Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres
The Men's 400 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea took place between 24 and 28 September 1988. It always promised to be a classic. The clear favourite was the legendary American Harry "Butch" Reynolds. He had set a new world record of 43.29 seconds only a few months before. Reynolds breezed through the heats and into the final.
The final, ran on Thursday September 28, 1988, started somewhat as expected, with Reynolds holding back and saving himself for his normal strong finish. To the surprise of most watching a young American Steve Lewis went out strong from the start and gave Reynolds a run for his money. Entering the home straight Lewis was leading and Reynolds charging back at him but Reynolds left it too late and the 19yr old Lewis hung on for victory in an amazing time of 43.87sec. Reynolds finished second and Danny Everett third for an American sweep. The same trio was also involved with Kevin Robinzine in winning the 4 × 400 m relay.
The career of Lewis was blighted by injury although he did compete in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, placing 2nd in 400m and being part of the American quartet who took gold in 4 × 400 m relay.
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.| World Record | 43.29 |  Butch Reynolds | Zurich | August 17, 1988 |
| Olympic Record | 43.86 | Lee Evans | Mexico City | October 18, 1968 |
No records were broken.
Final
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| Steve Lewis | 43.87 | - | ||
| Butch Reynolds | 43.93 | - | ||
| Danny Everett | 44.09 | - | ||
| 4 | Darren Clark | 44.55 | - | |
| 5 | Innocent Egbunike | 44.72 | - | |
| 6 | Bertland Cameron | 44.94 | - | |
| 7 | Ian Morris | 44.95 | - | |
| 8 | Mohamed Amer Al-Malki | 45.03 | - |
Semifinals
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Steve Lewis | 44.35 | - | |
| 2 | Danny Everett | 44.36 | - | |
| 3 | Darren Clark | 44.38 | - | |
| 4 | Bertland Cameron | 44.50 | - | |
| 5 | Susumu Takano | 44.90 | - | |
| 6 | Jens Carlowitz | 45.08 | - | |
| 7 | Gerson Souza | 45.27 | - | |
| 8 | Tomasz Jędrusik | 46.17 | - |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Butch Reynolds | 44.33 | - | |
| 2 | Ian Morris | 44.60 | - | |
| 3 | Mohamed Amer Al-Malki | 44.69 | - | |
| 4 | Innocent Egbunike | 44.74 | - | |
| 5 | Thomas Schönlebe | 44.90 | - | |
| 6 | Howard Davis | 45.48 | - | |
| 7 | Devon Morris | 45.68 | - | |
| 8 | Brian Whittle | 46.07 | - |
Quarter-finals
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ian Morris | 44.70 | - | |
| 2 | Jens Carlowitz | 45.09 | - | |
| 3 | Brian Whittle | 45.22 | - | |
| 4 | Tomasz Jędrusik | 45.27 | - | |
| 5 | Sunday Uti | 45.33 | - | |
| 6 | Miles Murphy | 45.93 | - | |
| 7 | Dawda Jallow | 46.35 | - | |
| 8 | Elvis Forde | 46.59 | - |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Danny Everett | 44.33 | - | |
| 2 | Innocent Egbunike | 45.02 | - | |
| 3 | Thomas Schönlebe | 45.09 | - | |
| 4 | Bert Cameron | 45.16 | - | |
| 5 | Simeon Kipkemboi | 45.44 | - | |
| 6 | Todd Bennett | 45.96 | - | |
| 7 | Ousmane Diarra | 46.23 | - | |
| 8 | Troy Douglas | 46.28 | - |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Steve Lewis | 44.41 | - | |
| 2 | Darren Clark | 44.96 | - | |
| 3 | Mohamed Amer Al-Malki | 45.01 | - | |
| 4 | Devon Morris | 45.30 | - | |
| 5 | Gaietà Cornet | 45.39 | - | |
| 6 | Anton Skerritt | 46.08 | - | |
| 7 | Elkana Nyangau | 46.09 | - | |
| 8 | Takale Tuna | 47.48 | - |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Butch Reynolds | 44.46 | - | |
