Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

Men's 400 metres
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
VenueMelbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Dates28 November 1956
29 November 1956
Competitors42 from 23 nations
Winning time46.7
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Charles Jenkins Sr.  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Karl-Friedrich Haas  United Team of Germany
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Voitto Hellstén  Finland
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ardalion Ignatyev  Soviet Union
← 1952
1960 →
Video on YouTube Official Video @1:17:20

The men's 400 metres was an event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. The competition was held on 28 & 29 of November.[1] Times are listed as both hand timing and automatic timing. Hand timing was the official time used in the 1956 Olympics. Forty-two athletes from 23 nations competed.[2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress.

The event was won by 0.26 seconds by Charles Jenkins Sr. of the United States, the nation's 8th title in the event and breaking a two-Games string of victories by Jamaican runners. Karl-Friedrich Haas's silver was the first medal in the event by the "United Team" of Germany, though Germany had medaled in 1912 and 1928. Finland and the Soviet Union each claimed their first men's 400 metres medals as well with a tie for bronze between Voitto Hellstén and Ardalion Ignatyev.

Summary

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Lou Jones entered the Olympics as the world record holder, having first set it in early 1955 in Mexico City, then improving his record at the 1956 United States Olympic Trials. He managed to get into the final expending the minimum effort, running just fast enough to qualify behind the South African Malcolm Spence and ahead of Jamaican Melville Spence, twin brother of the Jamaican Malcolm Spence who ran in the other semi-final. That's three M. Spences in the semi-final round, including two named Malcolm. Four years later, both Malcolms would again make it to the semi-final round and each would leave that Olympics with a bronze medal.

Jones took off from the start of the race, pulling away from the field on the backstretch and reaching the half way point with a 3 metre lead on Ardalion Ignatyev. But there is a reality to running the 400 meters, Jones' exuberance caught up with him, his movement strained. The lead began to shrink through the final turn, to barely a metre by the time he reached the home stretch. More importantly, he had nothing left in the tank for the final sprint. By that point, his American teammate, Charles Jenkins was only a metre behind Ignatyev and gaining. With more speed down the final straightaway, in the next 40 metres, Jenkins caught Jones at the same time as Ignatyev. Jones could only look helplessly while Ignatyev strained. Another two metres back, Karl-Friedrich Haas was in full flight with Voitto Hellstén another metre behind in his wake. As Jenkins ran away to gold, Hellstén closed rapidly, the next three runners hitting the finish line virtually at the same time. With a slight lean at the finish, the tall Haas was given silver, but the photo finish could not separate Hellstén and Ignatyev, both being given the bronze medal.

Background

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This was the thirteenth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Both the Jamaican team (which had gone 1-2 in both 1948 and 1952) and the American team (bronze both years) saw complete turnover; the only finalist left from Helsinki was the German Karl-Friedrich Haas (4th in 1948). Pan American champion and world record holder Lou Jones of the United States, 1955 AAU champion Charles Jenkins Sr. of the United States, and 1954 European champion Ardalion Ignatyev of the Soviet Union were among the favorites.[2]

Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Malaya, Nigeria, and the Philippines appeared in this event for the first time; Germany made its first appearance as the United Team of Germany. The United States made its thirteenth appearance in the event, the only nation to compete in it at every Olympic Games to that point.

Competition format

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The competition retained the basic four-round format from 1920. With a smaller field than in 1952, the number of heats was reduced. There were 8 heats in the first round, each with between 4 and 7 athletes. The top three runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals. There were 4 quarterfinals of 6 runners each; the top three 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][3]

Records

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Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record  Lou Jones (USA) 45.2 Los Angeles, United States 30 June 1956
Olympic record  George Rhoden (JAM) 45.9 Helsinki, Finland 25 July 1952

No records were set during this event.

Schedule

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All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 28 November 1956 15:00
17:35
Round 1
Quarterfinals
Thursday, 29 November 1956 15:00
17:30
Semifinals
Finals

Results

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Heats

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The top three runners in each of the eight heats, advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Lou Jones  United States 48.1 48.30 Q
2 Murray Cockburn  Canada 49.0 49.07 Q
3 Abdullah Khan  Pakistan 49.0 49.19 Q
4 Konstantin Grachev  Soviet Union 49.4 49.58
5 Beyene Legesse  Ethiopia 50.7 50.83
Kanji Akagi  Japan DSQ

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Terry Tobacco  Canada 47.9 47.92 Q
2 Jacques Degats  France 48.3 48.32 Q
3 Jim Lea  United States 48.3 48.41 Q
4 Bartonjo Rotich  Kenya 48.8 48.90
5 Jaime Aparicio  Colombia 49.0 49.14
6 Pablo Somblingo  Philippines 49.4 49.50
7 Kenneth Perera  Malaya no time 51.96

