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
VenueLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
DatesAugust 4 (heats and quarterfinals)
August 5 (semifinals and final)
Competitors27 from 15 nations
Winning time46.2 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Bill Carr
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ben Eastman
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Alex Wilson
 Canada
← 1928
1936 →

Background

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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

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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

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics.

World record   Ben Eastman (USA) 46.4y Palo Alto, United States 26 March 1932
Olympic record   Eric Liddell (GBR) 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

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Date Time Round
Thursday, 4 August 1932 14:30
16:00
Heats
Quarterfinals
Friday, 5 August 1932 14:30
16:30
Semifinals
Final

Results

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Heats

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Six heats were held; the fastest three runners advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Adolf Metzner   Germany 50.4 Q
2 Seikan Oki   Japan 50.5 Q
3 Alex Wilson   Canada 50.5 Q
4 Kell Areskoug   Sweden 50.7

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ben Eastman   United States 49.0 Q
2 Joachim Büchner   Germany 49.3 Q
3 Hjalle Johannesen   Norway 49.5 Q
4 Carlos de Anda   Mexico 49.8

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Börje Strandvall   Finland 49.8 Q
2 Jimmy Ball   Canada 50.0 Q
3 Iwao Masuda   Japan 50.1 Q
4 Sten Pettersson   Sweden 50.2

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Bill Carr   United States 48.8 Q
2 George Golding   Australia 49.0 Q
3 Crew Stoneley   Great Britain 49.1 Q
4 Walter Nehb   Germany 49.4
5 Khristos Mantikas   Greece 49.6
6 Manuel Álvarez   Mexico 49.9

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Felix Rinner   Austria 49.2 Q
2 Godfrey Rampling   Great Britain 49.5 Q
3 Willie Walters   South Africa 49.8 Q
4 Stuart Black   New Zealand 49.9
5 Seiken Cho   Japan 50.0

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 James Gordon   United States 50.6 Q
2 Ray Lewis   Canada 50.7 Q
3 Domingos Puglisi   Brazil 50.8 Q
4 Richard Arguello   Mexico 50.9

Quarterfinals

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Three heats were held; the four fastest runners in each heat advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Bill Carr   United States 48.4 Q
2 Willie Walters   South Africa 48.5 Q
3 George Golding   Australia 48.6 Q
4 Alex Wilson   Canada 49.6 Q
5 Domingos Puglisi   Brazil 50.1
6 Iwao Masuda   Japan Unknown

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 James Gordon   United States 48.6 Q
2 Godfrey Rampling   Great Britain 48.8 Q
3 Joachim Büchner   Germany 48.9 Q
4 Jimmy Ball   Canada 49.3 Q
5 Hjalle Johannesen   Norway 49.4
6 Seikan Oki   Japan Unknown

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ben Eastman   United States 48.8 Q
2 Felix Rinner   Austria 48.9 Q
3 Börje Strandvall   Finland 49.0 Q
4 Crew Stoneley   Great Britain 49.1 Q
5 Ray Lewis   Canada 49.1
6 Adolf Metzner   Germany 49.2

Semifinals

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Two heats were held; the fastest three runners advanced to the final round.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Bill Carr   United States 47.2 Q, OR
2 Alex Wilson   Canada 47.8 Q
3 George Golding   Australia 48.0 Q
4 Godfrey Rampling   Great Britain 48.0
5 Felix Rinner   Austria 48.8
6 Joachim Büchner   Germany 49.2

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ben Eastman   United States 47.6 Q
2 Willie Walters   South Africa 48.2 Q
3 James Gordon   United States 48.2 Q
4 Börje Strandvall   Finland 48.4
5 Crew Stoneley   Great Britain 48.6
6 Jimmy Ball   Canada 49.0

Final

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Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
  4 Bill Carr   United States 46.28 WR
  2 Ben Eastman   United States 46.50
  3 Alex Wilson   Canada 47.4
4 1 Willie Walters   South Africa 48.2
5 5 James Gordon   United States 48.2
6 6 George Golding   Australia 48.8

References

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  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ a b c "400 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 377.
  4. ^ Official Report, pp. 410–13.