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Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

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Men's 400 metres
at the Games of the VIII Olympiad
VenueStade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir
DatesJuly 10 (heats and quarterfinals)
July 11 (semifinals and final)
Competitors60 from 27 nations
Winning time47.6 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Eric Liddell
 Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Horatio Fitch
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Guy Butler
 Great Britain
← 1920
1928 →
Official Video
Athletics at the
1924 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
10 km walkmen
Road events
Marathonmen
Field events
Long jumpmen
Triple jumpmen
High jumpmen
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Teammen

The men's 400 metres event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. This race was depicted in the film Chariots of Fire. The competition was held on Thursday, July 10, 1924, and on Friday, July 11, 1924.[1]

As for all other races the track was 500 metres in circumference.

Sixty runners from 27 nations competed. No nation had more than 4 athletes.

Background

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This was the seventh appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The defending gold medalist from 1920, Bevil Rudd of South Africa, did not return; the other two medalists, silver-winning Guy Butler of Great Britain and bronze-winning Nils Engdahl of Sweden, did. Eric Liddell of Great Britain was the 1924 Scottish and AAA champion.[2]

Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Haiti, Ireland, Mexico, Poland, and Switzerland appeared in the event for the first time. The United States made its seventh appearance in the event, the only nation to compete in it at every Olympic Games to that point.

Competition format

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The competition retained the basic four-round format from 1920. The first round had 17 heats, ranging from 1 to 5 athletes. The top two runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals. There were 6 quarterfinals, intended to have 5 or 6 runners in each but sometimes having 4 due to withdrawals; the top two athletes in each quarterfinal heat advanced to the semifinals. The semifinals featured 2 heats of 6 runners each. The top three runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making a six-man final.[2][3]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics.

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)

In the quarterfinals, Josef Imbach set a new Olympic record with 48.0 seconds. In the semifinals Horatio Fitch improved the Olympic record with 47.8 seconds. In the final, Eric Liddell set a new world record with 47.6 seconds; this time was ratified as a 400 metres world record as Ted Meredith ran his record over 440 yards. World Athletics rescinded Liddell's time as a world record in 1928.

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Thursday, 10 July 1924 14:00
16:00		 Heats
Quarterfinals
Friday, 11 July 1924 14:45
17:30		 Semifinals
Final

Results

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Round 1

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All heats were held on Thursday, July 10, 1924, and started at 2 p.m.

The best two finishers of every heat qualified for the quarter-finals.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Horace Aylwin  Canada 54.0 Q
2 Erik Wilén  Finland 54.8 Q

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ray Robertson  United States 50.2 Q
2 Kai Jensen  Denmark 50.9 Q
3 Jules Migeot  Belgium 51.6
4 Reinhold Kesküll  Estonia 53.2
5 Christophe Mirgain  Luxembourg Unknown

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Gustaf Wejnarth  Sweden 50.2 Q
2 Lajos Kurunczy  Hungary 52.6 Q
3 Richard Honner  Australia 53.1
4 Kiril Petrunov  Bulgaria Unknown

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Eric Wilson  United States 49.6 Q
2 Roy Norman  Australia 50.6 Q
3 William Fuller  Canada 51.5
4 Édouard Armand  Haiti Unknown

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Josef Imbach  Switzerland 51.8 Q

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 David Johnson  Canada 51.8 Q
2 Charles Hoff  Norway 53.0 Q

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 John Coard Taylor  United States 50.8 Q
2 Tokushige Noto  Japan 51.7 Q
3 Wim Bolten  Netherlands 53.0

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Toby Betts  South Africa 49.8 Q
2 Sean Lavan  Ireland 51.2 Q
3 Wim Kat  Netherlands 51.8
4 Guillermo Amparan  Mexico 52.0

Heat 9

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Artur Svensson  Sweden 50.0 Q
2 Raymond Fritz  France 51.0 Q
3 Charles Lane  Australia 51.4
4 Menso Menso  Netherlands Unknown
5 Juan Escutia  Mexico Unknown

Heat 10

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Clarence Oldfield  South Africa 49.6 Q
2 Edward Toms  Great Britain 49.9 Q
3 Carlos Garces  Mexico 51.0
4 Emilio Casanovas  Argentina Unknown

Heat 11

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Nils Engdahl  Sweden 49.2 Q
2 George Renwick  Great Britain 50.3 Q
3 Francisco Dova  Argentina 51.0
4 José Martínez  Mexico Unknown

Heat 12

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Terence Pitt  India 49.8 Q
2 Alan Christie  Canada 50.5 Q
3 Félix Escobar  Argentina 51.4
4 Raymond Jamois  France Unknown
5 Karel Přibyl  Czechoslovakia 52.8

