Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres
The men's 400 metres event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on Thursday, August 19, 1920, and on Friday, August 20, 1920. 37 runners from 16 nations competed.[1] No nation had more than 4 runners, suggesting the limit had been reduced from the 12 maximum in force in 1908 and 1912. The event was won by Bevil Rudd of South Africa, the nation's first title (and first medal) in the event. Nils Engdahl's bronze was Sweden's first medal in the 400 metres.
Men's 400 metres at the Games of the VII Olympiad | |||||||||||||
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Venue | Olympisch Stadion | ||||||||||||
Dates | August 19 (round 1 & quarterfinals) August 20 (semifinals & final) | ||||||||||||
Competitors | 37 from 16 nations | ||||||||||||
Winning time | 49.6 | ||||||||||||
Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Background edit
This was the sixth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The only returning finalist from the pre-war 1912 Games was Ted Meredith of the United States, who had finished 4th in Stockholm and who had broken the world record in 1916. Other favored entrants included 1919 AAU champion Frank Shea of the United States, 1919 AAA champion Guy Butler of Great Britain, and 1920 AAA champion Bevil Rudd of South Africa.[2]
Czechoslovakia, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, India, Luxembourg, and Spain appeared in the event for the first time. The United States made its sixth appearance in the event, the only nation to compete in it at every Olympic Games to that point.
Competition format edit
Despite the smaller field than 1912 (37 athletes, down from 49), the competition expanded from three rounds to four. The first round had 10 heats, with 3 or 4 runners each. The top two runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals. There were 4 quarterfinals, with 5 runners in each; the top three athletes in each heat advanced to the semifinals. The semifinals featured 2 heats of 6 runners each. Again, the top three runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making a six-man final.[2][3]
Records edit
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1920 Summer Olympics.[4]
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)
No records were set during this event.
Schedule edit
Date | Time | Round |
---|---|---|
Thursday, 19 August 1920 | 09:30 15:15 |
Round 1 Quarterfinals |
Friday, 20 August 1920 | 14:00 16:15 |
Semifinals Final |
Results edit
Times were generally only published for the winners of each heat. Some of the times listed below are estimates based on contemporary reports of the races.[5]
Round 1 edit
Heat 1 edit
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Robert Lindsay | Great Britain | 52.0 | Q |
2 | Clarence Oldfield | South Africa | 52.2 | Q |
3 | Tolly Bolin | Sweden | 52.6 | |
— | Émile Barral | Monaco | DNS | |
— | Fritiof Andersen | Denmark | DNS | |
— | Jean Colbach | Luxembourg | DNS |
Heat 2 edit
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gaston Féry | France | 51.2 | Q |
2 | John Ainsworth-Davis | Great Britain | 51.5 | Q |
3 | Karel Frankenstein | Czechoslovakia | 52.5 | |
4 | Francis Irvine | South Africa | 52.5 | |
— | William Hunt | Australia | DNS |
Heat 3 edit
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Frank Shea | United States | 50.8 | Q |
2 | Henry Dafel | South Africa | 51.2 | Q |
3 | Sven Krokström | Sweden | 51.6 | |
— | Josef Teplý | Czechoslovakia | DNS |
Heat 4 edit
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ted Meredith | United States | 51.6 | Q |
2 | Géo André | France | 52.3 | Q |
3 | Giuseppe Bernardoni | Italy | 52.8 | |
— | Dimitrios Karabatis | Greece | DNS | |
— | Gensabulo Noguchi | Japan | DNS |
Heat 5 edit
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bevil Rudd | South Africa | 51.6 | Q |
2 | Erik Wilén | Finland | 52.0 | Q |
3 | Reinhold Saulmann | Estonia | 52.4 | a |
4 | Giovanni Tosi | Italy | 52.6 | |
— | August Sørensen | Denmark | DNS |
- a.^ Reinhold Saulmann's time is given as 52.2 by contemporary Estonian reports.
