A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Men's 400 metres at the Games of the XIV Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The finish of the men's 400 metres final. Left-right: Wint, Whitfield, McKenley. | ||||||||||
| Venue | Empire Stadium | |||||||||
| Dates | August 4 (heats and quarterfinals) August 5 (semifinals and final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 53 from 28 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 46.2 =OR | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Track events | ||
| 100 m | men | women |
| 200 m | men | women |
| 400 m | men | |
| 800 m | men | |
| 1500 m | men | |
| 5000 m | men | |
| 10,000 m | men | |
| 80 m hurdles | women | |
| 110 m hurdles | men | |
| 400 m hurdles | men | |
| 3000 m steeplechase | men | |
| 4 × 100 m relay | men | women |
| 4 × 400 m relay | men | |
| Road events | ||
| Marathon | men | |
| 10 km walk | men | |
| 50 km walk | men | |
| Field events | ||
| Long jump | men | women |
| Triple jump | men | |
| High jump | men | women |
| Pole vault | men | |
| Shot put | men | women |
| Discus throw | men | women |
| Javelin throw | men | women |
| Hammer throw | men | |
| Combined events | ||
| Decathlon | men | |
The men's 400 metres sprint event at the 1948 Olympic Games took place between August 4 and August 5. Fifty-three athletes from 28 nations competed.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by 0.2 seconds by Jamaican Arthur Wint coming from almost 10 meters back to catch teammate and world record holder Herb McKenley.[2] This was Jamaica's first Olympic gold medal in any event, and broke a string of 3 straight American victories in the men's 400 metres.
Background
This was the eleventh appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Bill Roberts of Great Britain was the only finalist from 1936 to return after the 12-year gap. Herb McKenley of Jamaica was the "heavy favorite," having recently broken the world record. Top challengers included fellow Jamaican Arthur Wint and American Mal Whitfield (fresh off a win in the 800 metres).[1]
In addition to Jamaica winning gold in its first appearance in the event, Bermuda, Ceylon, Colombia, Cuba, Iceland, Iraq, Turkey, and Yugoslavia competed in the 400 metres for the first time. The United States made its eleventh appearance in the event, the only nation to compete in it at every Olympic Games to that point.
Competition format
The competition retained the basic four-round format from 1920. There were 12 heats in the first round, each with between 3 and 5 athletes. The top two runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals. There were 4 quarterfinals of 6 runners each; the top three 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.[1][3]
Records
Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  Herb McKenley (JAM) |
45.9 | Milwaukee, United States | 2 July 1948 |
| Olympic record |  Bill Carr (USA) |
46.2 | Los Angeles, United States | 5 August 1932 |
Schedule
All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)
| Date | Time | Round |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, 4 August 1948 | 15:30 17:15 |
Round 1 Quarterfinals |
| Thursday, 5 August 1948 | 15:00 16:45 |
Semifinals Finals |
Results
Round 1
The fastest two runners in each of the twelve heats advanced to the quarterfinals.
Heat 1
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jimmy Reardon |  Ireland |
48.4 | Q |
| 2 | Marko Račič |  Yugoslavia |
50.5 | Q |
| 3 | Chen Yinglang |  Republic of China |
50.9 | |
| 4 | Georgios Karageorgos |  Greece |
54.5 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Herb McKenley |  Jamaica |
48.4 | Q |
| 2 | Rune Larsson |  Sweden |
49.2 | Q |
| 3 | Ferenc Bánhalmi |  Hungary |
49.6 | |
| 4 | Jaime Aparicio |  Colombia |
50.8 | |
| 5 | Guillermo Evans |  Argentina |
51.8 |
Heat 3
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zvonko Sabolović | Yugoslavia |
49.9 | Q |
| 2 | Kurt Lundquist | Sweden |
50.0 | Q |
| 3 | Antonio Pocovi | Argentina |
50.7 | |
| 4 | Mario Rosas | Colombia |
51.4 | |
| 5 | Labib Hasso |  Iraq |
56.8 |
Heat 4
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Rhoden | Jamaica |
48.4 | Q |
| 2 | Dennis Shore |  South Africa |
49.0 | Q |
| 3 | Oskar Hardmeier |  Switzerland |
49.2 | |
| 4 | Angel García |  Cuba |
50.2 | |
| 5 | Bill Ramsay |  Australia |
50.3 |
Heat 5
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacques Lunis |  France |
49.3 | Q |
| 2 | Folke Alnevik | Sweden |
50.2 | Q |
| 3 | Carlos Monges |  Mexico |
50.9 |
Heat 6
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dave Bolen | United States |
50.1 | Q |
| 2 | John Bartram | Australia |
50.8 | Q |
| 3 | Hazzard Dill |  Bermuda |
53.0 |
Heat 7
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leslie Lewis |  Great Britain |
48.9 | Q |
| 2 | Bjørn Vade |  Norway |
49.6 | Q |
| 3 | Ernie McCullough |  Canada |
49.9 | |
| 4 | Walter Keller | Switzerland |
50.3 | |
| 5 | Runar Holmberg |  Finland |
50.6 |
Heat 8
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mal Whitfield | United States |
48.3 | Q |
| 2 | Bill Roberts | Great Britain |
48.9 | Q |
| 3 | Don McFarlane | Canada |
49.5 | |
| 4 | Olavi Talja | Finland |
50.4 | |
| 5 | Max Trepp | Switzerland |
50.9 |
Heat 9
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arthur Wint | Jamaica |
47.7 | Q |
| 2 | Francis Schewetta | France |
48.9 | Q |
| 3 | John De Saram |  Ceylon |
51.2 | |
| 4 | Tauno Suvanto | Finland |
51.5 | |
| 5 | Doğan Acarbay |  Turkey |
53.0 |
Heat 10
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morris Curotta | Australia |
49.1 | Q |
| 2 | Rosalvo Ramos |  Brazil |
49.2 | Q |
| 3 | Raymond Crapet | France |
49.4 | |
| 4 | Kemal Horulu | Turkey |
51.5 |
Heat 11
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Guida | United States |
49.0 | Q |
| 2 | Derek Pugh | Great Britain |
49.3 | Q |
| 3 | Gustavo Ehlers |  Chile |
49.5 | |
| 4 | Stefanos Petrakis | Greece |
54.5 |
Heat 12
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Herman Kunnen |  Belgium |
50.0 | Q |
| 2 | Bob McFarlane | Canada |
50.6 | Q |
| 3 | Reynir Sigurðsson |  Iceland |
51.4 | |
| 4 | Jaime Hitelman | Chile |
51.5 | |
| 5 | Stylianos Stratakos | Greece |
52.8 |
Quarterfinals
The fastest three runners in each of the four heats advanced to the semifinal round.