Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

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Men's 400 metres
at the Games of the VII Olympiad
VenueOlympisch Stadion
DatesAugust 19 (round 1 & quarterfinals)
August 20 (semifinals & final)
Competitors37 from 16 nations
Winning time49.6
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Bevil Rudd  South Africa
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Guy Butler  Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Nils Engdahl  Sweden
← 1912
1924 →
Athletics at the
1920 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 mmen
200 mmen
400 mmen
800 mmen
1500 mmen
5000 mmen
10,000 mmen
110 m hurdlesmen
400 m hurdlesmen
3000 m steeplechasemen
4 × 100 m relaymen
4 × 400 m relaymen
3000 m team racemen
3 km walkmen
10 km walkmen
Road events
Marathonmen
Field events
Long jumpmen
Triple jumpmen
High jumpmen
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Discus throwmen
Hammer throwmen
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56 lb weight throwmen
Combined events
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Individualmen
Teammen

The men's 400 metres event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Thursday, August 19, 1920, and on Friday, August 20, 1920. 37 runners from 16 nations competed.[1] No nation had more than 4 runners, suggesting the limit had been reduced from the 12 maximum in force in 1908 and 1912. The event was won by Bevil Rudd of South Africa, the nation's first title (and first medal) in the event. Nils Engdahl's bronze was Sweden's first medal in the 400 metres.

Background[edit]

This was the sixth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The only returning finalist from the pre-war 1912 Games was Ted Meredith of the United States, who had finished 4th in Stockholm and who had broken the world record in 1916. Other favored entrants included 1919 AAU champion Frank Shea of the United States, 1919 AAA champion Guy Butler of Great Britain, and 1920 AAA champion Bevil Rudd of South Africa.[2]

Czechoslovakia, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, India, Luxembourg, and Spain appeared in the event for the first time. The United States made its sixth appearance in the event, the only nation to compete in it at every Olympic Games to that point.

Competition format[edit]

Despite the smaller field than 1912 (37 athletes, down from 49), the competition expanded from three rounds to four. The first round had 10 heats, with 3 or 4 runners each. The top two runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals. There were 4 quarterfinals, with 5 runners in each; the top three athletes in each heat advanced to the semifinals. The semifinals featured 2 heats of 6 runners each. Again, the top three runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making a six-man final.[2][3]

Records[edit]

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1920 Summer Olympics.[4]

World record  Ted Meredith (USA) 47.4(*) Cambridge, United States 27 May 1916
Olympic record  Charles Reidpath (USA) 48.2 Stockholm, Sweden 13 July 1912

(*) 440 yards (= 402.34 m)

No records were set during this event.

Schedule[edit]

Date Time Round
Thursday, 19 August 1920 09:30
15:15		 Round 1
Quarterfinals
Friday, 20 August 1920 14:00
16:15		 Semifinals
Final

Results[edit]

Times were generally only published for the winners of each heat. Some of the times listed below are estimates based on contemporary reports of the races.[5]

Round 1[edit]

Heat 1[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Robert Lindsay  Great Britain 52.0 Q
2 Clarence Oldfield  South Africa 52.2 Q
3 Tolly Bolin  Sweden 52.6
— Émile Barral  Monaco DNS
— Fritiof Andersen  Denmark DNS
— Jean Colbach  Luxembourg DNS

Heat 2[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Gaston Féry  France 51.2 Q
2 John Ainsworth-Davis  Great Britain 51.5 Q
3 Karel Frankenstein  Czechoslovakia 52.5
4 Francis Irvine  South Africa 52.5
— William Hunt  Australia DNS

Heat 3[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Frank Shea  United States 50.8 Q
2 Henry Dafel  South Africa 51.2 Q
3 Sven Krokström  Sweden 51.6
— Josef Teplý  Czechoslovakia DNS

Heat 4[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ted Meredith  United States 51.6 Q
2 Géo André  France 52.3 Q
3 Giuseppe Bernardoni  Italy 52.8
— Dimitrios Karabatis  Greece DNS
— Gensabulo Noguchi  Japan DNS

Heat 5[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Bevil Rudd  South Africa 51.6 Q
2 Erik Wilén  Finland 52.0 Q
3 Reinhold Saulmann  Estonia 52.4 a
4 Giovanni Tosi  Italy 52.6
— August Sørensen  Denmark DNS
a.^ Reinhold Saulmann's time is given as 52.2 by contemporary Estonian reports.

