The men's 400 metres was an event at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. There were a total number of 68 participating athletes from 52 nations, with nine qualifying heats. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by

Quincy Watts Quincy D. Watts (born June 19, 1970) is an American former athlete, and two time gold medallist at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Career Born in Detroit, Michigan, Quincy Watts attended the University of Southern California (USC) where he excelled ...

of the United States, the third in what would ultimately be seven consecutive American victories stretching from 1984 to 2008 and the 15th overall title in the event by the United States. Steve Lewis became the third man (and first American) to win a second medal in the event.

Samson Kitur Samson Kitur (February 25, 1966 — April 25, 2003) was a Kenyan athlete, and an Olympic medalist in 1992. Biography Unlike most of his compatriots, who run in distances 800 metres and up, Kitur specialised in the 400 metres. He won t ...

earned Kenya's first medal in the men's 400 metres since 1972. In heat 1 of the semifinal round,

Derek Redmond Derek Anthony Redmond (born 3 September 1965) is a retired British sprinter. During his career, he held the British record for the 400 metres sprint, and won gold medals in the 4x400 metres relay at the World Championships and European Champion ...

tore his hamstring 250 meters to the finish line and was disqualified due to outside assistance from his father. Despite the results, the crowd gave him a standing ovation. In heat 2 of the semifinal round,

ran the number 2 time in history, 43.71, only surpassed by the world record held by

Butch Reynolds Harry Lee Reynolds Jr. (born June 8, 1964), commonly known as Butch Reynolds, is an American former track and field athlete who competed in the 400 meter dash. He held the world record for the event for 11 years with his personal best time of 4 ...

. At those trials,

Danny Everett Danny Everett (born November 1, 1966) is an American former track and field athlete who competed in sprinting events, specializing in the 400 metres. He won bronze medals in the 400m at the 1988 Olympic Games and at the 1991 World Championship ...

had run the previous number time in history 43.81, while Reynolds did not qualify. In heat 2, Everett suffered a foot injury and hobbled home. In the final, Watts again improved the number 2 time in history while breaking the Olympic Record with his 43.50 win.

Background

This was the 22nd appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Defending gold medalist Steve Lewis and bronze medalist

of the United States, but

beat silver medalist

at the U.S. Olympic trials to take the third spot.

Roger Black Roger Anthony Black MBE (born 31 March 1966) is a retired English athlete who competed internationally for Great Britain and England. During his athletics career, he won individual silver medals in the 400 metres sprint at both the Olympic G ...

of Great Britain had taken silver at the 1991 world championship. Angola, the Central African Republic, Costa Rica, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritania, and Qatar appeared in this event for the first time. The Unified Team, consisting of some former Soviet republics, competed in the only Summer Games the Unified Team existed. One Yugoslav athlete competed as an "Independent Olympic Participant." The United States made its 21st appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Competition format

The competition retained the basic four-round format from 1920. The "fastest loser" system, introduced in 1964, was used for the first round. There were 9 first-round heats, each with 7 or 8 runners. The top three runners in each heat advanced, along with the next five fastest overall. The 32 quarterfinalists were divided into 4 quarterfinals with 8 runners each; the top four athletes in each quarterfinal heat advanced to the semifinals, with no "fastest loser" spots. The semifinals featured 2 heats of 8 runners each. The top four runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making an eight-man final.Official Report, vol. 5, pp. 40–41.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1976 Summer Olympics.

set two new Olympic records. He first ran 43.71 in the semifinals and improved his mark in the final to 43.50. The following national records were established during the competition:

Schedule

Following the 1984 schedule, the event was held on four separate days, with each round being on a different day. All times are

Central European Summer Time Central European Summer Time (CEST), sometimes referred to as Central European Daylight Time (CEDT), is the standard clock time observed during the period of summer daylight-saving in those European countries which observe Central European Time ...

(

UTC+2 UTC+02:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +02:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2020-11-08T23:41:45+02:00. This time is used in: As standard time (year-round) ''Principal cities: Cairo, Pretoria, Cape ...

)

Results

Round 1

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Heat 6

Heat 7

Heat 8

Heat 9

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1

Quarterfinal 2

Quarterfinal 3

Quarterfinal 4

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Redmond was injured and did not finish without assistance.

Semifinal 2

Final

The final was held on August 5, 1992.

References

External links

Official Report

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics - Men's 400 metres 400 metres at the Olympics Men's events at the 1992 Summer Olympics