Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

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Men's 400 metres
at the Games of the XXV Olympiad
VenueEstadi Olímpic de Montjuïc
Dates1 August 1992 (heats)
2 August 1992 (quarter-finals)
3 August 1992 (semi-finals)
5 August 1992 (final)
Competitors69 from 52 nations
Winning time43.50 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Quincy Watts
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Steve Lewis
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Samson Kitur
 Kenya
← 1988
1996 →
Official Video Highlights

The men's 400 metres was an event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. There were a total number of 68 participating athletes from 52 nations, with nine qualifying heats.[1][2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Quincy Watts of the United States, the third in what would ultimately be seven consecutive American victories stretching from 1984 to 2008 and the 15th overall title in the event by the United States. Steve Lewis became the third man (and first American) to win a second medal in the event. Samson Kitur earned Kenya's first medal in the men's 400 metres since 1972.

In heat 1 of the semifinal round, Derek Redmond tore his hamstring 250 meters to the finish line and was disqualified due to outside assistance from his father. Despite the results, the crowd gave him a standing ovation, and became as one of the well-remembered moments in Olympic's history.

In heat 2 of the semifinal round, Quincy Watts ran the number 2 time in history, 43.71, only surpassed by the world record held by Butch Reynolds. At those trials, Danny Everett had run the previous number time in history 43.81, while Reynolds did not qualify. In heat 2, Everett suffered a foot injury and hobbled home. In the final, Watts again improved the number 2 time in history while breaking the Olympic Record with his 43.50 win.[3]

Background[edit]

This was the 22nd appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Defending gold medalist Steve Lewis and bronze medalist Danny Everett of the United States, but Quincy Watts beat silver medalist Butch Reynolds at the U.S. Olympic trials to take the third spot. Roger Black of Great Britain had taken silver at the 1991 world championship.[2]

Angola, the Central African Republic, Costa Rica, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritania, and Qatar appeared in this event for the first time. The Unified Team, consisting of some former Soviet republics, competed in the only Summer Games the Unified Team existed. One Yugoslav athlete competed as an "Independent Olympic Participant." The United States made its 21st appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Competition format[edit]

The competition retained the basic four-round format from 1920. The "fastest loser" system, introduced in 1964, was used for the first round. There were 9 first-round heats, each with 7 or 8 runners. The top three runners in each heat advanced, along with the next five fastest overall. The 32 quarterfinalists were divided into 4 quarterfinals with 8 runners each; 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.[2][4]

Records[edit]

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

World record  Butch Reynolds (USA) 43.29 Zürich, Switzerland 17 August 1988
Olympic record  Lee Evans (USA) 43.86 Mexico City, Mexico 18 October 1968

Quincy Watts set two new Olympic records. He first ran 43.71 in the semifinals and improved his mark in the final to 43.50.

The following national records were established during the competition:

Nation Athlete Round Time
 Central African Republic Martial Biguet Heat 3 47.82

Schedule[edit]

Following the 1984 schedule, the event was held on four separate days, with each round being on a different day.

All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

Date Time Round
Saturday, 1 August 1992 10:00 Round 1
Sunday, 2 August 1992 19:15 Quarterfinals
Monday, 3 August 1992 19:15 Semifinals
Wednesday, 5 August 1992 20:35 Final

Results[edit]

Round 1[edit]

Heat 1[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 4 Derek Redmond  Great Britain 45.03 Q
2 5 Roberto Hernández  Cuba 45.07 Q
3 6 Solomon Amegatcher  Ghana 45.42 Q
4 3 Dennis Blake  Jamaica 45.92 q
5 7 Aktawat Sakoolchan  Thailand 46.78
6 1 Ali Faudet  Chad 47.10
7 2 Jaime Rodrigues  Mozambique 48.89

Heat 2[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 5 Troy Douglas  Bermuda 46.02 Q
2 2 Alvin Daniel  Trinidad and Tobago 46.09 Q
3 6 Thomas Schönlebe  Germany 46.26 Q
4 8 Seibert Straughn  Barbados 46.54
5 1 Delon Felix  Grenada 47.39
6 4 Mohamed Al-Malky  Oman 48.00
7 7 Randolph Foster  Costa Rica 48.80
8 3 Vanxay Sinebandith  Laos 51.71

Heat 3[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 4 Quincy Watts  United States 45.38 Q
2 5 Bobang Phiri  South Africa 45.57 Q
3 1 Rico Lieder  Germany 45.86 Q
4 2 Francis Ogola  Uganda 45.87 q
5 6 Ediélson Tenório  Brazil 46.31 q
6 7 Kossi Akoto  Togo 46.97
7 3 Martial Biguet  Central African Republic 47.82 NR

Heat 4[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 4 Simon Kemboi  Kenya 45.84 Q
2 1 Slobodan Branković  Independent Olympic Participants 46.34 Q
3 2 Devon Morris  Jamaica 46.45 Q
4 8 Patrick Delice  Trinidad and Tobago 46.58
5 7 Subul Babo  Papua New Guinea 47.17
6 5 Médard Makanga  Republic of the Congo 48.17
7 3 Kenmore Hughes  Antigua and Barbuda 48.56
8 6 Mohamed Amir  Maldives 50.35

Heat 5[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 3 Danny Everett  United States 45.68 Q
2 4 David Grindley  Great Britain 45.79 Q
3 8 Andrea Nuti  Italy 46.12 Q
4 6 Innocent Egbunike  Nigeria 46.51
5 1 Dmitry Kosov  Unified Team 47.28
6 2 Joseph Adam  Seychelles 47.68
7 7 Baptiste Firiam  Vanuatu 48.98
8 5 Eulogio Ngache  Equatorial Guinea 50.83

