The men's
400 metres was a
track & field athletics event at the
1900 Summer Olympics in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
. It was held on July 14, and July 15, 1900. The races were held on a track of 500 metres in circumference. 15 athletes from six nations competed.
Background
This was the second time the event was held. None of the runners from 1896 returned.
Maxie Long
Maxwell Warburn Long (October 16, 1878 – March 4, 1959) was an American athlete, winner of 400 m at the 1900 Summer Olympics.
Having won three AAU titles from 1898 to 1900 and IC4A title in 1899 in 440 yd (402 m), 1899 an AAU title in 220 ...
of the United States was favored, as 1898 and 1899 AAU champion and 1900 AAA champion. His countryman
Dixon Boardman
Dixon H. Boardman (March 26, 1880 in Nutley, New Jersey – October 15, 1954 in Beverly Hills, California) was an American track and field athlete who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
Boardman competed in the 100 metres eve ...
was a strong challenger, having beaten Long at the 1900 IC4A.
The United States and France made their second appearances in the event; Denmark, Hungary, Italy, and Norway made their debuts.
Competition format
There were two rounds: heats and a final. The top 2 runners in each heat advanced to the final.
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1900 Summer Olympics.
''(*)'' unofficial 440 yards (= 402.34 m)
Maxie Long
Maxwell Warburn Long (October 16, 1878 – March 4, 1959) was an American athlete, winner of 400 m at the 1900 Summer Olympics.
Having won three AAU titles from 1898 to 1900 and IC4A title in 1899 in 440 yd (402 m), 1899 an AAU title in 220 ...
set a new Olympic record in the first round with 50.4 seconds. In the final he improved his own record when he ran 49.4 seconds.
Schedule
All times are Central European Time
Central European Time (CET) is a standard time which is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
The time offset from UTC can be written as UTC+01:00.
It is used in most parts of Europe and in a few North African countries.
CET ...
(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
Semifinals
In the first round, there were three heats. They were held on July 14. The top two runners in each advanced to the final.
Semifinal 1
This heat, featuring four American runners, resulted in an easy win for Long and the top three spots for the United States team.
Semifinal 2
Again, an American won the heat easily. Schulz took second place to qualify for the final.
Semifinal 3
The United States runners again took all three of the top spots in this heat.
Final
Boardman, Lee, and Moloney withdrew because the final was held on a Sunday. Long and Holland did start, however, and Long led the entire way to win by five yards, with Schultz 20 yards behind the Americans.
Results summary
Sources
International Olympic Committee
* De Wael, Herman. ''Herman's Full Olympians'': "Athletics 1900". Accessed 18 March 2006. Available electronically a
.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics - Men's 400 metres
Men's 0400 metres
400 metres at the Olympics