Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles
The men's 400 metres hurdles was the longer of two hurdling events at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. It was the third time the event had been featured at the Olympics. The Olympic record was beat three times in the course of the Games. Ten sets of hurdles were set on the course. The hurdles were 3 feet tall and were placed 35 metres apart beginning 45 metres from the starting line. The competition was held from Monday, July 20, 1908 to Wednesday, July 22, 1908. 15 runners from six nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.
' unofficial ' This track was 500 metres in circumference. Harry Hillman ran 53.0 but he knocked over a hurdle and the hurdles were only 30 inches high. In the first round Charles Bacon set a new Olympic record with 57.0 seconds. In the second round Harry Hillman set a new record with 56.4 seconds. In the final Charles Bacon set a new world record with 55.0 seconds. This record became the first official world record for the 400 metre hurdles.
Results
First round
First round, heat 1 There was no competition for Koops in the first heat.
Place
Name
Nation
Time
1
Evert Koops
walkover
First round, heat 2 A tight race from start to finish, Coe won by about a metre.
Place
Name
Nation
Time
1
Harry Coe
58.8 seconds
2
John Densham
First round, heat 3 Bacon won easily, breaking Godfrey Shaw's 440 yards world record.
First round, heat 4 There was no competition for Harmer in the fourth heat.
Place
Name
Nation
Time
1
Frederick Harmer
walkover
First round, heat 5 There was no competition for Burton in the fifth heat.
Place
Name
Nation
Time
1
Geoffrey Burton
walkover
First round, heat 6 Dubois pulled up lame three-quarters of the way through the race, leaving Hillman with the win.
Place
Name
Nation
Time
1
Harry Hillman
59.2 seconds
—
Georges Dubois
DNF
First round, heat 7 There was no competition for Groenings in the seventh heat.
Place
Name
Nation
Time
1
Oswald Groenings
walkover
First round, heat 8 There was no competition for Gould in the eighth heat.
Place
Name
Nation
Time
1
Wyatt Gould
walkover
First round, heat 9 There was no competition for Kovacs in the ninth heat.
Place
Name
Nation
Time
1
Nándor Kovács
walkover
First round, heat 10 There was no competition for Tremeer in the tenth heat.
Place
Name
Nation
Time
1
Jimmy Tremeer
walkover
First round, heat 11 The eleventh heat was cancelled as there were no starters. First round, heat 12 In only the fourth actual race of the first round, and the third in which both runners finished, Burton won in the straight.
Place
Name
Nation
Time
1
Leslie Burton
1:00.4
2
Henri Meslot
Second round
Second round, heat 1 Koops fell; Hillman won easily, breaking Bacon's record that was set in the first round.
Place
Name
Nation
Time
1
Harry Hillman
56.4 seconds OR
2
Harry Coe
—
Evert Koops
DNF
Second round, heat 2 Bacon started off fast, and the other two runners dropped out at 200m.
Place
Name
Nation
Time
1
Charles Bacon
58.8 seconds
—
Oswald Groenings
DNF
—
Nándor Kovács
DNF
Second round, heat 3 Burton led after the hurdles, and won despite losing ground in the straight.
Place
Name
Nation
Time
1
Leslie Burton
59.8 seconds
2
Frederick Harmer
1:00.3
3
Wyatt Gould
unknown
Second round, heat 4 Burton retired, allowing Tremeer to win with a jog.
Place
Name
Nation
Time
1
Jimmy Tremeer
1:00.6
—
G. Burton
DNF
Final
The final was held on Wednesday, July 22, 1908. and Harry Hillman in the final. Halfway into the race, it was clear that the only question was which American would win. Bacon and Hillman were even all the way until the straight, with Bacon just barely pulling ahead to win by two yards, as both of the Americans came in under the worldrecord set by Hillman in the second round.
Charles Bacon