| 2 | Susumu Takano | 45.00 | - | |
| 3 | Gérson de Souza | 45.35 | - | |
| 4 | Howard Davis | 45.40 | - | |
| 5 | Gabriel Tiacoh | 45.49 | - | |
| 6 | Lucas Sang | 45.72 | - | |
| 7 | Patrick Delice | 45.75 | - | |
| 8 | Rob Stone | 46.04 | - |
Qualifying heats
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Todd Bennett | 46.37 | - | |
| 2 | Miles Murphy | 46.38 | - | |
| 3 | Anton Skerritt | 46.64 | - | |
| 4 | Richard Louis | 46.80 | - | |
| 5 | Felix Sandy | 46.82 | - | |
| 6 | Gustavo Envela | 48.11 | - | |
| 7 | Joe Rodan | 48.69 | - | |
| 8 | Odiya Silweya | 49.73 | - |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Brian Whittle | 46.07 | - | |
| 2 | Gaietà Cornet | 46.16 | - | |
| 3 | Butch Reynolds | 46.28 | - | |
| 4 | Seibert Straughn | 47.37 | - | |
| 5 | Filipe Lombá | 47.57 | - | |
| 6 | Ali Faudet | 48.69 | - | |
| 7 | Baptiste Firiam | 51.77 | - |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Mohamed Amer Al-Malki | 46.79 | - | |
| 2 | Lucas Sang | 46.85 | - | |
| 3 | Ousmane Diarra | 46.86 | - | |
| 4 | Douglas Kalembo | 47.44 | - | |
| 5 | Mohamed Hossain Milzer | 48.76 | - | |
| 6 | Akossi Gnalo | 51.46 | - | |
| — | Sérgio de Menezes | DNF | - | |
| — | William Taramai | DNS | - |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ian Morris | 45.84 | - | |
| 2 | Thomas Schönlebe | 47.07 | - | |
| 3 | Sunday Uti | 47.08 | - | |
| 4 | Lin Kuang-liang | 48.18 | - | |
| 5 | Ernest Tché-Noubossie | 48.31 | - | |
| 6 | Haji Bakr Al-Qahtani | 48.53 | - | |
| 7 | Enock Musonda | 49.21 | - | |
| 8 | Ahmed Shageef | 50.61 | - |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Steve Lewis | 45.31 | - | |
| 2 | Jens Carlowitz | 45.64 | - | |
| 3 | Gabriel Tiacoh | 47.19 | - | |
| 4 | Jean-Didiace Bémou | 48.46 | - | |
| 5 | Abdullah Ali Ahmed | 48.89 | - | |
| 6 | Jonathan Chipalo | 48.97 | - | |
| 7 | Maher Abbas | 51.29 | - | |
| 8 | Carlton Usher | 51.42 | - |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Gérson de Souza | 45.90 | - | |
| 2 | Howard Davis | 45.97 | - | |
| 3 | Takale Tuna | 47.87 | - | |
| 4 | Sunday Maweni | 47.97 | - | |
| 5 | Sulaiman Juma Al-Habsi | 48.30 | - | |
| 6 | Nordin Mohamed Jadi | 49.52 | - | |
| 7 | Michael Williams | 51.22 | - |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Darren Clark | 45.93 | - | |
| 2 | Simeon Kipkemboi | 45.15 | - | |
| 3 | Elvis Forde | 46.47 | - | |
| 4 | Elijah Nkala | 46.60 | - | |
| 5 | Antonio Sánchez | 47.18 | - | |
| 6 | Jaime Rodrigues | 47.33 | - | |
| 7 | Aouf Abdul Rahman Youssef | 47.45 | - | |
| 8 | Desai Wynter | 48.39 | - |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Bert Cameron | 46.24 | - | |
| 2 | Rob Stone | 46.52 | - | |
| 3 | Dawda Jallow | 46.91 | - | |
| 4 | Yun Nam-han | 47.02 | - | |
| 5 | John Goville | 47.11 | - | |
| 6 | Muhammad Fayyaz | 47.13 | - | |
| 7 | Yaya Seyba | 48.83 | - | |
| 8 | Alfred Browne | 48.92 | - |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Danny Everett | 45.63 | - | |
| 2 | Devon Morris | 45.95 | - | |
| 3 | Tomasz Jędrusik | 46.12 | - | |
| 4 | Patrick Delice | 46.14 | - | |
| 5 | Slobodan Branković | 46.59 | - | |
| 6 | Jorge Fidel Ponce | 51.11 | - | |
| — | Mwana Bute Kasongo | DSQ | - |
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Susumu Takano | 45.42 | - | |
| 2 | Troy Douglas | 45.69 | - | |
| 3 | Innocent Egbunike | 46.02 | - | |
| 4 | Elkana Nyangau | 46.25 | - | |
| 5 | Ismail Mačev | 46.37 | - | |
| 6 | Elieser Wattebosi | 47.10 | - | |
| 7 | Willis Todman | 50.11 | - |