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Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

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Men's 400 metres
at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
The finish of the men's 400 metres final. Left-right: Wint, Whitfield, McKenley.
VenueEmpire Stadium
DatesAugust 4 (heats and quarterfinals)
August 5 (semifinals and final)
Competitors53 from 28 nations
Winning time46.2 =OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Arthur Wint
 Jamaica
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Herb McKenley
 Jamaica
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Mal Whitfield
 United States
← 1936
1952 →
Official Video Highlights

The men's 400 metres sprint event at the 1948 Olympic Games took place between August 4 and August 5. Fifty-three athletes from 28 nations competed.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by 0.2 seconds by Jamaican Arthur Wint coming from almost 10 meters back to catch teammate and world record holder Herb McKenley.[2] This was Jamaica's first Olympic gold medal in their debut participation at the Games, and broke a string of 3 straight American victories in the men's 400 metres.

Background

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This was the eleventh appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Bill Roberts of Great Britain was the only finalist from 1936 to return after the 12-year gap. Herb McKenley of Jamaica was the "heavy favorite," having recently broken the world record. Top challengers included fellow Jamaican Arthur Wint and American Mal Whitfield (fresh off a win in the 800 metres).[1]

In addition to Jamaica winning gold in its first appearance in the event, Bermuda, Ceylon, Colombia, Cuba, Iceland, Iraq, Turkey, and Yugoslavia competed in the 400 metres for the first time. The United States made its eleventh appearance in the event, the only nation to compete in it at every Olympic Games to that point.

Competition format

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The competition retained the basic four-round format from 1920. There were 12 heats in the first round, each with between 3 and 5 athletes. The top two runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals. There were 4 quarterfinals of 6 runners each; the top three athletes in each quarterfinal heat advanced to the semifinals. The semifinals featured 2 heats of 6 runners each. The top three runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making a six-man final.[1][3]

Records

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Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record  Herb McKenley (JAM) 45.9 Milwaukee, United States 2 July 1948
Olympic record  Bill Carr (USA) 46.2 Los Angeles, United States 5 August 1932

Schedule

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All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 4 August 1948 15:30
17:15
Round 1
Quarterfinals
Thursday, 5 August 1948 15:00
16:45
Semifinals
Finals

Results

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Round 1

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The fastest two runners in each of the twelve heats advanced to the quarterfinals.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jimmy Reardon  Ireland 48.4 Q
2 Marko Račič  Yugoslavia 50.5 Q
3 Chen Yinglang  Republic of China 50.9
4 Georgios Karageorgos  Greece 54.5

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Herb McKenley  Jamaica 48.4 Q
2 Rune Larsson  Sweden 49.2 Q
3 Ferenc Bánhalmi  Hungary 49.6
4 Jaime Aparicio  Colombia 50.8
5 Guillermo Evans  Argentina 51.8

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Zvonko Sabolović  Yugoslavia 49.9 Q
2 Kurt Lundquist  Sweden 50.0 Q
3 Antonio Pocovi  Argentina 50.7
4 Mario Rosas  Colombia 51.4
5 Labib Hasso  Iraq 56.8

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 George Rhoden  Jamaica 48.4 Q
2 Dennis Shore  South Africa 49.0 Q
3 Oskar Hardmeier  Switzerland 49.2
4 Angel García  Cuba 50.2
5 Bill Ramsay  Australia 50.3

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jacques Lunis  France 49.3 Q
2 Folke Alnevik  Sweden 50.2 Q
3 Carlos Monges  Mexico 50.9

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Dave Bolen  United States 50.1 Q
2 John Bartram  Australia 50.8 Q
3 Hazzard Dill  Bermuda 53.0

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Leslie Lewis  Great Britain 48.9 Q
2 Bjørn Vade  Norway 49.6 Q
3 Ernie McCullough  Canada 49.9
4 Walter Keller  Switzerland 50.3
5 Runar Holmberg  Finland 50.6

