Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles

The men's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1948 Summer Olympic Games took place July 30 and July 31. There were 25 competitors from 17 nations.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by American Roy Cochran.[2] It was the nation's second consecutive and seventh overall victory in the event. Duncan White won Ceylon's first Olympic medal in any event with his silver. As of the 2016 Games, it remains the only medal won by a male competitor from Ceylon/Sri Lanka; the nation has won one other medal, Susanthika Jayasinghe's silver in the 2000 women's 200 metres. Sweden's first medal in the men's 400 metres hurdles was won by Rune Larsson, taking bronze.

Men's 400 metres hurdles
at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
Roy Cochran (1942)
VenueWembley Stadium
DatesJuly 30 (heats, semifinals)
July 31 (final)
Competitors25 from 17 nations
Winning time51.1 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Roy Cochran
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Duncan White
 Ceylon
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Rune Larsson
 Sweden
← 1936
1952 →
Video on YouTube Official Video
@ 21:42

Background

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This was the ninth time the event was held. It had been introduced along with the men's 200 metres hurdles in 1900, with the 200 being dropped after 1904 and the 400 being held through 1908 before being left off the 1912 programme. However, when the Olympics returned in 1920 after World War I, the men's 400 metres hurdles was back and would continue to be contested at every Games thereafter.

None of the six finalists from the pre-war 1936 Games returned. The favorite was Roy Cochran of the United States, the world record holder in the 440 yards version of the event.[1]

Ceylon, the Republic of China, Colombia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Switzerland, and Turkey each made their debut in the event. The United States made its ninth appearance, the only nation to have competed at every edition of the event to that point.

Summary

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Rune Larsson improved the Olympic Record by a tenth of a second in the first semi-final, chased by Dick Ault and Duncan White. In the second semi, Roy Cochran equalled Larsson's record. With qualification exclusively based on place, Jean-Claude Arifon ran a full second faster than Ottavio Missoni but was fourth in the fast first semi and had to watch the final.

From the gun, Cochran and White went out aggressively, Cochran making up the stagger on Ault to his outside before the second hurdle and White catching Larsson to his outside about the third. With the challenge, Ault stayed with his teammate Cochran into the second turn, even gaining some of the lost ground until Cochran accelerated coming off the seventh hurdle, putting a gap on Ault. As the staggers evened, Ault was challenging White for second place while Cochran had a clear lead. With the lead, Cochran continued to expand the gap, taking the tenth hurdle cautiously then pulling away to the finish. Behind him, Ault chopped his step going in to the ninth hurdle, losing his momentum and second place to White. Larsson pushed hard coming off the ninth, going past Ault and trying to catch White.

Competition format

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The competition featured the three-round format introduced in 1908: quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. Ten sets of hurdles were set on the course. The hurdles were 3 feet (91.5 centimetres) tall and were placed 35 metres apart beginning 45 metres from the starting line, resulting in a 40 metres home stretch after the last hurdle. The 400 metres track was standard.

There were 6 quarterfinal heats, with between 4 and 5 athletes each. The top 2 men in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals. The 12 semifinalists were divided into 2 semifinals of 6 athletes each, with the top 3 in each semifinal advancing to the 6-man final.[1]

Records

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Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record   Glenn Hardin (USA) 50.6 Stockholm, Sweden 26 July 1934
Olympic record   Glenn Hardin (USA) 52.0 Los Angeles, United States 1 August 1932

Rune Larsson bettered the Olympic record with a time of 51.9 seconds in the first semifinal. Roy Cochran matched that time in the second semifinal, then dropped 0.8 seconds off it for a new record of 51.1 seconds in the final.

Schedule

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All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1).

