Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles
The Men's 400 metres hurdles competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico took place on October 13–15 at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario.
In the final, David Hemery took the race out hard. By the final straightaway he had an ever-growing lead over the world record holder Geoff Vanderstock. Hemery continued to pour it on, taking seven tenths of a second out of the world record, a huge improvement. Vanderstock struggled between the final barrier and the finish line, his 2-metre advantage over field evaporated. Gerhard Hennige, then John Sherwood edged past him at the line.
Competition format
The men's 400m hurdles competition started with four heats, where the four fastest runners from each race qualified to one of the two semifinals groups. The top four competitors from each semifinals group advanced to the final.Records
Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.| World record | 48.8 | Echo Summit, United States | September 11, 1968 | |
| Olympic record | 49.3 | Rome, Italy | September 2, 1960 |
Results
Heats
Heat 1| Rank | Name | Country | Result | Notes |
| 1 | Gerhard Hennige | 49.5 | Q | |
| 2 | Geoff Vanderstock | 50.6 | Q | |
| 3 | Vyacheslav Skomorokhov | 50.7 | Q | |
| 4 | Víctor Maldonado | 51.4 | Q | |
| 5 | Kiyoo Yui | 51.5 | ||
| 6 | Robert McLaren | 51.8 | ||
| 7 | Miguel Olivera | 51.9 | ||
| 8 | Mohamed Asswai Khalifa | 54.3 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Name | Country | Result | Notes |
| 1 | Juan Carlos Dyrzka | 49.8 | Q | |
| 2 | Roger Johnson | 51.3 | Q | |
| 3 | John Cooper | 51.4 | Q | |
| 4 | Mamadou Sarr | 51.5 | Q | |
| 5 | Wes Brooker | 51.5 | ||
| 6 | William Quaye | 51.6 |
Heat 3
| Rank | Name | Country | Result | Notes |
| 1 | Ron Whitney | 49.0 | Q OR | |
| 2 | Rainer Schubert | 49.1 | Q | |
| 3 | Gary Knoke | 49.8 | Q | |
| 4 | John Sherwood | 50.2 | Q | |
| 5 | Wilhelm Weistand | 50.7 | ||
| 6 | Wilfried Geeroms | 51.2 | ||
| 7 | Juan Santiago Gordón | 52.4 | ||
| 8 | Zambrose Abdul Rahman | 53.2 |
Heat 4
| Rank | Name | Country | Result | Notes |
| 1 | Roberto Frinolli | 49.9 | Q | |
| 2 | David Hemery | 50.3 | Q | |
| 3 | Robert Poirier | 50.5 | Q | |
| 4 | Jaakko Tuominen | 50.6 | Q | |
| 5 | Kimaru Songok | 50.6 | ||
| 6 | Alejandro Sánchez | 51.6 | ||
| 7 | Juan García | 51.8 | ||
| 8 | Georgios Birmbilis | 52.6 |
Semifinals
Heat 1| Rank | Name | Country | Result | Notes |
| 1 | Roberto Frinolli | 49.2 | Q | |
| 2 | Geoff Vanderstock | 49.2 | Q | |
| 3 | John Sherwood | 49.3 | Q | |
| 4 | Rainer Schubert | 49.3 | Q | |
| 5 | Juan Carlos Dyrzka | 49.8 | ||
| 6 | Jaakko Tuominen | 50.8 | ||
| 7 | John Cooper | 50.8 | ||
| 8 | Víctor Maldonado | 52.2 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Name | Country | Result | Notes |
| 1 | Gerhard Hennige | 49.1 | Q | |
| 2 | Ron Whitney | 49.2 | Q | |
| 3 | David Hemery | 49.3 | Q | |
| 4 | Vyacheslav Skomorokhov | 49.6 | Q | |
| 5 | Gary Knoke | 49.6 | ||
| 6 | Robert Poirier | 51.2 | ||
| 7 | Roger Johnson | 51.8 | ||
| 8 | Mamadou Sarr | 52.1 |