Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres sprint event at the 1952 Olympic Games took place between July 24 and July 25.[1] Seventy-one athletes from 35 nations competed.[2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 0.11 seconds by George Rhoden of Jamaica, the second consecutive title in the event by a Jamaican. Herb McKenley repeated his silver medal performance from 1948, becoming the second man to win two medals in the event (after Guy Butler of Great Britain in 1920 and 1924).

Men's 400 metres
at the Games of the XV Olympiad
VenueOlympic Stadium
DatesJuly 24 (heats and quarterfinals)
July 25 (semifinals and final)
Competitors71 from 35 nations
Winning time46.09 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) George Rhoden
 Jamaica
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Herb McKenley
 Jamaica
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ollie Matson
 United States
← 1948
1956 →
Video on YouTube amateur film

Summary

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In their second Olympics, the Jamaican team came with the top runners including the world record holder George Rhoden and returning gold and silver medalists, Arthur Wint and Herb McKenley, respectively. In the final, Rhoden on the far outside in lane 7 was unable to see the competitors staggered behind him. Alone he went out hard. The stagger behind him in lane 6, Ollie Matson, who like Rhoden trained in San Francisco, stayed in Rhoden's shadow, trying to match pace. On the inside, in lane 3, defending champion Went also went out hard, quickly making up the stagger on Karl-Friedrich Haas to his outside. Down the backstretch and through the final turn, Rhoden opened up a 5 metre lead on Wint, with Matson losing a couple of more metres. Through the final turn, McKenley began to get up a head of steam, catching Matson just before the home straight, still two metres behind Wint. At that point, Jamaica held the three medal positions, but McKenley was moving much faster than everyone else, quickly catching Wint and off after Rhoden. Wint had nothing to offer the challenge and instead began moving backward. Rhoden crossed the line just ahead of the fast closing McKenley, Matson also cruising past Wint, who was pipped by Haas at the line and almost caught by Mal Whitfield.

Background

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This was the twelfth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Jamaica's team was the same as in 1948: Arthur Wint (London gold medalist), Herb McKenley (silver), and George Rhoden (semifinalist; now also world record holder). The United States had 1948 bronze medalist Mal Whitfield return, this time joined by Gene Cole and future National Football League star Ollie Matson. Australia's finalist from London, Morris Curotta, also returned, making 4 of 6 finalists to come back.[2]

Guatemala, Israel, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, the Soviet Union, Thailand, and Venezuela appeared in this event for the first time. The United States made its twelfth 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, and the only change from 1948 was that the first round heats were larger. There were 12 heats in the first round, each with between 4 and 7 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 two runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making a six-man final.[2][3]

Records

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

World record   George Rhoden (JAM) 45.9 Eskilstuna, Sweden 22 August 1950
Olympic record   Bill Carr (USA) 46.2 Los Angeles, United States 5 August 1932

George Rhoden set a new Olympic record at 46.09 seconds in the final.

Schedule

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All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3)

Date Time Round
Thursday, 24 July 1952 15:20
18:35
Round 1
Quarterfinals
Friday, 25 July 1952 15:00
17:05
Semifinals
Finals

Results

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Heats

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The fastest two runners in each of the twelve heats advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Karl-Friedrich Haas   Germany 47.58 Q
2 Leslie Lewis   Great Britain 47.95 Q
3 Edwin Carr, Jr.   Australia 48.23
4 Zoltán Adamik   Hungary 48.70
5 Evelio Planas   Cuba 49.44
6 Abdul Rehman   Pakistan 51.47

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ardalion Ignatyev   Soviet Union 48.22 Q
2 Rolf Back   Finland 48.58 Q
3 Rupert Blöch   Austria 49.82
4 Gérard Rasquin   Luxembourg 50.12
5 John Anderton   South Africa 50.35
6 Pongummart Ummarttayakul   Thailand 53.23

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Arthur Wint   Jamaica 47.42 Q
2 Jack Carroll   Canada 48.05 Q
3 Egon Solymossy   Hungary 49.32
4 Josef Steger   Switzerland 49.35
5 Jaakko Suikkari   Finland 50.92
6 Aurang Zeb   Pakistan 51.25

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt   Sweden 48.57 Q
2 Terry Higgins   Great Britain 48.77 Q
3 Junkichi Matoba   Japan 49.57
4 Vasilios Sillis   Greece 49.79
5 Doğan Acarbay   Turkey 50.83
6 Ivan Jacob   India 51.48

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Herb McKenley   Jamaica 48.09 Q
2 Louis van Biljon   South Africa 48.31 Q
3 Roger Moens   Belgium 48.71
4 Ferenc Bánhalmi   Hungary 49.55
5 Arie Gill-Glick   Israel 50.27
6 Ernst von Gunten   Switzerland 50.88
Tage Ekfeldt   Sweden DSQ

