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Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles

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Men's 400 metres hurdles
at the Games of the XVII Olympiad
San Marino stamp commemorating 1960 Olympic athletics
VenueOlympic Stadium
DatesAugust 31 (heats)
September 1 (semifinals)
September 2 (final)
Competitors34 from 23 nations
Winning time49.3 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Glenn Davis
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Cliff Cushman
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Dick Howard
 United States
← 1956
1964 →

The men's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1960 Olympic Games took place between August 31 and September 2.[1] There were 34 competitors from 23 nations.[2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Glenn Davis of the United States, the first man to successfully defend an Olympic title in the 400 metres hurdles. As of the 2016 Games, he remains the only man to do so; three others have won two gold medals in the event, but all three did so in nonconsecutive Games. It was the United States' fifth consecutive and 10th overall victory in the event. The Americans also completed their second consecutive (and fourth overall) medal sweep in the event, as Cliff Cushman took silver and Dick Howard took bronze.

Background

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This was the 12th time the event was held. It had been introduced along with the men's 200 metres hurdles in 1900, with the 200 being dropped after 1904 and the 400 being held through 1908 before being left off the 1912 programme. However, when the Olympics returned in 1920 after World War I, the men's 400 metres hurdles was back and would continue to be contested at every Games thereafter.

One of the six finalists from the 1956 Games returned: gold medalist Glenn Davis of the United States. Davis was favored to repeat; he had lowered his own world record to 49.2 seconds in 1958 and taken four of the last five AAU titles (not competing in the 1959 event). He was joined on the American team by Dick Howard (Pan American runner-up, 1959 AAU champion) and Cliff Cushman (third at the PanAm Games). The biggest challenger to Davis was Gert Potgieter of South Africa, the 1958 Commonwealth Games champion and 440 yards hurdles world record holder who had been in medal contention in the 1956 Olympic final before hitting the last hurdle and finishing sixth. Potgieter, however, had been injured in an automobile accident and was unable to compete in Rome.[2]

Iraq, Kenya, Morocco, Norway, and Tunisia each made their debut in the event; East and West Germany competed together as the United Team of Germany for the first time. The United States made its 12th appearance, the only nation to have competed at every edition of the event to that point.

Competition format

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The competition used the three-round format used every Games since 1908 (except the four-round competition in 1952): quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. Ten sets of hurdles were set on the course. The hurdles were 3 feet (91.5 centimetres) tall and were placed 35 metres apart beginning 45 metres from the starting line, resulting in a 40 metres home stretch after the last hurdle. The 400 metres track was standard.

A significant change, however, was the introduction of the "fastest loser" system. Previously, advancement depended solely on the runners' place in their heat. The 1960 competition added advancement places to the fastest runners across the heats in the quarterfinals who did not advance based on place.

There were 6 quarterfinal heats with between 5 and 6 athletes each. The top 2 men in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals, along with the next 2 fastest overall. The 14 semifinalists were divided into 2 semifinals of 7 athletes each, with the top 3 in each semifinal advancing to the 6-man final.[2]

Records

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

World record  Glenn Davis (USA) 49.2 Budapest, Hungary 6 August 1958
Olympic record  Eddie Southern (USA) 50.1 Melbourne, Australia 23 November 1956

Four runners went under 50 seconds (hand-timed) in the final, the first time any had done so in the Olympics. Glenn Davis's time of 49.3 seconds was the new record.

Schedule

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The competition used a three-day schedule, with each round on a separate day, for the first time.

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 31 August 1960 15:00 Quarterfinals
Thursday, 1 September 1960 16:15 Semifinals
Friday, 2 September 1960 16:00 Final

Results

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Quarterfinals

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The fastest two hurdlers in each of the six heats and the next two fastest advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time
(hand)
Time
(auto)
Notes
1 Bruno Galliker  Switzerland 51.0 51.20
2 Dick Howard  United States 51.2 51.32
3 Anubes da Silva  Brazil 52.1 52.25
4 Max Boyes  Great Britain 52.1 52.32
5 Wiesław Król  Poland 52.4 52.52
6 Mohamed Zouaki  Morocco 55.2 55.65

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time
(hand)
Time
(auto)
Notes
1 Jan Gulbrandsen  Norway 52.2 52.39 Q
2 Glenn Davis  United States 52.2 52.41 Q
3 Arnold Matsulevich  Soviet Union 52.9 53.00
4 George Shepherd  Canada 53.0 53.05
5 Marcel Lambrechts  Belgium 53.5 53.67

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time
(hand)
Time
(auto)
Notes
1 Cliff Cushman  United States 51.8 51.98 Q
2 Willi Matthias  United Team of Germany 52.1 52.23 Q
3 Keiji Ogushi  Japan 52.4 52.58
4 Chris Goudge  Great Britain 52.6 52.75
5 Muhammad Yaqub  Pakistan 52.8 52.91
6 Mongi Soussi Zarrouki  Tunisia 54.3 54.34