Heat 6 edit
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Robert Emery | United States | 52.6 | Q |
2 | Guy Butler | Great Britain | 53.2 | Q |
3 | Karel Přibyl | Czechoslovakia | 54.0 | |
4 | Jules Migeot | Belgium | 55.1 | |
— | Shinichi Yamaoka | Japan | DNS |
Heat 7 edit
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | George Schiller | United States | 50.4 | Q |
2 | Nils Engdahl | Sweden | 50.6 | Q |
3 | Maurice Delvart | France | 51.0 | |
4 | Einar Mangset | Norway | 51.4 | |
— | Eduard Hašek | Czechoslovakia | DNS |
Heat 8 edit
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Eric Sundblad | Sweden | 52.0 | Q |
2 | Hec Phillips | Canada | 52.3 | Q |
3 | Agide Simonazzi | Italy | 53.0 | |
4 | Purma Bannerjee | India | 53.1 | |
— | Paul Hammer | Luxembourg | DNS |
Heat 9 edit
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Omer Corteyn | Belgium | 52.2 | Q |
2 | Hedges Worthington-Eyre | Great Britain | 52.6 | Q |
3 | Jean Proess | Luxembourg | 53.2 | |
4 | José García Lorenzana | Spain | 53.4 | |
— | Johannes Villemson | Estonia | DNS |
Heat 10 edit
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | François Morren | Belgium | 51.6 | Q |
2 | Miguel García Onsalo | Spain | 52.0 | Q |
3 | Eugène Bayon | France | 52.4 | |
— | Ahmed Khairy | Egypt | DNF | |
— | Ernesto Ambrosini | Italy | DNS |
Quarterfinals edit
Quarterfinal 1 edit
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nils Engdahl | Sweden | 50.4 | Q |
2 | John Ainsworth-Davis | Great Britain | 50.7 | Q |
3 | Robert Emery | United States | 50.7 | Q |
4 | François Morren | Belgium | 50.8 | |
5 | Clarence Oldfield | South Africa | 51.1 |
Quarterfinal 2 edit
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gaston Féry | France | 50.6 | Q |
2 | Guy Butler | Great Britain | 50.7 | Q |
3 | Ted Meredith | United States | 50.8 | Q |
4 | Erik Wilén | Finland | 51.0 | |
5 | Hec Phillips | Canada | 51.4 |
Quarterfinal 3 edit
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Henry Dafel | South Africa | 50.8 | Q |
2 | George Schiller | United States | 51.1 | Q |
3 | Eric Sundblad | Sweden | 51.2 | Q |
4 | Robert Lindsay | Great Britain | 51.6 | |
5 | Omer Corteyn | Belgium | 52.0 |
Quarterfinal 4 edit
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Frank Shea | United States | 51.0 | Q |
2 | Bevil Rudd | South Africa | 51.3 | Q |
3 | Géo André | France | 51.6 | Q |
4 | Miguel García Onsalo | Spain | 52.8 | |
5 | Hedges Worthington-Eyre | Great Britain | 53.2 |
Semifinals edit
Semifinal 1 edit
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nils Engdahl | Sweden | 49.4 | Q |
2 | Bevil Rudd | South Africa | 49.7 | Q |
3 | John Ainsworth-Davis | Great Britain | 49.9 | Q |
4 | Robert Emery | United States | 50.2 | |
5 | George Schiller | United States | ||
6 | Gaston Féry | France | 51.0 |
Semifinal 2 edit
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Frank Shea | United States | 50.0 | Q |
2 | Guy Butler | Great Britain | 50.2 | Q |
3 | Henry Dafel | South Africa | 50.4 | Q |
4 | Ted Meredith | United States | 50.6 | |
5 | Géo André | France | 51.6 | |
— | Eric Sundblad | Sweden | DNF |
Final edit
Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bevil Rudd | South Africa | 49.6 | |
5 | Guy Butler | Great Britain | 50.1 | |
6 | Nils Engdahl | Sweden | 50.2 | |
4 | 3 | Frank Shea | United States | 50.4 |
5 | 4 | John Ainsworth-Davis | Great Britain | 50.6 |
6 | 2 | Henry Dafel | South Africa | 50.6 |
References edit
- ^ "Athletics at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Games: Men's 400 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
- ^ a b "400 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
- ^ Official Report, pp. 90–92.
- ^ "World Record Progression of 400 Metres". World Athletics. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
- ^ "Athletics at the 1920 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
Further reading edit
- Belgium Olympic Committee (1957). Olympic Games Antwerp 1920: Official Report (in French).
- Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 11 August 2007.