Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres
The men's 400 metres sprint event at the 1932 Olympic Games took place on August 4 and August 5 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.[1] Twenty-seven athletes from 15 nations competed.[2] The 1930 Olympic Congress in Berlin had reduced the limit from 4 athletes per NOC to 3 athletes.[3] The event was won by Bill Carr of the United States, that nation's second consecutive title and sixth overall in the event (all by different men). Ben Eastman's silver marked the first time countrymen had gone one-two in the event since the United States did it at the first three Olympics (1896, 1900, and 1904, including a podium sweep in 1904).
Men's 400 metres at the Games of the X Olympiad | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Venue | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | |||||||||
Dates | August 4 (heats and quarterfinals) August 5 (semifinals and final) | |||||||||
Competitors | 27 from 15 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 46.2 WR | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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Background
This was the ninth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The defending gold medalist, Ray Barbuti of the United States, did not return, but 1928 silver medalist Jimmy Ball of Canada and bronze medalist Joachim Büchner of Germany did. The United States had a strong team, led by Ben Eastman (who had just set the world record at 46.4 seconds) and Bill Carr (who had beaten Eastman at the U.S. Olympic trials and the IC4A championships).[2]
New Zealand appeared in the event for the first time. The United States made its ninth appearance in the event, the only nation to compete in it at every Olympic Games to that point.
Competition format
The competition retained the basic four-round format from 1920. With fewer athletes than previous editions, the first round was reduced to 6 heats (vs. 15 in 1928). Each heat had between 4 and 6 athletes. The top three runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals. There were 3 quarterfinals of 6 runners each; the top four 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][4]
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics.
World record | ![]() | 46.4y | Palo Alto, United States | 26 March 1932 |
Olympic record | ![]() | 47.6 | Paris, France | 11 July 1924 |
Bill Carr broke the Olympic record in the semifinals (with a 47.2 second mark) and the world record in the final (officially at 46.2 seconds, auto-timed at 46.28 seconds).
Schedule
Date | Time | Round |
---|---|---|
Thursday, 4 August 1932 | 14:30 16:00 | Heats Quarterfinals |
Friday, 5 August 1932 | 14:30 16:30 | Semifinals Final |
Results
Heats
Six heats were held; the fastest three runners advanced to the quarterfinal round.
Heat 1
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Adolf Metzner | ![]() | 50.4 | Q |
2 | Seikan Oki | ![]() | 50.5 | Q |
3 | Alex Wilson | ![]() | 50.5 | Q |
4 | Kell Areskoug | ![]() | 50.7 | |
Heat 2
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ben Eastman | ![]() | 49.0 | Q |
2 | Joachim Büchner | ![]() | 49.3 | Q |
3 | Hjalle Johannesen | ![]() | 49.5 | Q |
4 | Carlos de Anda | ![]() | 49.8 | |
Heat 3
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Börje Strandvall | ![]() | 49.8 | Q |
2 | Jimmy Ball | ![]() | 50.0 | Q |
3 | Iwao Masuda | ![]() | 50.1 | Q |
4 | Sten Pettersson | ![]() | 50.2 | |
Heat 4
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bill Carr | ![]() | 48.8 | Q |
2 | George Golding | ![]() | 49.0 | Q |
3 | Crew Stoneley | ![]() | 49.1 | Q |
4 | Walter Nehb | ![]() | 49.4 | |
5 | Khristos Mantikas | ![]() | 49.6 | |
6 | Manuel Álvarez | ![]() | 49.9 |
Heat 5
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Felix Rinner | ![]() | 49.2 | Q |
2 | Godfrey Rampling | ![]() | 49.5 | Q |
3 | Willie Walters | ![]() | 49.8 | Q |
4 | Stuart Black | ![]() | 49.9 | |
5 | Seiken Cho | ![]() | 50.0 | |
Heat 6
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | James Gordon | ![]() | 50.6 | Q |
2 | Ray Lewis | ![]() | 50.7 | Q |
3 | Domingos Puglisi | ![]() | 50.8 | Q |
4 | Richard Arguello | ![]() | 50.9 | |
Quarterfinals
Three heats were held; the four fastest runners in each heat advanced to the semifinal round.
Quarterfinal 1
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bill Carr | ![]() | 48.4 | Q |
2 | Willie Walters | ![]() | 48.5 | Q |
3 | George Golding | ![]() | 48.6 | Q |
4 | Alex Wilson | ![]() | 49.6 | Q |
5 | Domingos Puglisi | ![]() | 50.1 | |
6 | Iwao Masuda | ![]() | Unknown | |
Quarterfinal 2
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | James Gordon | ![]() | 48.6 | Q |
2 | Godfrey Rampling | ![]() | 48.8 | Q |
3 | Joachim Büchner | ![]() | 48.9 | Q |
4 | Jimmy Ball | ![]() | 49.3 | Q |
5 | Hjalle Johannesen | ![]() | 49.4 | |
6 | Seikan Oki | ![]() | Unknown | |
Quarterfinal 3
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ben Eastman | ![]() | 48.8 | Q |
2 | Felix Rinner | ![]() | 48.9 | Q |
3 | Börje Strandvall | ![]() | 49.0 | Q |
4 | Crew Stoneley | ![]() | 49.1 | |
5 | Ray Lewis | ![]() | 49.1 | |
6 | Adolf Metzner | ![]() | 49.2 | |
Semifinals
Two heats were held; the fastest three runners advanced to the final round.
Semifinal 1
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bill Carr | ![]() | 47.2 | Q, OR |
2 | Alex Wilson | ![]() | 47.8 | Q |
3 | George Golding | ![]() | 48.0 | Q |
4 | Godfrey Rampling | ![]() | 48.0 | |
5 | Felix Rinner | ![]() | 48.8 | |
6 | Joachim Büchner | ![]() | 49.2 | |
Semifinal 2
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ben Eastman | ![]() | 47.6 | Q |
2 | Willie Walters | ![]() | 48.2 | Q |
3 | James Gordon | ![]() | 48.2 | Q |
4 | Börje Strandvall | ![]() | 48.4 | |
5 | Crew Stoneley | ![]() | 48.6 | |
6 | Jimmy Ball | ![]() | 49.0 | |
Final
Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 4 | Bill Carr | ![]() | 46.28 | WR |
![]() | 2 | Ben Eastman | ![]() | 46.50 | |
![]() | 3 | Alex Wilson | ![]() | 47.4 | |
4 | 1 | Willie Walters | ![]() | 48.2 | |
5 | 5 | James Gordon | ![]() | 48.2 | |
6 | 6 | George Golding | ![]() | 48.8 |
References
- "Athletics at the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's 400 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
- "400 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
- Official Report, p. 377.
- Official Report, pp. 410–13.