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Malcolm Spence  South Africa 47.7 47.77 Q
2 Jürgen Kühl  United Team of Germany 48.7 48.74 Q
3 Charles Jenkins Sr.  United States 48.7 48.82 Q
4 Abebe Hailou  Ethiopia 49.0 49.18
5 Abdul Karim Amu  Nigeria 49.4 49.57

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Voitto Hellstén  Finland 48.4 48.52 Q
2 Mike Wheeler  Great Britain 49.3 49.37 Q
3 Kibet Boit  Kenya 49.3 49.48 Q
4 Laird Sloan  Canada 50.0 50.18
5 Somsak Thonf Ar-Ram  Thailand 53.4 53.61

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Karl-Friedrich Haas  United Team of Germany 47.2 47.29 Q
2 Graham Gipson  Australia 47.7 47.87 Q
3 John Salisbury  Great Britain 47.7 47.95 Q
4 Milkha Singh  India 48.9 49.07

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Ardalion Ignatyev  Soviet Union 48.6 48.69 Q
2 George Kerr  Jamaica 49.7 49.74 Q
3 Pierre Haarhoff  France 49.8 49.99 Q
4 Kamau Wanyoke  Kenya 50.6 50.74

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Kevan Gosper  Australia 48.0 48.07 Q
2 Mal Spence  Jamaica 48.2 48.31 Q
3 Iván Rodríuez  Puerto Rico 48.8 48.86 Q
4 Gérard Rasquin  Luxembourg 50.6 50.76
5 Abdul Rahim bin Ahmed  Malaya 50.8 50.93
6 George Johnson  Liberia 54.8

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Peter Higgins  Great Britain 47.9 47.98 Q
2 Mel Spence  Jamaica 47.9 48.00 Q
3 Jean-Paul Martin du Gard  France 48.3 48.39 Q
4 John Goodman  Australia 48.5 48.73
5 Ajanew Bayene  Ethiopia 51.3 51.53
Horst Mann  United Team of Germany DNF

Quarterfinals

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The top three runners in each of the four heats, advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Lou Jones  United States 47.4 47.42 Q
2 John Salisbury  Great Britain 47.4 47.60 Q
3 Iván Rodríguez  Puerto Rico 47.5 47.64 Q
4 Terry Tobacco  Canada 47.7 47.79
5 Jürgen Kühl  United Team of Germany 48.0 48.23
Abdullah Khan  Pakistan DNS

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Ardalion Ignatyev  Soviet Union 46.8 46.88 Q
2 Mal Spence  Jamaica 47.4 47.42 Q
3 Peter Higgins  Great Britain 47.4 47.43 Q
4 Graham Gipson  Australia 47.4 47.45
5 Jacques Degats  France 48.7 48.79
6 Murray Cockburn  Canada 49.5 49.74

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Voitto Hellstén  Finland 46.8 46.85 Q
2 Malcolm Spence  South Africa 47.1 47.08 Q
3 Mel Spence  Jamaica 47.3 47.38 Q
4 Pierre Haarhoff  France 47.6 47.82
5 Jim Lea  United States 48.1 48.33
6 Kibet Boit  Kenya 49.1 49.18

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Kevan Gosper  Australia 46.7 46.83 Q
2 Karl-Friedrich Haas  United Team of Germany 47.3 47.37 Q
3 Charlie Jenkins  United States 47.5 47.63 Q
4 George Kerr  Jamaica 47.7 47.79
5 Mike Wheeler  Great Britain 47.9 48.05
6 Jean-Paul Martin du Gard  France 48.2 48.37

Semifinals

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Top three in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Ardalion Ignatyev  Soviet Union 46.8 46.93 Q
2 Malcolm Spence  South Africa 47.2 47.27 Q
3 Lou Jones  United States 47.3 47.32 Q
4 Mel Spence  Jamaica 47.5 47.58
5 Peter Higgins  Great Britain 47.7 47.65
6 Iván Rodríguez  Puerto Rico 47.7 47.86

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto) Notes
1 Charles Jenkins Sr.  United States 46.1 46.19 Q
2 Voitto Hellstén  Finland 46.1 46.20 Q
3 Karl-Friedrich Haas  United Team of Germany 46.2 46.29 Q
4 Kevan Gosper  Australia 46.2 46.45
5 John Salisbury  Great Britain 47.3 47.47
6 Mal Spence  Jamaica 47.4 47.52

Final

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Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (hand) Time (auto)
1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 Charles Jenkins Sr.  United States 46.7 46.86
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 Karl-Friedrich Haas  United Team of Germany 46.8 47.12
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3 Voitto Hellstén  Finland 47.0 47.15
2 Ardalion Ignatyev  Soviet Union 47.0 47.15
5 6 Lou Jones  United States 48.1 48.35
6 1 Malcolm Spence  South Africa 48.3 48.40

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's 400 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "400 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, pp. 290–91.
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