Athletics at the 1971 Pan American Games – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres event at the 1971 Pan American Games was held in Cali on 31 July and 1 August.

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
John Smith  United States	Fred Newhouse  United States	Fernando Acevedo  Peru

Results

Heats

Held on 31 July

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	1	Fernando Acevedo	Peru	45.81	Q
2	2	Fred Newhouse	United States	45.83	Q
3	4	Garth Case	Jamaica	46.94	Q
4	2	Kent Bernard	Trinidad and Tobago	47.00	Q
5	4	Antonio Álvarez	Cuba	47.18	Q
6	2	Alfred Daley	Jamaica	47.24	Q
7	4	Víctor Patinez	Venezuela	47.33	Q
8	1	John Smith	United States	47.49	Q
9	2	Melesio Piña	Mexico	47.67	Q
10	3	Jimmy Sierra	Colombia	47.74	Q
11	1	Raúl Dome	Venezuela	48.00	Q
12	2	Pedro Grajales	Colombia	48.06
13	3	João Pedro Francisco	Brazil	48.17	Q
14	3	Doug Chapman	Canada	48.25	Q
15	4	Jorge Alemán	Peru	48.32	Q
16	3	Rodovaldo Díaz	Cuba	48.37	Q
17	1	Alberto Gajate	Argentina	48.55	Q
18	1	Ian Gordon	Canada	48.64
19	4	Carlos Abbott	Costa Rica	48.66
20	3	Walter Pankey	Virgin Islands	48.84
21	3	Carlos Heuchert	Argentina	48.92
22	1	Felipe Cigala	Mexico	49.05
23	4	Enrique Almarante	Dominican Republic	49.10
24	3	Alfred Logie	Trinidad and Tobago	49.15
25	2	Tobias Tejada	Dominican Republic	50.09

Semifinals

Held on 31 July

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	2	Fred Newhouse	United States	45.68	Q
2	1	John Smith	United States	46.11	Q
3	1	Fernando Acevedo	Peru	46.33	Q
4	2	Garth Case	Jamaica	46.77	Q
5	1	Alfred Daley	Jamaica	47.01	Q
6	1	Kent Bernard	Trinidad and Tobago	47.25	Q
7	2	Antonio Álvarez	Cuba	47.69	Q
8	1	Melesio Piña	Mexico	47.74
9	1	Raúl Dome	Venezuela	47.82
10	2	Doug Chapman	Canada	47.87	Q
11	1	Rodovaldo Díaz	Cuba	48.10
12	2	Víctor Patinez	Venezuela	48.46
13	2	Jorge Alemán	Peru	48.66
14	1	João Pedro Francisco	Brazil	50.24
	2	Alberto Gajate	Argentina	DNS
	2	Jimmy Sierra	Colombia	DNS

Final

Held on 1 August

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	John Smith	United States	44.60	GR
	Fred Newhouse	United States	45.08
	Fernando Acevedo	Peru	45.30
4	Alfred Daley	Jamaica	46.52
5	Garth Case	Jamaica	46.82
6	Doug Chapman	Canada	47.28
7	Kent Bernard	Trinidad and Tobago	47.43
8	Antonio Álvarez	Cuba	47.46