Heat 6[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Robert Emery  United States 52.6 Q
2 Guy Butler  Great Britain 53.2 Q
3 Karel Přibyl  Czechoslovakia 54.0
4 Jules Migeot  Belgium 55.1
— Shinichi Yamaoka  Japan DNS

Heat 7[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 George Schiller  United States 50.4 Q
2 Nils Engdahl  Sweden 50.6 Q
3 Maurice Delvart  France 51.0
4 Einar Mangset  Norway 51.4
— Eduard Hašek  Czechoslovakia DNS

Heat 8[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Eric Sundblad  Sweden 52.0 Q
2 Hec Phillips  Canada 52.3 Q
3 Agide Simonazzi  Italy 53.0
4 Purma Bannerjee  India 53.1
— Paul Hammer  Luxembourg DNS

Heat 9[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Omer Corteyn  Belgium 52.2 Q
2 Hedges Worthington-Eyre  Great Britain 52.6 Q
3 Jean Proess  Luxembourg 53.2
4 José García Lorenzana  Spain 53.4
— Johannes Villemson  Estonia DNS

Heat 10[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 François Morren  Belgium 51.6 Q
2 Miguel García Onsalo  Spain 52.0 Q
3 Eugène Bayon  France 52.4
— Ahmed Khairy  Egypt DNF
— Ernesto Ambrosini  Italy DNS

Quarterfinals[edit]

Quarterfinal 1[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Nils Engdahl  Sweden 50.4 Q
2 John Ainsworth-Davis  Great Britain 50.7 Q
3 Robert Emery  United States 50.7 Q
4 François Morren  Belgium 50.8
5 Clarence Oldfield  South Africa 51.1

Quarterfinal 2[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Gaston Féry  France 50.6 Q
2 Guy Butler  Great Britain 50.7 Q
3 Ted Meredith  United States 50.8 Q
4 Erik Wilén  Finland 51.0
5 Hec Phillips  Canada 51.4

Quarterfinal 3[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Henry Dafel  South Africa 50.8 Q
2 George Schiller  United States 51.1 Q
3 Eric Sundblad  Sweden 51.2 Q
4 Robert Lindsay  Great Britain 51.6
5 Omer Corteyn  Belgium 52.0

Quarterfinal 4[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Frank Shea  United States 51.0 Q
2 Bevil Rudd  South Africa 51.3 Q
3 Géo André  France 51.6 Q
4 Miguel García Onsalo  Spain 52.8
5 Hedges Worthington-Eyre  Great Britain 53.2

Semifinals[edit]

Semifinal 1[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Nils Engdahl  Sweden 49.4 Q
2 Bevil Rudd  South Africa 49.7 Q
3 John Ainsworth-Davis  Great Britain 49.9 Q
4 Robert Emery  United States 50.2
5 George Schiller  United States
6 Gaston Féry  France 51.0

Semifinal 2[edit]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Frank Shea  United States 50.0 Q
2 Guy Butler  Great Britain 50.2 Q
3 Henry Dafel  South Africa 50.4 Q
4 Ted Meredith  United States 50.6
5 Géo André  France 51.6
— Eric Sundblad  Sweden DNF

Final[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time
1st place, gold medalist(s) 1 Bevil Rudd  South Africa 49.6
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 Guy Butler  Great Britain 50.1
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 Nils Engdahl  Sweden 50.2
4 3 Frank Shea  United States 50.4
5 4 John Ainsworth-Davis  Great Britain 50.6
6 2 Henry Dafel  South Africa 50.6

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Games: Men's 400 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b "400 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  3. ^ Official Report, pp. 90–92.
  4. ^ "World Record Progression of 400 Metres". World Athletics. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Retrieved 3 June 2021.

Further reading[edit]

  • Belgium Olympic Committee (1957). Olympic Games Antwerp 1920: Official Report (in French).
  • Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 11 August 2007.
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