Heat 6[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 7 Samson Kitur  Kenya 45.41 Q
2 5 Susumu Takano  Japan 45.96 Q
3 6 Tamás Molnár  Hungary 46.21 Q
4 2 Anthony Wallace  Jamaica 46.88
5 4 Camera Ntereke  Botswana 47.32
6 3 Michael Joseph  Belize 50.90
1 Desai Wynter  Virgin Islands DNF
8 Lamin Marikong  The Gambia DSQ

Heat 7[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 3 Ian Morris  Trinidad and Tobago 45.65 Q
2 6 Benyounes Lahlou  Morocco 45.73 Q
3 4 David Kitur  Kenya 46.22 Q
4 5 Mark Garner  Australia 46.26 q
5 7 Apisai Driu Baibai  Fiji 47.81
6 1 Henry Mohoanyane  Lesotho 48.39
7 2 Mohamed Mehdi Hasan  Bangladesh 48.62

Heat 8[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 3 Steve Lewis  United States 45.14 Q
2 6 Sunday Bada  Nigeria 45.38 Q
3 4 Sidnei de Souza  Brazil 45.92 Q
4 5 Cayetano Cornet  Spain 46.13 q
5 7 Tim Hesse  Ghana 46.67
6 1 Michael McLean  Canada 47.75
7 2 Samba Fall  Mauritania 50.91

Heat 9[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 4 Ibrahim Ismail Muftah  Qatar 45.21 Q
2 3 Roger Black  Great Britain 45.94 Q
3 5 Cephas Lemba  Zambia 45.94 Q
4 1 Marco Vaccari  Italy 46.37
5 7 Takahiro Watanabe  Japan 46.45
6 2 Foday Sillah  Sierra Leone 47.00
7 8 João Francisco Capindica  Angola 47.44
8 6 Stephen Lugor  Sudan 48.94

Quarterfinals[edit]

Quarterfinal 1[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 5 Steve Lewis  United States 44.54 Q
2 3 Roberto Hernández  Cuba 44.84 Q
3 4 Roger Black  Great Britain 45.28 Q
4 6 Simon Kemboi  Kenya 45.40 Q
5 8 Thomas Schönlebe  Germany 45.46
6 1 Slobodan Branković  Independent Olympic Participants 45.90
7 7 Andrea Nuti  Italy 45.96
8 2 Mark Garner  Australia 46.85

Quarterfinal 2[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 4 Derek Redmond  Great Britain 45.02 Q
2 6 Susumu Takano  Japan 45.27 Q
3 5 Troy Douglas  Bermuda 45.67 Q
4 3 Danny Everett  United States 45.76 Q
5 1 David Kitur  Kenya 46.25
6 2 Ediélson Tenório  Brazil 46.34
7 7 Alvin Daniel  Trinidad and Tobago 46.44
8 8 Tamás Molnár  Hungary 46.80

Quarterfinal 3[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 5 Ian Morris  Trinidad and Tobago 44.78 Q
2 8 David Grindley  Great Britain 44.91 Q
3 3 Ibrahim Ismail Muftah  Qatar 45.18 Q
4 4 Sunday Bada  Nigeria 45.34 Q
5 7 Devon Morris  Jamaica 45.67
6 2 Cayetano Cornet  Spain 46.27
6 Solomon Amegatcher  Ghana DNF
1 Cephas Lemba  Zambia DNF

Quarterfinal 4[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 5 Samson Kitur  Kenya 44.66 Q
2 3 Quincy Watts  United States 45.06 Q
3 6 Bobang Phiri  South Africa 45.27 Q
4 4 Benyounes Lahlou  Morocco 45.38 Q
5 2 Sidney Telles  Brazil 45.55
6 1 Rico Lieder  Germany 45.86
7 7 Francis Ogola  Uganda 46.21
8 8 Dennis Blake  Jamaica 46.49

Semifinals[edit]

Semifinal 1[edit]

Redmond was injured and did not finish without assistance.

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 3 Steve Lewis  United States 44.50 Q
2 4 Roberto Hernández  Cuba 44.72 Q
3 6 Ibrahim Ismail Muftah  Qatar 45.01 Q
4 1 Susumu Takano  Japan 45.09 Q
5 2 Sunday Bada  Nigeria 45.36
6 7 Troy Douglas  Bermuda 45.59
7 8 Simon Kemboi  Kenya 45.93
5 Derek Redmond  Great Britain DNF

Semifinal 2[edit]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 6 Quincy Watts  United States 43.71 Q, OR
2 3 Samson Kitur  Kenya 44.18 Q
3 4 Ian Morris  Trinidad and Tobago 44.21 Q
4 5 David Grindley  Great Britain 44.47 Q
5 7 Roger Black  Great Britain 44.72
6 1 Benyounes Lahlou  Morocco 45.49
7 2 Bobang Phiri  South Africa 45.59
8 8 Danny Everett  United States 56.61

Final[edit]

The final was held on August 5, 1992.

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 Quincy Watts  United States 43.50 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 Steve Lewis  United States 44.21
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 5 Samson Kitur  Kenya 44.24
4 6 Ian Morris  Trinidad and Tobago 44.25
5 2 Roberto Hernández  Cuba 44.52
6 3 David Grindley  Great Britain 44.75
7 1 Ibrahim Ismail Muftah  Qatar 45.10
8 8 Susumu Takano  Japan 45.18

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games: Men's 400 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "400 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  3. ^ "IOC - International Olympic Committee | Olympics.com".
  4. ^ Official Report, vol. 5, pp. 40–41.

External links[edit]