot during the Second World War, sprinter, physician, and later High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Competing at the 1948 and 1952 Olympi ...
and American
Mal Whitfield
Malvin Greston Whitfield (October 11, 1924 – November 19, 2015) was an American athlete, goodwill ambassador, and airman. Nicknamed "Marvelous Mal", he was the Olympic champion in the 800 meters at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics, and a memb ...
(fresh off a win in the 800 metres).
[
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
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.[Official Report, pp. 246–47.]
Records
Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
Schedule
All times are British Summer Time
During British Summer Time (BST), civil time in the United Kingdom is advanced one hour forward of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), in effect changing the time zone from UTC±00:00 to UTC+01:00, so that mornings have one hour less daylight, and ev ...
(UTC+1
UTC+01:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +01:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+01:00. This time is used in:
*Central European Time
*West Africa Time
*Western European Summer Time
** B ...
)
Results
Round 1
The fastest two runners in each of the twelve heats advanced to the quarterfinals.
Heat 1
Heat 2
Heat 3
Heat 4
Heat 5
Heat 6
Heat 7
Heat 8
Heat 9
Heat 10
Heat 11
Heat 12
Quarterfinals
The fastest three runners in each of the four heats advanced to the semifinal round.
Quarterfinal 1
Quarterfinal 2
Quarterfinal 3
Quarterfinal 4
Semifinals
The fastest three runners in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.
Semifinal 1
Semifinal 2
Final
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.[Official Report, p. 228.]
References
External links
*Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad, The (1948)
The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad
''LA84 Foundation
The LA84 Foundation (known until June 2007 as the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles) is a private, nonprofit institution created by the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee to manage Southern California's endowment from the 1984 Olym ...
''. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics At The 1948 Summer Olympics - Men's 400 Metres
Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics
400 metres at the Olympics
Men's events at the 1948 Summer Olympics