Heat 13

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Luigi Facelli  Italy 51.0 Q
2 Federico Brewster  Argentina 51.8 Q
3 Stefan Ołdak  Poland 55.0

Heat 14

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Eric Liddell  Great Britain 50.2 Q
2 Alfredo Gargiullo  Italy 50.4 Q
3 Erik Byléhn  Sweden 50.6
4 Stanisław Świętochowski  Poland 55.4

Heat 15

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Horatio Fitch  United States 52.0 Q
2 Erik Åström  Finland 52.1 Q

Heat 16

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Guy Butler  Great Britain 50.2 Q
2 Gaston Féry  France 51.1 Q
3 Narciso Costa  Brazil Unknown
4 Ennio Maffiolini  Italy Unknown
5 Christian Simmen  Switzerland Unknown

Heat 17

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Barthélémy Favodon  France 51.2 Q
2 Adriaan Paulen  Netherlands 52.0 Q
3 Paul Hammer  Luxembourg 53.1

Quarterfinals

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All quarter-finals were held on Thursday, July 10, 1924, and started at 4 p.m.

The best two finishers of every heat qualified for the semifinals.

Lajos Kurunczy and Erik Åström had qualified for the quarterfinals but withdrew.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Horatio Fitch  United States 49.0 Q
2 Artur Svensson  Sweden 50.0 Q
3 Alan Christie  Canada 50.8
4 Edward Toms  Great Britain Unknown

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Toby Betts  South Africa 49.0 Q
2 Charles Hoff  Norway 49.2 Q
3 Gustaf Wejnarth  Sweden 50.2
4 Gaston Féry  France 50.7

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Guy Butler  Great Britain 49.8 Q
2 John Coard Taylor  United States 50.4 Q
3 Barthélémy Favodon  France 50.9
4 Terence Pitt  India 51.6
5 Kai Jensen  Denmark Unknown
6 Federico Brewster  Argentina Unknown

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Adriaan Paulen  Netherlands 49.0 Q
2 Eric Liddell  Great Britain 49.3 Q
3 Ray Robertson  United States 49.5
4 Luigi Facelli  Italy 50.5
5 Raymond Fritz  France 50.5

Quarterfinal 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Clarence Oldfield  South Africa 49.0 Q
2 David Johnson  Canada 49.3 Q
3 Erik Wilén  Finland 49.6
4 Roy Norman  Australia 50.2
5 Alfredo Gargiullo  Italy Unknown
6 George Renwick  Great Britain Unknown

Quarterfinal 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Josef Imbach  Switzerland 48.0 Q, OR
2 Nils Engdahl  Sweden 48.4 Q
3 Eric Wilson  United States 48.8
4 Sean Lavan  Ireland 49.8
5 Tokushige Noto  Japan 50.7
6 Horace Aylwin  Canada Unknown

Semifinals

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All semi-finals were held on Friday, July 11, 1924, and started at 2:45 p.m.

The best three finishers of each heat qualified for the final.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Horatio Fitch  United States 47.8 Q, OR
2 Guy Butler  Great Britain 47.9 Q
3 David Johnson  Canada 48.0 Q
4 Adriaan Paulen  Netherlands 48.2
5 Toby Betts  South Africa 48.4
6 Nils Engdahl  Sweden 48.6

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Eric Liddell  Great Britain 48.2 Q
2 Josef Imbach  Switzerland 48.3 Q
3 John Coard Taylor  United States 48.7 Q
4 Charles Hoff  Norway 48.8
5 Clarence Oldfield  South Africa 49.0
6 Artur Svensson  Sweden 49.1

Final

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The final was held on Friday, July 11, 1924, and started at 5:30 p.m. Taylor's ankle gave out just before the finish line in a career-ending injury; he crawled across the line.[4][5][6] Imbach tripped over the lane-dividing ropes, fell, and was unable to finish.[7][8]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Eric Liddell  Great Britain 47.6 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Horatio Fitch  United States 48.4
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Guy Butler  Great Britain 48.6
4 David Johnson  Canada 48.8
5 John Coard Taylor  United States 1:07.0
— Josef Imbach  Switzerland DNF

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1924 Paris 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 30 July 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, pp. 108–09.
  4. ^ Hymans, Richard (2008). "The History of the United States Olympic Trials – Track & Field" (PDF). USA Track & Field. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  5. ^ "U.S. Jinxed In 400 Meter Race At Olympic Meet". Ellensburg Daily Record. Associated Press. April 25, 1928. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  6. ^ "120 Olympic Stars Retire From Track". Chicago Tribune. January 11, 1925. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  7. ^ Jukola, Martti (1935). Huippu-urheilun historia (in Finnish). Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö.
  8. ^ Butler, Mark (ed.). IAAF Athletics Statistics Book: Games of the XXX Olympiad London 2012. IAAF Communications Department. p. 69.
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