The men's 400 metres at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Seoul, South Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

took place between 24 and 28 September 1988. Seventy-five athletes from 55 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Steve Lewis of the United States, the second in what would ultimately be 7 consecutive American victories stretching from 1984 to 2008. The United States swept the podium in the event for the third time, having previously done so in 1904 and 1968.

Summary

It always promised to be a classic. The clear favourite was the legendary American Harry "Butch" Reynolds. He had set a new world record of 43.29 seconds only a few months before. Reynolds breezed through the heats and into the final. The final, ran on Thursday September 28, 1988, started somewhat as expected, with Reynolds holding back and saving himself for his normal strong finish. To the surprise of most watching a young American Steve Lewis went out strong from the start and gave Reynolds a run for his money. Entering the home straight Lewis was leading and Reynolds charging back at him but Reynolds left it too late and the 19yr old Lewis hung on for victory in an amazing time of 43.87sec. Reynolds finished second and

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 ...

third for an American sweep. The same trio was also involved with

Kevin Robinzine Kevin Bernard Robinzine (born April 12, 1966 in Fort Worth, Texas) was a 1988 Olympic gold medalist in the men's 4×400 meter relay for the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States ...

in winning the 4 × 400 m relay. The career of Lewis was blighted by injury although he did compete in 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 ...

, placing 2nd in 400m and being part of the American quartet who took gold in 4 × 400 m relay.

Background

This was the 21st appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the Americans from 1984 returned, but all five non-American finalists did: silver medalist

Gabriel Tiacoh Gabriel Tiacoh (February 9, 1963 – April 2, 1992) was a sprinter from Côte d'Ivoire who specialised in the 400 metres. He is best known for winning his nation's first Olympic medal, in the 400 meters in 1984. A former African recor ...

of the Ivory Coast, fourth-place finisher

Darren Clark Darren Edward Clark (born 6 September 1965 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian retired sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. His personal best time of 44.38 seconds, achieved at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, is the current Oceanian ...

of Australia, sixth-place finisher

Sunday Uti Sunday Uti (born 23 October 1962) is a former Nigerian sprinter who won an Olympic bronze medal in 4 x 400 metres relay in Los Angeles 1984. He finished sixth in the final of the individual 400 metres contest. In addition he won the gold med ...

and seventh-place finisher

Innocent Egbunike Innocent Ejima Egbunike (born 30 November 1961) is a former sprinter from Nigeria. He studied at Azusa Pacific University, where he still holds the school record at 400 metres and the automatically timed NAIA meet record at 200 metres. M ...

of Nigeria, and

Bert Cameron Bertland "Bert" Cameron (born 16 November 1959) is a retired Jamaican sprinter who mainly competed over 400 metres. He represented Jamaica at three consecutive editions of the Summer Olympics. Cameron won the 400 m title at the first Wo ...

of Jamaica (who had qualified for but did not start the Los Angeles final due to injury). The new American team was favored, however;

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 ...

had just broken the 20-year-old world record, and

and Steve Lewis were strong contenders. The 1987 world champion,

Thomas Schönlebe Thomas Schönlebe (born 6 August 1965) is a retired East German track and field athlete who competed in the 400 metres. He won the gold medal at the 1987 World Championships. In that race, he set a European record of 44.33 seconds which still ...

of East Germany, was also a significant challenger. Bangladesh, Honduras, Indonesia, the Maldives, Mali, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, South Korea, Vanuatu, the (U.S.) Virgin Islands, and Zaire appeared in this event for the first time; the Republic of China had previously competed, but now appeared as Chinese Taipei for the first time. The United States made its 20th 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 10 first-round heats, each with 7 or 8 runners. The top three runners in each heat advanced, along with the next two 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.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1976 Summer Olympics. No world or Olympic records were set during this event.

Schedule

Following the 1984 schedule, the event was held on four separate days, with each round being on a different day. All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (

UTC+10 UTC+10:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +10:00. This time is used in: As standard time (year-round) ''Principal cities: Brisbane, Gold Coast, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Port Moresby, Dededo, Saipan'' North Asia *Russia – ...

)

Results

Round 1

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Heat 6

Heat 7

Heat 8

Heat 9

Heat 10

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1

Quarterfinal 2

Quarterfinal 3

Quarterfinal 4

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final

References

External links

*
Official Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics At The 1988 Summer Olympics - Men's 400 Metres 4 400 metres at the Olympics Men's events at the 1988 Summer Olympics