The men's
400 metres hurdles
The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women.
On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ...
competition at the
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...
in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
took place on October 13–15 at the
Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Estadio Olímpico Universitario is a multi-purpose stadium located inside Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City. It was built in 1952 and at that time was the largest stadium in Mexico. This stadium has a capacity of 72,000. The first major event ...
.
There were 30 competitors from 24 nations.
[ The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by ]David Hemery
David Peter Hemery, (born 18 July 1944) is a British former track and field athlete, best known as the winner of the 400 metres hurdles at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
Early life
Hemery was born in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, but ...
of Great Britain, the nation's first victory in the men's 400 metres hurdles since 1928 and second overall—second-most after the United States' 11. The win broke a streak of 6 consecutive American victories. Further, the United States failed to medal in the event for the first time ever; in all 13 previous times the event was held, the American team had at least a silver medalist. Great Britain was the first nation other than the United States to have two medalists in the event in the same Games, as John Sherwood took bronze. Gerhard Hennige
Gerhard Hennige (born 23 September 1940) is a retired German sprinter. He won a silver medal in the 400 m hurdles at the 1968 Olympics, setting a European record in the semifinals. He was also part of the 4 × 400 m West German teams that finishe ...
of West Germany was the first German hurdler to earn a medal in the event, finishing between the two Britons with silver.
Background
This was the 14th 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.
Four of the eight finalists from the 1964 Games returned: silver medalist John Cooper of Great Britain, fourth-place finisher Gary Knoke of Australia, sixth-place finisher Roberto Frinolli of Italy, and eighth-place finisher Wilfried Geeroms of Belgium. Once again, the American team (which had won the last six gold medals in the event) was favored. Geoff Vanderstock had broken the world record at the U.S. trials; Ron Whitney had won the AAU title in 1967 and 1968.
Cuba, Ghana, and Libya each made their debut in the event; West Germany competed separately for the first time. The United States made its 14th appearance, the only nation to have competed at every edition of the event to that point.
Summary
In the final, David Hemery
David Peter Hemery, (born 18 July 1944) is a British former track and field athlete, best known as the winner of the 400 metres hurdles at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
Early life
Hemery was born in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, but ...
took the race out hard. By the final straightaway he had an ever-growing lead over the world record holder Geoff Vanderstock. Hemery continued to pour it on, taking seven tenths of a second out of the world record, a huge improvement. Vanderstock struggled between the final barrier and the finish line, his 2-metre advantage over field evaporated. Gerhard Hennige
Gerhard Hennige (born 23 September 1940) is a retired German sprinter. He won a silver medal in the 400 m hurdles at the 1968 Olympics, setting a European record in the semifinals. He was also part of the 4 × 400 m West German teams that finishe ...
, then John Sherwood edged past him at the line.
Competition format
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 4 quarterfinal heats with 8 athletes each (before two withdrawals left one heat with only 6 men). The top 4 men in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals. 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.[
]
Records
Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
Ron Whitney set a new Olympic record of 49.0 seconds in the third quarterfinal. Three men (Gerhard Hennige
Gerhard Hennige (born 23 September 1940) is a retired German sprinter. He won a silver medal in the 400 m hurdles at the 1968 Olympics, setting a European record in the semifinals. He was also part of the 4 × 400 m West German teams that finishe ...
, John Sherwood, and Geoff Vanderstock matched that time in the final, but they were all nearly a full second behind the winner: Dave Hemery, who shattered the world record with a 48.1 seconds performance.
Schedule
All times are Central Standard Time ( UTC-6)
Results
Quarterfinals
Quarterfinal 1
Quarterfinal 2
Quarterfinal 3
Quarterfinal 4
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
Semifinal 2
Final
Results summary
References
External links
Official Olympic Report
''la84foundation.org''. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics - Men's 400 metres hurdles
Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics
400 metres hurdles at the Olympics
Men's events at the 1968 Summer Olympics