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mal Whitfield  United States 48.3 Q
2 Bill Roberts  Great Britain 48.9 Q
3 Don McFarlane  Canada 49.5
4 Olavi Talja  Finland 50.4
5 Max Trepp  Switzerland 50.9

Heat 9

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Arthur Wint  Jamaica 47.7 Q
2 Francis Schewetta  France 48.9 Q
3 John De Saram  Ceylon 51.2
4 Tauno Suvanto  Finland 51.5
5 Doğan Acarbay  Turkey 53.0

Heat 10

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Morris Curotta  Australia 49.1 Q
2 Rosalvo Ramos  Brazil 49.2 Q
3 Raymond Crapet  France 49.4
4 Kemal Horulu  Turkey 51.5

Heat 11

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 George Guida  United States 49.0 Q
2 Derek Pugh  Great Britain 49.3 Q
3 Gustavo Ehlers  Chile 49.5
4 Stefanos Petrakis  Greece 54.5

Heat 12

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Herman Kunnen  Belgium 50.0 Q
2 Bob McFarlane  Canada 50.6 Q
3 Reynir Sigurðsson  Iceland 51.4
4 Jaime Hitelman  Chile 51.5
5 Stylianos Stratakos  Greece 52.8

Quarterfinals

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The fastest three runners in each of the four heats advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mal Whitfield  United States 48.0 Q
2 George Rhoden  Jamaica 48.6 Q
3 Rosalvo Ramos  Brazil 48.7 Q
4 Leslie Lewis  Great Britain 49.2
5 Zvonko Sabolović  Yugoslavia 49.5
6 Folke Alnevik  Sweden 50.6

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Arthur Wint  Jamaica 47.7 Q
2 Morris Curotta  Australia 48.4 Q
3 Dennis Shore  South Africa 48.5 Q
4 Bill Roberts  Great Britain 48.6
5 Bjørn Vade  Norway 49.7
Herman Kunnen  Belgium DNS

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Herb McKenley  Jamaica 48.0 Q
2 George Guida  United States 48.0 Q
3 Rune Larsson  Sweden 48.8 Q
4 John Bartram  Australia 49.9
5 Francis Schewetta  France 49.9
6 Marko Račič  Yugoslavia 52.1

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Dave Bolen  United States 48.0 Q
2 Jimmy Reardon  Ireland 48.3 Q
3 Bob McFarlane  Canada 48.4 Q
4 Kurt Lundquist  Sweden 48.4
5 Derek Pugh  Great Britain 48.8
6 Jacques Lunis  France 48.9

Semifinals

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The fastest three runners in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Notes
1 Arthur Wint  Jamaica 46.3 Q
2 Morris Curotta  Australia 47.2 Q
3 Mal Whitfield  United States 47.4 Q
4 George Rhoden  Jamaica 47.7
5 Jimmy Reardon  Ireland 47.8
Rune Larsson  Sweden DNS

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Notes
1 Herb McKenley  Jamaica 47.3 Q
2 Dave Bolen  United States 47.9 Q
3 George Guida  United States 48.3 Q
4 Dennis Shore  South Africa 48.8
5 Rosalvo Ramos  Brazil 49.1
6 Bob McFarlane  Canada 51.7

Final

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McKenley was known for starting fast and stayed true to form in this race, hitting the halfway mark at 21.6 seconds (a split which would have placed him 6th in the final of the 200 metre event itself). Wint, however, powered through the second half and caught McKenley with 20–30 metres to go. Neither Curotta nor any of the Americans had much chance at winning behind the two Jamaicans.[1][4]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (hand) Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 3 Arthur Wint  Jamaica 46.2 =OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2 Herb McKenley  Jamaica 46.4
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 4 Mal Whitfield  United States 46.9
4 1 Dave Bolen  United States 47.2
5 5 Morris Curotta  Australia 47.9
6 6 George Guida  United States 50.2

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "400 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's 400 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  3. ^ Official Report, pp. 246–47.
  4. ^ Official Report, p. 228.
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