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mal Whitfield   United States 48.68 Q
2 Guillermo Gutiérrez   Venezuela 48.82 Q
3 Gianni Rocca   Italy 49.51
4 Gösta Brännström   Sweden 50.32
5 Javier Souza   Mexico 50.47
6 Emin Doybak   Turkey 51.34
7 Fernando Casimiro   Portugal 52.33

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jacques Degats   France 48.60 Q
2 Morris Curotta   Australia 48.87 Q
3 Vincenzo Lombardo   Italy 49.53
4 Rudolf Haidegger   Austria 50.01
5 Albert Lowagie   Belgium 50.26

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Hans Geister   Germany 47.99 Q
2 Yves Camus   France 48.06 Q
3 Milan Filo   Czechoslovakia 48.91
4 Guðmundur Lárusson   Iceland 49.81
5 Sompop Svadanandana   Thailand 53.68
6 Jeremías Stokes   Guatemala 53.81

Heat 9

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Gene Cole   United States 48.44 Q
2 Alan Dick   Great Britain 48.84 Q
3 Edmunds Pīlāgs   Soviet Union 49.29
4 Angel García   Cuba 49.34
5 Antoine Uyterhoeven   Belgium 50.21
6 Jean Hamilius   Luxembourg 50.75

Heat 10

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 George Rhoden   Jamaica 48.28 Q
2 Gerard Mach   Poland 48.64 Q
3 Paul Dolan   Ireland 48.81
4 Jean-Pierre Goudeau   France 48.94
5 Doug Clement   Canada 50.19

Heat 11

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 James Lavery   Canada 48.47 Q
2 Yuriy Lituyev   Soviet Union 49.01 Q
3 Frank Rivera   Puerto Rico 49.48
4 Antonio Siddi   Italy 51.03

Heat 12

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ollie Matson   United States 48.17 Q
2 Hans Ernst Schneider   Switzerland 48.86 Q
3 Argemiro Roque   Brazil 49.05
4 Schalk Booysen   South Africa 49.17
5 Jiří David   Czechoslovakia 49.23
6 Fred Hammer   Luxembourg 49.90
7 Ossi Mildh   Finland 50.36

Quarterfinals

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The fastest three runners in each of the four heats advanced to the semifinal round. Gerard Mach of Poland and Yuriy Lituyev of the Soviet Union were qualified but did not compete.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Arthur Wint   Jamaica 46.98 Q
2 James Lavery   Canada 47.67 Q
3 Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt   Sweden 48.08 Q
4 Guillermo Gutiérrez   Venezuela 48.75
5 Leslie Lewis   Great Britain 49.09
6 Hans Ernst Schneider   Switzerland 49.32

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 George Rhoden   Jamaica 47.24 Q
2 Ollie Matson   United States 47.53 Q
3 Karl-Friedrich Haas   Germany 47.66 Q
4 Morris Curotta   Australia 48.86
5 Rolf Back   Finland 51.53

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mal Whitfield   United States 47.74 Q
2 Hans Geister   Germany 47.81 Q
3 Jack Carroll   Canada 47.82 Q
4 Louis van Biljon   South Africa 48.63
5 Jacques Degats   France 48.90
6 Alan Dick   Great Britain 49.20

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Herb McKenley   Jamaica 47.56 Q
2 Gene Cole   United States 47.88 Q
3 Ardalion Ignatyev   Soviet Union 48.25 Q
4 Yves Camus   France 48.43
5 Terry Higgins   Great Britain 49.22

Semifinals

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The fastest three runners in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Arthur Wint   Jamaica 46.38 Q
2 Karl-Friedrich Haas   Germany 46.56 Q
3 Mal Whitfield   United States 46.64 Q
4 Gene Cole   United States 46.94
5 Ardalion Ignatyev   Soviet Union 47.49
6 James Lavery   Canada 47.83

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Herb McKenley   Jamaica 46.53 Q
2 George Rhoden   Jamaica 46.61 Q
3 Ollie Matson   United States 46.99 Q
4 Hans Geister   Germany 47.00
5 Jack Carroll   Canada 47.61
Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt   Sweden DNS

Final

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Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
  6 George Rhoden   Jamaica 46.09 OR
  4 Herb McKenley   Jamaica 46.20
  5 Ollie Matson   United States 46.94
4 3 Karl-Friedrich Haas   Germany 47.22
5 2 Arthur Wint   Jamaica 47.24
6 1 Mal Whitfield   United States 47.30

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games: Men's 400 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "400 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, pp. 275–77.