Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

Men's 400 metres at the Games of the I Olympiad
Venue	Panathinaiko Stadium
Dates	April 6 (heats) April 7 (final)
Competitors	7 from 4 nations
Medalists
Thomas Burke United States   Herbert Jamison United States   Charles Gmelin Great Britain
	1900»

Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m		men
400 m		men
800 m		men
1500 m		men
110 m hurdles		men
Road events
Marathon		men
Field events
Long jump		men
Triple jump		men
High jump		men
Pole vault		men
Shot put		men
Discus throw		men

The men's 400 metres race was the second-shortest of the flat-track events on the Athletics at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. The competition's preliminary round was the last held on the first day, 6 April. The competitors were split into two groups. The top two runners in each heat advanced to the final, which was held on the second day, 7 April.

7 athletes from 4 nations competed. 5 of those athletes were also in the 100 metres.

Results

Heats

The first round heats were held on 6 April. The top two placers in each of the two groups advanced.

Heat 1

Place	Athlete	Time
1	Herbert Jamison (USA)	56.8 s
2	Fritz Hofmann (GER)	58.6 s
3-4	Kurt Dörry (GER)	Unknown
	Alphonse Grisel (FRA)	Unknown

Jamison won by 13½ yards. Hofmann and Grisel both had to run 401.83 metres after being penalized for false starts.

NOTE: The final positions of Grisel and Dörry are unclear.

Heat 2

Place	Athlete	Time
1	Thomas Burke (USA)	58.4 s
2	Charles Gmelin (GBR)	(1:00.5)
3	Frantz Reichel (FRA)	(1:02.3)

Burke won by 15 yards, despite being tired from already having run in the heats of the 100 metres. Gmelin beat Reichel by 12 yards for second place.

Final

Place	Athlete	Time
1	Thomas Burke (USA)	54.2 s
2	Herbert Jamison (USA)	55.2 s
3	Charles Gmelin (GBR)	(56.7)
4	Fritz Hofmann (GER)	(56.7)

Burke beat Jamison by eight yards, with Gemiln beating Hofmann by a foot for third.

References

• Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J.; & Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck.  (Digitally available at AAFLA.org)
• Mallon, Bill; & Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0379-9.  (Excerpt available at AAFLA.org)
• Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN 1-86197-342-X.