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Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles

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Men's 400 metres hurdles
at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Yemeni stamp commemorating 1964 Olympic athletics
VenueOlympic Stadium
Dates14–16 October
Competitors39 from 26 nations
Winning time49.6
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Rex Cawley
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) John Cooper
 Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Salvatore Morale
 Italy
← 1960
1968 →

The men's 400 metres hurdles was the longer of the men's hurdle races in the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 14 October, 15 October, and 16 October 1964. 39 athletes from 26 nations competed, with 1 more not starting in the first round. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The first round was held on 14 October, with the semifinals on 15 October and the final on 16 October.[1] The event was won by Rex Cawley of the United States, the nation's sixth consecutive and 11th overall victory in the men's 400 metres hurdles. For the first time since 1952, the Americans did not sweep the event. John Cooper earned Great Britain's first medal in the event since 1928 with his silver; Salvatore Morale took Italy's first-ever medal in the 400 metres hurdles with his bronze.

Background

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This was the 13th 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.

None of the six finalists from the 1960 Games returned. American Rex Cawley was the favorite after setting a world record at the U.S. trials; he was also the 1963 AAU champion.[2]

Malaysia, Peru, Senegal, and Uganda each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 13th 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.

The format also continued to use the "fastest loser" system introduced in 1960. The 1964 event standardized later-round heat sizes at 8 rather than 6.

There were 5 quarterfinal heats with 8 athletes each (before one withdrawal). The top 3 men in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals, along with the next fastest hurdler overall. The 16 semifinalists were divided into 2 semifinals of 8 athletes each, with the top 4 in each semifinal advancing to the 8-man final.[2]

Records

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

World record  Rex Cawley (USA) 49.1 Los Angeles, United States 13 September 1964
Olympic record  Glenn Davis (USA) 49.3 Rome, Italy 2 September 1960

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

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All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 14 October 1964 14:00 Quarterfinals
Thursday, 15 October 1964 14:15 Semifinals
Friday, 16 October 1964 16:00 Final

Results

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Quarterfinals

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The top three runners in each of the 5 heats as well as the fastest remaining runner advanced.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 John Cooper  Great Britain 50.5 Q
2 Gary Knoke  Australia 50.9 Q
3 Roberto Frinolli  Italy 51.2 Q
4 Edvīns Zāģeris  Soviet Union 51.5 q
5 Bill Gairdner  Canada 53.8
6 Helmut Haid  Austria 54.6
Horst Gieseler  United Team of Germany DNF
Nicola Dimitrov Dagorov  Bulgaria DNS

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Rex Cawley  United States 50.8 Q
2 Juan Carlos Dyrzka  Argentina 51.1 Q
3 Peter Warden  Great Britain 51.6 Q
4 Joachim Singer  United Team of Germany 52.1
5 Boguslaw Gierajewski  Poland 52.8
6 Samir Ambrose Vincent  Iraq 54.0
7 Kiyoo Yui  Japan 54.7
8 Michael Ryan  Australia 58.0

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Wilfried Geeroms  Belgium 51.2 Q
2 Ken Roche  Australia 51.5 Q
3 Jay Luck  United States 51.7 Q
4 Jerom Ochana  Uganda 52.4
5 Robert Poirier  France 52.6
6 Valeriu Jurca  Romania 52.7
7 Kimaru Songok  Kenya 54.5
8 Mansour ul-Haq Awan  Pakistan 55.3

Quarterfinal 4

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Anisimov is listed in the Official Report results for heat 4 as being a competitor for the United States; however, the Official Report lists his nationality as Soviet in all other instances in the report.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Salvatore Morale  Italy 51.1 Q
2 Vasyl Anisimov  Soviet Union 51.7 Q
3 Ferdinand Haas  United Team of Germany 52.2 Q
4 Mike Hogan  Great Britain 52.5
5 Keiji Ogushi  Japan 53.6
6 José Cavero  Peru 53.7
7 Karu Selvaratnam  Malaysia 53.8
Djani Kovac  Yugoslavia DSQ

