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. 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 in the event. Nils Engdahl's bronze was Sweden's first medal in the 400 metres.

Background

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.
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

Despite the smaller field than 1912, 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.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1920 Summer Olympics.
440 yards
No records were set during this event.

Schedule

DateTimeRound
Thursday, 19 August 192009:30
15:15		Heats
Quarterfinals
Friday, 20 August 192014:00
16:15		Semifinals
Final

Results

Heats

Heat 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Robert Lindsay52.0
2Clarence Oldfield52.2
3Tolly Bolin52.6

Heat 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Gaston Féry51.1
2John Ainsworth-Davis51.3
3Karel Frankenstein51.8
4Francis IrvineUnknown

Heat 3

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Frank Shea50.8
2Henry Dafel51.2
3Sven Krokström51.6

Heat 4

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Ted Meredith51.6
2Géo André52.3
3Giuseppe Bernardoni52.8

Heat 5

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Bevil Rudd50.6
2Erik Wilén51.1
3Reinhold Saulmann51.6
4Giovanni Tosi51.8

Heat 6

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Robert Emery52.6
2Guy Butler53.2
3Karel Přibyl54.0
4Jules Migeot55.1

Heat 7

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1George Schiller50.4
2Nils Engdahl50.6
3Maurice Delvart50.9
4Einar Mangset51.3

Heat 8

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Eric Sundblad52.0
2Hec Phillips52.3
3Agide Simonazzi53.0
4Purma Bannerjee53.1

Heat 9

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Omer Corteyn52.2
2Hedges Worthington-Eyre52.5
3Jean Proess52.6
4José García Lorenzana52.8

Heat 10

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1François Morren51.6
2Miguel García Onsalo52.0
3Eugène Bayon52.4
4Ahmed KhairyUnknown

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Nils Engdahl50.4
2John Ainsworth-Davis50.7
3Robert Emery50.7
4François Morren50.8
5Clarence Oldfield51.1

Quarterfinal 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Gaston Féry50.6
2Guy Butler50.7
3Ted Meredith50.8
4Erik Wilén51.1
5Hec Phillips51.5

Quarterfinal 3

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Henry Dafel51.0
2George Schiller51.3
3Eric Sundblad51.4
4Robert Lindsay51.7
5Omer Corteyn52.1

Quarterfinal 4

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Frank Shea51.0
2Bevil Rudd51.2
3Géo André51.3
4Miguel García Onsalo52.6
5Hedges Worthington-Eyre52.7

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Nils Engdahl49.6
2Bevil Rudd49.7
3John Ainsworth-Davis49.9
4Robert EmeryUnknown
5George SchillerUnknown
6Gaston FéryUnknown

Semifinal 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Frank Shea50.0
2Guy Butler50.2
3Henry Dafel50.4
4Ted Meredith50.4
5Géo André50.5
6Eric Sundblad52.0

Final

RankAthleteNationTime
Bevil Rudd49.6
Guy Butler49.9
Nils Engdahl49.9
4Frank Shea49.9
5John Ainsworth-Davis50.0
6Henry Dafel50.1