Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles

This was the third time the event was held. Introduced along with the men's 200 metres hurdles in 1900, the men's 400 metres hurdles was still on the program while the 200 was not. The 400 metres version would be held in 1900, 1904, and 1908 before being left off for one Games in 1912; when the Olympics returned after World War I, the men's 400 metres hurdles was back and would continue to be contested at every Games thereafter. One of the four hurdlers from the 1904 Games returned: gold medalist Harry Hillman of the United States.[3]

Australasia, Great Britain, Hungary, and the Netherlands each made their debut in the event. The United States made its third appearance, the only nation to have competed at every edition of the event to that point.

The competition consisted of three rounds: quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. Ten sets of hurdles were set on the course. The hurdles were 3 feet (= 91.5 centimetre) tall and were placed 35 metres apart beginning 45 metres from the starting line.[4]

There were 12 quarterfinal heats scheduled, but only 11 actually were contested as one heat had no starters. There were only one or two hurdlers in each quarterfinal heat. The winner advanced in the 4 heats that had two runners. The 11 men who advanced were divided into four semifinal heats of 2 or 3 hurdlers each; again, only the fastest man advanced. The final had 4 competitors.[3]

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1908 Summer Olympics.

World record	Charles Bacon (USA)	55.8*	Philadelphia, United States	6 July 1908
Olympic record	Walter Tewksbury (USA)	57.6**	Paris, France	15 July 1900

^* unofficial

^** This track was 500 metres in circumference.

Harry Hillman had run 53.0 seconds in 1904 but he knocked over a hurdle and the hurdles were only 30 inches (76 cm) high.

In the first round Charles Bacon set a new Olympic record with 57.0 seconds. In the second round Hillman set a new record with 56.4 seconds. In the final Bacon set a new world record with 55.0 seconds. This record became the first official world record for the 400 metres hurdles.

• Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 18 January 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
• Official Report