Date Time Round
Friday, 30 July 1948 14:30
17:00
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Saturday, 31 July 1948 15:30 Final

Results

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Quarterfinals

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The first round was held on 30 July. The two fastest runners from each heat qualified to the semifinals.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Roy Cochran   United States 53.9 Q
2 Jacques André   France 54.5 Q
3 Hermelindo Alberti   Argentina 54.6
4 Jaime Aparicio   Colombia 55.1

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Harry Whittle   Great Britain 56.9 Q
2 Jean-Claude Arifon   France 56.9 Q
3 Lazaros Petropoulakis   Greece 57.9
4 Mohsin Nazar Khan   Pakistan 59.5

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 John Holland   New Zealand 54.6 Q
2 Bebbe Storsrkubb   Finland 54.6 Q
3 Kemal Horulu   Turkey 55.1
4 Michael Pope   Great Britain 55.3

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ottavio Missoni   Italy 53.9 Q
2 Rune Larsson   Sweden 54.5 Q
3 Ron Unsworth   Great Britain 55.1
4 Sergio Guzmán   Chile 55.9
5 Mario Rosas   Colombia 55.9

Quarterfinal 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Dick Ault   United States 54.7 Q
2 Yves Cros   France 55.7 Q
3 Werner Christen   Switzerland 56.7
4 Ng Liang Chiang   Republic of China 57.7

Quarterfinal 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Duncan White   Ceylon 53.6 Q
2 Jeff Kirk   United States 54.3 Q
3 Alf Westman   Sweden 54.5
4 Bill LaRochelle   Canada 54.9

Semifinals

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The semifinals were held on 30 July. The three fastest runners from each heat advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Rune Larsson   Sweden 51.9 Q, OR
2 Dick Ault   United States 52.1 Q
3 Duncan White   Ceylon 52.1 Q
4 Jean-Claude Arifon   France 52.3
5 Jeff Kirk   United States 52.5
6 Jacques André   France 56.3

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Roy Cochran   United States 51.9 Q, =OR
2 Yves Cros   France 52.5 Q
3 Ottavio Missoni   Italy 53.4 Q
4 Harry Whittle   Great Britain 53.4
5 Bebbe Storsrkubb   Finland 53.5
6 John Holland   New Zealand 53.9

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Notes
  Roy Cochran   United States 51.1 OR
  Duncan White   Ceylon 51.8
  Rune Larsson   Sweden 52.2
4 Dick Ault   United States 52.4
5 Yves Cros   France 53.3
6 Ottavio Missoni   Italy 54.0

Results summary

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Rank Athlete Nation Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Notes
  Roy Cochran   United States 53.9 51.9 51.1 OR
  Duncan White   Ceylon 53.6 52.1 51.8
  Rune Larsson   Sweden 54.5 51.9 52.2
4 Dick Ault   United States 54.7 52.1 52.4
5 Yves Cros   France 55.7 52.5 53.3
6 Ottavio Missoni   Italy 53.9 53.4 54.0
7 Jean-Claude Arifon   France 56.9 52.3 Did not advance
8 Jeff Kirk   United States 54.3 52.5
9 Harry Whittle   Great Britain 56.9 53.4
10 Bebbe Storsrkubb   Finland 54.6 53.5
11 John Holland   New Zealand 54.6 53.9
12 Jacques André   France 54.5 56.3
13 Alf Westman   Sweden 54.5 Did not advance
14 Hermelindo Alberti   Argentina 54.6
15 Bill LaRochelle   Canada 54.9
16 Jaime Aparicio   Colombia 55.1
Kemal Horulu   Turkey 55.1
Ron Unsworth   Great Britain 55.1
19 Michael Pope   Great Britain 55.3
20 Sergio Guzmán   Chile 55.9
Mario Rosas   Colombia 55.9
22 Werner Christen   Switzerland 56.7
23 Ng Liang Chiang   Republic of China 57.7
24 Lazaros Petropoulakis   Greece 57.9
25 Mohsin Nazar Khan   Pakistan 59.5

References

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  1. ^ a b c "400 metres Hurdles, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's 400 metres Hurdles". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
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