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time
(hand)
Time
(auto)
Notes
1 Georgy Chevychalov  Soviet Union 51.8 51.97 Q
2 Salvatore Morale  Italy 52.0 52.13 Q
3 Per-Owe Trollsås  Sweden 52.3 52.49
4 Wolfgang Fischer  United Team of Germany 53.2 53.35
5 Dimitrios Skourtis  Greece 53.7 53.85

Quarterfinal 5

[edit]
Rank Athlete Nation Time
(hand)
Time
(auto)
Notes
1 Helmut Janz  United Team of Germany 51.1 51.30 Q
2 Bartonjo Rotich  Kenya 51.2 51.39 Q
3 Jussi Rintamäki  Finland 51.5 51.70 q
4 Elio Catola  Italy 51.8 51.94 q
5 Fahir Özgüden  Turkey 55.3 55.43
6 Nazzar Al-Jamali  Iraq 58.0 Unknown

Quarterfinal 6

[edit]
Rank Athlete Nation Time
(hand)
Time
(auto)
Notes
1 John Metcalf  Great Britain 52.1 52.24 Q
2 Moreno Martini  Italy 52.1 52.26 Q
3 Boris Kriunov  Soviet Union 52.5 52.66
4 Víctor Maldonado  Venezuela 52.6 52.79
5 Zdzisław Kumiszcze  Poland 53.3 53.47
6 Li Po-Ting  Formosa 54.1 54.23

Semifinals

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

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time
(hand)
Time
(auto)
Notes
1 Glenn Davis  United States 51.1 51.20 Q
2 Jussi Rintamäki  Finland 51.1 51.20 Q
3 Helmut Janz  United Team of Germany 51.4 51.55 Q
4 Georgy Chevychalov  Soviet Union 52.0 52.14
5 Elio Catola  Italy 52.3 52.44
6 Jan Gulbrandsen  Norway 52.4 52.56
7 Moreno Martini  Italy 52.4 52.57

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time
(hand)
Time
(auto)
Notes
1 Cliff Cushman  United States 50.8 50.89 Q
2 Dick Howard  United States 50.8 50.91 Q
3 Bruno Galliker  Switzerland 51.3 51.47 Q
4 Salvatore Morale  Italy 51.3 51.48
5 Bartonjo Rotich  Kenya 51.8 51.97 [3]
6 Willi Matthias  United Team of Germany 51.8 51.95 [3]
7 John Metcalf  Great Britain 52.5 52.72

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation Time
(hand)
Time
(auto)
Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Glenn Davis  United States 49.3 49.51 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Cliff Cushman  United States 49.6 49.77
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Dick Howard  United States 49.7 49.90
4 Helmut Janz  United Team of Germany 49.9 50.05
5 Jussi Rintamäki  Finland 50.8 50.98
6 Bruno Galliker  Switzerland 51.0 51.11
Wind: +0.1 m/s

Results summary

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Rank Athlete Nation Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Glenn Davis  United States 52.41 51.20 49.51 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Cliff Cushman  United States 51.98 50.89 49.77
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Dick Howard  United States 51.32 50.91 49.90
4 Helmut Janz  United Team of Germany 51.30 51.55 50.05
5 Jussi Rintamäki  Finland 51.70 51.20 50.98
6 Bruno Galliker  Switzerland 51.20 51.47 51.11
7 Salvatore Morale  Italy 52.13 51.48 Did not advance
8 Bartonjo Rotich  Kenya 51.39 51.97 [3]
9 Willi Matthias  United Team of Germany 52.23 51.95 [3]
10 Georgy Chevychalov  Soviet Union 51.97 52.14
11 Elio Catola  Italy 51.94 52.44
12 Jan Gulbrandsen  Norway 52.39 52.56
13 Moreno Martini  Italy 52.26 52.57
14 John Metcalf  Great Britain 52.24 52.72
15 Anubes da Silva  Brazil 52.25 Did not advance
16 Max Boyes  Great Britain 52.32
17 Per-Owe Trollsås  Sweden 52.49
18 Wiesław Król  Poland 52.52
19 Keiji Ogushi  Japan 52.58
20 Boris Kriunov  Soviet Union 52.66
21 Chris Goudge  Great Britain 52.75
22 Víctor Maldonado  Venezuela 52.79
23 Muhammad Yaqub  Pakistan 52.91
24 Arnold Matsulevich  Soviet Union 53.00
25 George Shepherd  Canada 53.05
26 Wolfgang Fischer  United Team of Germany 53.35
27 Zdzisław Kumiszcze  Poland 53.47
28 Marcel Lambrechts  Belgium 53.67
29 Dimitrios Skourtis  Greece 53.85
30 Li Po-Ting  Formosa 54.23
31 Mongi Soussi Zarrouki  Tunisia 54.34
32 Fahir Özgüden  Turkey 55.43
33 Mohamed Zouaki  Morocco 55.65
34 Nazzar Al-Jamali  Iraq 58.0

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1960 Rome Summer Games: Men's 400 metres Hurdles". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "400 metres Hurdles, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Rotich was placed ahead of Matthias in the second semifinal despite the auto-time showing that Matthias finished faster.