Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

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Men's 400 metres
at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
VenueOlympic Stadium
Date26 July 1976 (heats and quarterfinals)
28 July 1976 (semifinals)
29 July 1976 (final)
Competitors44 from 29 nations
Winning time44.26
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Alberto Juantorena
 Cuba
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Fred Newhouse
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Herman Frazier
 United States
← 1972
1980 →
Athletics at the
1976 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mmenwomen
1500 mmenwomen
5000 mmen
10,000 mmen
100 m hurdleswomen
110 m hurdlesmen
400 m hurdlesmen
3000 m
steeplechase		men
4 × 100 m relaymenwomen
4 × 400 m relaymenwomen
Road events
Marathonmen
20 km walkmen
Field events
Long jumpmenwomen
Triple jumpmen
High jumpmenwomen
Pole vaultmen
Shot putmenwomen
Discus throwmenwomen
Javelin throwmenwomen
Hammer throwmen
Combined events
Pentathlonwomen
Decathlonmen

The men's 400 metres was an event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. The competition was held on July 26, 1976, July 28, 1976, and on July 29, 1976.[1][2][3][4][5] Forty-four athletes from 29 nations competed.[6] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Alberto Juantorena of Cuba, the nation's first medal in the event, breaking a string of five victories by the United States. Juantorena became the first man to win both the 800 metres and 400 metres in an Olympics.

Summary[edit]

In the final, Fred Newhouse and Maxie Parks appeared to go for the early lead, while Alberto Juantorena was initially a little slower. Then he stretched out on the backstretch to regain position about equal to the third American Herman Frazier. Coming off the final turn Juantorena had caught the rest of the field and was a step behind Newhouse. Parks and Fons Brijdenbach were about even two more strides back with Frazier just behind them. As Juantorena began to pass Newhouse, Newhouse noticeably struggled, leaving Juantorena with the gold medal. Three metres back, Frazier just edged ahead of Brijdenbach for the bronze medal, as Parks faded.[7][8][9][10]

Background[edit]

This was the eighteenth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Two finalists, but no medalists, from 1972 returned: sixth-place finisher Markku Kukkoaho of Finland and seventh-place Karl Honz of West Germany. Alberto Juantorena was the favorite, ranked #1 in the world and trying to become the first man to win the 400 metres/800 metres double (outside of the 1906 Intercalated Games). His main competition was the United States team, aiming for a sixth consecutive win in the event.[6]

Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, the Netherlands Antilles, and Papua New Guinea appeared in this event for the first time. The United States made its eighteenth appearance in the event, the only nation to compete in it at every Olympic Games to that point.

Competition format[edit]

The competition retained the basic four-round format from 1920. The "fastest loser" system, introduced in 1964, was applied in the first round. With 20 fewer runners than in 1972 (44 compared to 64), there were only 6 first-round heats, each scheduled to have 7 or 8 athletes but one with only 6 starters. The top five runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals along with the next two fastest overall. The 4 quarterfinals each had 8 runners; the top four athletes in each quarterfinal heat advanced to the semifinals, with no "fastest loser" spots. The semifinals featured 2 heats of 8 runners each. The top four runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making an eight-man final.[6][11]

Records[edit]

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1976 Summer Olympics.

World record  Lee Evans (USA) 43.86 Mexico City, Mexico 18 October 1968
Olympic record  Lee Evans (USA) 43.86 Mexico City, Mexico 18 October 1968

No world or Olympic records were set during this event.

Schedule[edit]

The quarterfinals were moved back up to the first day (along with the first round) for the first time since 1964.

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

Date Time Round
Monday, 26 July 1976 11:00
15:15		 Round 1
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, 28 July 1976 15:20 Semifinals
Thursday, 29 July 1976 16:00 Final

Results[edit]

Heats[edit]

The heats were held on July 26, 1976.

Heat 1[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 2 Herman Frazier  United States 46.09 Q
2 7 Mike Sands  Bahamas 46.52 Q
3 5 Zbigniew Jaremski  Poland 46.68 Q
4 6 Peter Grant  Australia 47.03 Q
5 8 Brian Saunders  Canada 47.24 Q
6 3 Carlos Noroña  Cuba 48.46
7 1 Hamil Grimes  Barbados 49.24
8 4 Wilfrid Cyriaque  Haiti 51.49

Heat 2[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 5 Fred Newhouse  United States 45.42 Q
2 7 Rick Mitchell  Australia 46.11 Q
3 6 Jan Werner  Poland 46.19 Q
4 4 Alfonso Di Guida  Italy 46.52 Q
5 2 Leighton Priestley  Jamaica 46.74 Q
6 8 Don Domansky  Canada 47.24 q
7 1 Errol Thurton  Belize 48.91
8 3 Ahmed Al-Assiri  Saudi Arabia 49.72

Heat 3[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 7 Maxie Parks  United States 46.12 Q
2 2 Delmo da Silva  Brazil 47.21 Q
3 4 Iván Mangual  Puerto Rico 47.39 Q
4 1 Karl Honz  West Germany 47.47 Q
5 5 Eddy Gutiérrez  Cuba 47.89 Q
6 3 Renelda Swan  Bermuda 49.13
— — Stavros Tziortzis  Greece DNS
— Tony Moore  Fiji DNS

Heat 4[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 8 Fons Brijdenbach  Belgium 46.73 Q
2 2 Jerzy Pietrzyk  Poland 46.92 Q
3 6 Franz-Peter Hofmeister  West Germany 47.17 Q
4 1 Ossi Karttunen  Finland 47.22 Q
5 4 Glenn Bogue  Canada 47.42 Q
6 3 Raymond Heerenveen  Netherlands Antilles 47.44 q
7 5 Wavala Kali  Papua New Guinea 48.85
8 7 Ricardo Larios  Nicaragua 50.52