Quarterfinal 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Billy Hardin  United States 51.3 Q
2 Víctor Maldonado  Venezuela 51.6 Q
3 Jaakko Tuominen  Finland 51.8 Q
4 Jean-Jacques Behm  France 52.2
5 Keiko Iijima  Japan 52.8
6 Mamadou Sarr  Senegal 53.2
7 Amrit Pal  India 53.3
8 Imants Kukličs  Soviet Union 53.3

Semifinals

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The fastest four runners of each of the two semifinals advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Rex Cawley  United States 49.8 Q
2 Roberto Frinolli  Italy 50.2 Q
3 Gary Knoke  Australia 50.6 Q
4 Wilfried Geeroms  Belgium 51.0 Q
5 Peter Warden  Great Britain 51.2
6 Ferdinand Haas  United Team of Germany 51.6
7 Edvin Zageris  Soviet Union 52.2
8 Jaakko Tuominen  Finland 54.0

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 John Cooper  Great Britain 50.4 Q
2 Jay Luck  United States 50.4 Q
3 Salvatore Morale  Italy 50.4 Q
4 Vasyl Anisimov  Soviet Union 50.7 Q
5 Ken Roche  Australia 50.8
6 Billy Hardin  United States 50.9
7 Victor Maldonado  Venezuela 51.1
8 Juan Carlos Dyrzka  Argentina 53.1

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation Time
1st place, gold medalist(s) Rex Cawley  United States 49.6
2nd place, silver medalist(s) John Cooper  Great Britain 50.1
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Salvatore Morale  Italy 50.1
4 Gary Knoke  Australia 50.4
5 Jay Luck  United States 50.5
6 Roberto Frinolli  Italy 50.7
7 Vasyl Anisimov  Soviet Union 51.1
8 Wilfried Geeroms  Belgium 51.4

Results summary

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Rank Athlete Nation Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
1st place, gold medalist(s) Rex Cawley  United States 50.8 49.8 49.6
2nd place, silver medalist(s) John Cooper  Great Britain 50.5 50.4 50.1
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Salvatore Morale  Italy 51.1 50.4 50.1
4 Gary Knoke  Australia 50.9 50.6 50.4
5 Jay Luck  United States 51.7 50.4 50.5
6 Roberto Frinolli  Italy 51.2 50.2 50.7
7 Vasyl Anisimov  Soviet Union 51.7 50.7 51.1
8 Wilfried Geeroms  Belgium 51.2 51.0 51.4
9 Ken Roche  Australia 51.5 50.8 Did not advance
10 Billy Hardin  United States 51.3 50.9
11 Victor Maldonado  Venezuela 51.6 51.1
12 Peter Warden  Great Britain 51.6 51.2
13 Ferdinand Haas  United Team of Germany 52.2 51.6
14 Edvin Zageris  Soviet Union 51.5 52.2
15 Juan Carlos Dyrzka  Argentina 51.1 53.1
16 Jaakko Tuominen  Finland 51.8 54.0
17 Joachim Singer  United Team of Germany 52.1 Did not advance
18 Jean-Jacques Behm  France 52.2
19 Jerom Ochana  Uganda 52.4
20 Mike Hogan  Great Britain 52.5
21 Robert Poirier  France 52.6
22 Valeriu Jurca  Romania 52.7
23 Boguslaw Gierajewski  Poland 52.8
Keiko Iijima  Japan 52.8
25 Mamadou Sarr  Senegal 53.2
26 Amrit Pal  India 53.3
Imants Kukličs  Soviet Union 53.3
28 Keiji Ogushi  Japan 53.6
29 José Cavero  Peru 53.7
30 Bill Gairdner  Canada 53.8
Karu Selvaratnam  Malaysia 53.8
32 Samir Ambrose Vincent  Iraq 54.0
33 Kimaru Songok  Kenya 54.5
34 Helmut Haid  Austria 54.6
35 Kiyoo Yui  Japan 54.7
36 Mansour ul-Haq Awan  Pakistan 55.3
37 Michael Ryan  Australia 58.0
Horst Gieseler  United Team of Germany DNF
Djani Kovac  Yugoslavia DSQ
Nicola Dimitrov Dagorov  Bulgaria DNS

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games: Men's 400 metres Hurdles". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b "400 metres Hurdles, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 January 2021.