Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres
The men's 400 metres event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. This race was depicted in the film Chariots of Fire. The competition was held on Thursday, July 10, 1924 and on Friday, July 11, 1924. As for all other races the track was 500 metres in circumference. Sixty runners from 27 nations competed. No nation had more than 4 athletes.
Background
This was the seventh appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The defending gold medalist from 1920, Bevil Rudd of South Africa, did not return; the other two medalists, silver-winning Guy Butler of Great Britain and bronze-winning Nils Engdahl of Sweden, did. Eric Liddell of Great Britain was the 1924 Scottish and AAA champion. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Haiti, Ireland, Mexico, Poland, and Switzerland appeared in the event for the first time. The United States made its seventh 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. The first round had 17 heats, ranging from 1 to 5 athletes. The top two runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals. There were 6 quarterfinals, intended to have 5 or 6 runners in each but sometimes having 4 due to withdrawals; the top two 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.
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics. 440 yards In the quarterfinals, Josef Imbach set a new Olympic record with 48.0 seconds. In the semifinals Horatio Fitch improved the Olympic record with 47.8 seconds. In the final, Eric Liddell set a new world record with 47.6 seconds; this time was ratified as a 400 metres world record as Ted Meredith ran his record over 440 yards. World Athletics rescinded Liddell's time as a world record in 1928.
All quarter-finals were held on Thursday, July 10, 1924 and started at 4 p.m. The best two finishers of every heat qualified for the semifinals. Lajos Kurunczy and Erik Åström qualified for the quarterfinals but withdrew.
Quarterfinal 1
Rank
Athlete
Nation
Time
Notes
1
Horatio Fitch
49.0
2
Artur Svensson
50.0
3
Alan Christie
50.8
4
Edward Toms
Unknown
Quarterfinal 2
Rank
Athlete
Nation
Time
Notes
1
Toby Betts
49.0
2
Charles Hoff
49.2
3
Gustaf Wejnarth
50.2
4
Gaston Féry
50.7
Quarterfinal 3
Rank
Athlete
Nation
Time
Notes
1
Guy Butler
49.8
2
John Coard Taylor
50.4
3
Barthélémy Favodon
50.9
4
Terence Pitt
51.6
5
Kai Jensen
Unknown
6
Federico Brewster
Unknown
Quarterfinal 4
Rank
Athlete
Nation
Time
Notes
1
Adriaan Paulen
49.0
2
Eric Liddell
49.3
3
Ray Robertson
49.5
4
Luigi Facelli
50.5
5
Raymond Fritz
50.5
Quarterfinal 5
Rank
Athlete
Nation
Time
Notes
1
Clarence Oldfield
49.0
2
David Johnson
49.3
3
Erik Wilén
49.6
4
Roy Norman
50.2
5
Alfredo Gargiullo
Unknown
6
George Renwick
Unknown
Quarterfinal 6
Rank
Athlete
Nation
Time
Notes
1
Josef Imbach
48.0
,
2
Nils Engdahl
48.4
3
Eric Wilson
48.8
4
Sean Lavan
49.8
5
Tokushige Noto
50.7
6
Horace Aylwin
Unknown
Semifinals
All semi-finals were held on Friday, July 11, 1924 and started at 2:45 p.m. The best three finishers of each heat qualified for the final.
Semifinal 1
Rank
Athlete
Nation
Time
Notes
1
Horatio Fitch
47.8
,
2
Guy Butler
47.9
3
David Johnson
48.0
4
Adriaan Paulen
48.2
5
Toby Betts
48.4
6
Nils Engdahl
48.6
Semifinal 2
Rank
Athlete
Nation
Time
Notes
1
Eric Liddell
48.2
2
Josef Imbach
48.3
3
John Coard Taylor
48.7
4
Charles Hoff
48.8
5
Clarence Oldfield
49.0
6
Artur Svensson
49.1
Final
The final was held on Friday, July 11, 1924 and started at 5:30 p.m.. Taylor's ankle gave out just before the finish line in a career-ending injury; he crawled across the line. Imbach tripped over the lane-dividing ropes, fell, and was unable to finish.