Heat 5[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 6 David Jenkins  Great Britain 46.60 Q
2 5 Bernd Herrmann  West Germany 46.99 Q
3 4 Jozo Alebić  Yugoslavia 47.03 Q
4 2 Markku Kukkoaho  Finland 47.67 Q
5 3 Charles Joseph  Trinidad and Tobago 47.72 Q
6 7 Samba Dièye  Senegal 47.98
7 1 Bjarni Stefánsson  Iceland 48.34

Heat 6[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 5 Mike Solomon  Trinidad and Tobago 47.29 Q
2 4 Glen Cohen  Great Britain 47.77 Q
3 6 Alberto Juantorena  Cuba 47.89 Q
4 1 Alfred Daley  Jamaica 48.04 Q
5 7 Fred Sowerby  Antigua and Barbuda 48.12 Q
6 3 Avognan Nogboun  Ivory Coast 48.24
7 2 José Carvalho  Portugal 48.47

Quarterfinals[edit]

The quarterfinals were held on July 26, 1976.

Quarterfinal 1[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 6 Herman Frazier  United States 46.52 Q
2 3 Fons Brijdenbach  Belgium 46.56 Q
3 1 Karl Honz  West Germany 46.94 Q
4 5 Alfonso Di Guida  Italy 47.07 Q
5 2 Ossi Karttunen  Finland 47.45
6 4 Peter Grant  Australia 47.69
7 7 Alfred Daley  Jamaica 48.46
8 8 Glenn Bogue  Canada 48.98

Quarterfinal 2[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 1 Rick Mitchell  Australia 45.76 Q
2 7 Alberto Juantorena  Cuba 45.92 Q
3 4 Jerzy Pietrzyk  Poland 46.30 Q
4 8 Brian Saunders  Canada 46.42 Q
5 3 Leighton Priestley  Jamaica 46.45
6 5 Mike Sands  Bahamas 46.48
7 2 Iván Mangual  Puerto Rico 46.56
8 6 Charles Joseph  Trinidad and Tobago 46.61

Quarterfinal 3[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 7 Mike Solomon  Trinidad and Tobago 45.83 Q
2 8 Jan Werner  Poland 45.88 Q
3 2 Maxie Parks  United States 45.99 Q
4 3 Bernd Herrmann  West Germany 46.07 Q
5 1 Markku Kukkoaho  Finland 46.24
6 6 Eddy Gutiérrez  Cuba 46.65
7 4 Glen Cohen  Great Britain 47.67
— — Don Domansky  Canada DNS

Quarterfinal 4[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 1 Fred Newhouse  United States 45.97 Q
2 2 David Jenkins  Great Britain 46.18 Q
3 7 Franz-Peter Hofmeister  West Germany 46.20 Q
4 8 Delmo da Silva  Brazil 46.48 Q
5 4 Jozo Alebić  Yugoslavia 46.94
6 3 Zbigniew Jaremski  Poland 47.10
7 6 Fred Sowerby  Antigua and Barbuda 48.03
8 5 Raymond Heerenveen  Netherlands Antilles 48.88

Semifinals[edit]

The semifinals were held on July 28, 1976.

Semifinal 1[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 7 Alberto Juantorena  Cuba 45.10 Q
2 3 Fons Brijdenbach  Belgium 45.28 Q
3 5 Maxie Parks  United States 45.61 Q
4 1 Rick Mitchell  Australia 45.69 Q
5 8 Bernd Herrmann  West Germany 45.94
6 2 Brian Saunders  Canada 46.46
7 4 Alfonso Di Guida  Italy 46.50
8 6 Delmo da Silva  Brazil 46.69

Semifinal 2[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 2 Fred Newhouse  United States 44.89 Q
2 7 David Jenkins  Great Britain 45.20 Q
3 4 Herman Frazier  United States 45.24 Q
4 6 Jan Werner  Poland 45.44 Q
5 3 Jerzy Pietrzyk  Poland 45.65
6 8 Franz-Peter Hofmeister  West Germany 46.05
7 1 Mike Solomon  Trinidad and Tobago 46.20
8 5 Karl Honz  West Germany 46.63

Final[edit]

The final was held on July 29, 1976.

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time
1st place, gold medalist(s) 2 Alberto Juantorena  Cuba 44.26
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 Fred Newhouse  United States 44.40
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3 Herman Frazier  United States 44.95
4 8 Fons Brijdenbach  Belgium 45.04
5 7 Maxie Parks  United States 45.24
6 6 Rick Mitchell  Australia 45.40
7 5 David Jenkins  Great Britain 45.57
8 1 Jan Werner  Poland 45.63

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1976 Montreal Summer Games: Men's 400 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  2. ^ "The New York Times: This Day in Sports".
  3. ^ "Alberto Juantorena | Cuban athlete | Britannica".
  4. ^ "Olympics: U.S. Men hit rock bottom in 400 meters". 6 August 2012.
  5. ^ "30 Greatest Athletes in Summer Olympics History". Bleacher Report.
  6. ^ a b c "400 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  7. ^ "The New York Times: This Day in Sports".
  8. ^ "Alberto Juantorena | Cuban athlete | Britannica".
  9. ^ "Olympics: U.S. Men hit rock bottom in 400 meters". 6 August 2012.
  10. ^ "30 Greatest Athletes in Summer Olympics History". Bleacher Report.
  11. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 53.
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