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

The men's 400 metres hurdles competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia took place on November 23–24 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[1] There were 28 competitors from 18 nations.[2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Glenn Davis of the United States, the nation's fourth consecutive and ninth overall victory in the men's 400 metres hurdles. Eddie Southern (silver) and Josh Culbreath (bronze) completed the American sweep, the third time (after 1904 and 1920) that the United States had swept the medals in the event.

Men's 400 metres hurdles
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
VenueMelbourne Cricket Ground
DateNovember 23–24
Competitors28 from 18 nations
Winning time50.1 =OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Glenn Davis
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Eddie Southern
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Josh Culbreath
 United States
← 1952
1960 →
Video on YouTube Official Video @11:15

Background

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This was the 11th time the event was held. It had been introduced along with the men's 200 metres hurdles in 1900, with the 200 being dropped after 1904 and the 400 being held through 1908 before being left off the 1912 programme. However, when the Olympics returned in 1920 after World War I, the men's 400 metres hurdles was back and would continue to be contested at every Games thereafter.

Two of the six finalists from the 1952 Games returned: silver medalist Yuriy Lituyev and fourth-place finisher Anatoliy Yulin, both of the Soviet Union. Earlier in the year, at the U.S. trials, American Glenn Davis had demolished Lituyev's three year old world record, knocking almost a full second off the mark and taking the time under 50 seconds for the first time ever. Eddie Southern was also under 50 seconds in that race. The two young Americans joined Josh Culbreath, the 1953 to 1955 AAU and 1955 Pan American champion, on a strong United States team. Lituyev, as in 1952, was the strongest challenger to the Americans.[2]

Romania made its debut in the event. The United States made its 11th appearance, the only nation to have competed at every edition of the event to that point.

Summary

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During the final, the six lanes were fairly even, with Lituyev pushing the backstretch to gain a slight advantage going in to the final turn. That was swallowed up during the turn as Davis surged, leading Eddie Southern and Gert Potgieter off the turn. Davis expanded his lead over Southern from 2 meters to 5 meters down the home stretch for the win. Over the final barrier, Potgieter caught his trail leg on the hurdle which knocked him off balance. He was able to take two more strides then did a face plant in the middle of the track. On the inside, Josh Culbreath was able to cruise by for bronze, completing the American sweep.

Competition format

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The competition returned to the three-round format used since 1908 (except the four-round competition in 1952): quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. Ten sets of hurdles were set on the course. The hurdles were 3 feet (91.5 centimetres) tall and were placed 35 metres apart beginning 45 metres from the starting line, resulting in a 40 metres home stretch after the last hurdle. The 400 metres track was standard.

There were 6 quarterfinal heats with between 3 and 6 athletes each. The top 2 men in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals. The 12 semifinalists were divided into 2 semifinals of 6 athletes each, with the top 3 in each semifinal advancing to the 6-man final.[2]

Records

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

World record   Glenn Davis (USA) 49.5 Los Angeles, United States 29 June 1956
Olympic record   Charles Moore (USA) 50.8 Helsinki, Finland 20 July 1952

Eddie Southern set a new Olympic record with 50.1 seconds in the first semifinal. Glenn Davis matched that time in the final.

Schedule

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

Date Time Round
Friday, 23 November 1956 14:30
17:40
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Saturday, 24 November 1956 17:10 Final

Results

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Quarterfinals

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Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Glenn Davis   United States 51.3 Q
2 David Lean   Australia 51.4 Q
3 Keiji Ogushi   Japan 53.2
4 Ovidio de Jesús   Puerto Rico 54.0
5 Pablo Somblingo   Philippines 54.5

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Eddie Southern   United States 51.3 Q
2 Harry Kane   Great Britain 51.8 Q
3 Geoff Goodacre   Australia 52.5
4 Kalim Khawaja Ghani   Pakistan 55.1
5 Jagdev Singh   India 55.2

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Josh Culbreath   United States 50.9 Q
2 Guy Cury   France 51.6 Q
3 Jaime Aparicio   Colombia 52.0
4 Tom Farrell   Great Britain 52.7
5 Muhammad Yaqub   Pakistan 53.1
6 Tsai Cheng-Fu   Republic of China 54.6

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ross Parker   Australia 53.5 Q
2 Ioannis Kambadelis   Greece 53.7 Q
3 Amadeo Francis   Puerto Rico 54.3

Quarterfinal 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Yuriy Lituyev   Soviet Union 51.6 Q
2 Gert Potgieter   South Africa 52.0 Q
3 Ossi Mildh   Finland 52.1
4 Alexandre Yankoff   France 53.1
5 Marcel Lambrechts   Belgium 54.0

Quarterfinal 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Anatoliy Yulin   Soviet Union 52.1 Q
2 Ilie Savel   Romania 52.2 Q
3 Bob Shaw   Great Britain 52.5
4 Ulisses dos Santos   Brazil 53.8

Semifinals

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Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Eddie Southern   United States 50.1 Q, OR
2 Glenn Davis   United States 50.7 Q
3 Gert Potgieter   South Africa 51.3 Q
4 Guy Cury   France 51.5
5 Anatoliy Yulin   Soviet Union 51.7
6 Ross Parker   Australia 52.6

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Josh Culbreath   United States 50.9 Q
2 David Lean   Australia 51.4 Q
3 Yuriy Lituyev   Soviet Union 51.8 Q
4 Ilie Savel   Romania 52.0
5 Harry Kane   Great Britain 52.7
6 Ioannis Kambadelis   Greece 53.8

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
  Glenn Davis   United States 50.1 =OR
  Eddie Southern   United States 50.8
  Josh Culbreath   United States 51.6
4 Yuriy Lituyev   Soviet Union 51.7
5 David Lean   Australia 51.8
6 Gert Potgieter   South Africa 56.0

Results summary

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Rank Athlete Nation Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Notes
  Glenn Davis   United States 51.3 50.7 50.1 =OR
  Eddie Southern   United States 51.3 50.1 50.8 OR
  Josh Culbreath   United States 50.9 50.9 51.6
4 Yuriy Lituyev   Soviet Union 51.6 51.8 51.7
5 David Lean   Australia 51.4 51.4 51.8
6 Gert Potgieter   South Africa 52.0 51.3 56.0
7 Guy Cury   France 51.6 51.5 Did not advance
8 Anatoliy Yulin   Soviet Union 52.1 51.7
9 Ilie Savel   Romania 52.2 52.0
10 Ross Parker   Australia 53.5 52.6
11 Harry Kane   Great Britain 51.8 52.7
12 Ioannis Kambadelis   Greece 53.7 53.8
13 Jaime Aparicio   Colombia 52.0 Did not advance
14 Ossi Mildh   Finland 52.1
15 Geoff Goodacre   Australia 52.5
Bob Shaw   Great Britain 52.5
17 Tom Farrell   Great Britain 52.7
18 Alexandre Yankoff   France 53.1
Muhammad Yaqub   Pakistan 53.1
20 Keiji Ogushi   Japan 53.2
21 Ulisses dos Santos   Brazil 53.8
22 Ovidio de Jesús   Puerto Rico 54.0
Marcel Lambrechts   Belgium 54.0
24 Amadeo Francis   Puerto Rico 54.3
25 Pablo Somblingo   Philippines 54.5
26 Tsai Cheng-Fu   Republic of China 54.6
27 Kalim Khawaja Ghani   Pakistan 55.1
28 Jagdev Singh   India 55.2

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's 400 metres Hurdles". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "400 metres Hurdles, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 12 January 2021.