Athletics at the 1928 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles

The men's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1928 Olympic Games took place between July 29 & July 30.[1] There were 25 athletes from 13 nations.[2] The maximum number of athletes per nation was 4.[3] The event was won by David Burghley of Great Britain, the first time a hurdler not from the United States had won. Americans Frank Cuhel and Morgan Taylor took silver and bronze. Taylor, who had been the defending champion, was the second man to win multiple medals in the 400 metres hurdles.

Men's 400 metres hurdles
at the Games of the IX Olympiad
David Burghley
VenueOlympic Stadium
DatesJuly 29 (heats & semifinals)
July 30 (final)
Competitors25 from 13 nations
Winning time53.4 =OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) David Burghley
 Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Frank Cuhel
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Morgan Taylor
 United States
← 1924
1932 →

Background

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This was the sixth 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 1924 Games returned: gold medalist Morgan Taylor of the United States and silver medalist Erik Wilén of Finland. Taylor had won the 1924, 1925, and 1926 AAU titles and set a new world record at the U.S. Trials; he was favored in the event.[2]

India and Poland each made their debut in the event. The United States made its sixth appearance, the only nation to have competed at every edition of the event to that point.

Competition format

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The competition featured the three-round format introduced in 1908: 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 now 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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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1928 Summer Olympics.

World record   Morgan Taylor (USA) 52.0 Philadelphia, United States 4 July 1928
Olympic record   Erik Wilén (FIN) 53.8 Paris, France 7 July 1924

Morgan Taylor set a new Olympic record with 53.4 seconds in the first semifinal. David Burghley matched that time in the final.

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Sunday, 29 July 1928 14:00
17:30
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Monday, 30 July 1928 15:10 Final

Results

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Quarterfinals

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The first two finishers in each of the six heats advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 David Burghley   Great Britain 57.0 Q
2 Robert Maxwell   United States 57.2 Q
3 Evangelos Moiropoulos   Greece 58.4
4 André Adelheim   France 59.2
5 Herman Larsen   Denmark 1:00.0

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Johnny Gibson   United States 57.0 Q
2 Frederick Chauncy   Great Britain Unknown Q
3 Émile Swinnen   Belgium Unknown
Pierre Arnaudin   France DNF

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Roger Viel   France 56.2 Q
2 Thomas Livingston-Learmonth   Great Britain 56.4 Q
3 Jukka Matilainen   Finland 56.7
4 Alf Watson   Australia 57.8

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Morgan Taylor   United States 55.2 Q
2 Erkka Wilén   Finland 56.5 Q
3 Erik Kjellström   Sweden 56.6

Quarterfinal 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Sten Pettersson   Sweden 55.8 Q
2 Stefan Kostrzewski   Poland 56.0 Q
3 Lance Percival   Great Britain Unknown

Quarterfinal 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Frank Cuhel   United States 54.6 Q
2 Luigi Facelli   Italy 55.1 Q
3 Louis Lundgren   Denmark 55.9
4 Warren Montabone   Canada 56.5
5 Édouard Max-Robert   France Unknown
6 S. Abdul Hamid   India Unknown

Semifinals

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Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Morgan Taylor   United States 53.4 Q, OR
2 Frank Cuhel   United States 53.6 Q
3 David Burghley   Great Britain 53.9 Q
4 Roger Viel   France 57.6
5 Stefan Kostrzewski   Poland 58.0
6 Frederick Chauncy   Great Britain Unknown

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Thomas Livingston-Learmonth   Great Britain 54.0 Q
2 Luigi Facelli   Italy 54.2 Q
3 Sten Pettersson   Sweden 54.3 Q
4 Johnny Gibson   United States 54.4
5 Erkka Wilén   Finland 54.5
6 Robert Maxwell   United States Unknown

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
  David Burghley   Great Britain 53.4 =OR
  Frank Cuhel   United States 53.6
  Morgan Taylor   United States 53.6
4 Sten Pettersson   Sweden 53.8
5 Thomas Livingston-Learmonth   Great Britain 54.2
6 Luigi Facelli   Italy 55.8

Results summary

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Rank Athlete Nation Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Notes
  David Burghley   Great Britain 57.0 53.9 53.4 =OR
  Frank Cuhel   United States 54.6 53.6 53.6
  Morgan Taylor   United States 55.2 53.4 53.6 OR
4 Sten Pettersson   Sweden 55.8 54.3 53.8
5 Thomas Livingston-Learmonth   Great Britain 56.4 54.0 54.2
6 Luigi Facelli   Italy 55.1 54.2 55.8
7 Johnny Gibson   United States 57.0 54.4 Did not advance
8 Erkka Wilén   Finland 56.5 54.5
9 Roger Viel   France 56.2 57.6
10 Stefan Kostrzewski   Poland 56.0 58.0
11 Frederick Chauncy   Great Britain Unknown Unknown 6th in semifinal
Robert Maxwell   United States 57.2 Unknown 6th in semifinal
13 Louis Lundgren   Denmark 55.9 Did not advance
14 Warren Montabone   Canada 56.5
15 Erik Kjellström   Sweden 56.6
16 Jukka Matilainen   Finland 56.7
17 Alf Watson   Australia 57.8
18 Evangelos Moiropoulos   Greece 58.4
19 André Adelheim   France 59.2
20 Herman Larsen   Denmark 1:00.0
21 Lance Percival   Great Britain Unknown 3rd in quarterfinal
Émile Swinnen   Belgium Unknown 3rd in quarterfinal
23 Édouard Max-Robert   France Unknown 5th in quarterfinal
24 S. Abdul Hamid   India Unknown 6th in quarterfinal
25 Pierre Arnaudin   France DNF

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1928 Amsterdam Summer Games: Men's 400 metres Hurdles". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "400 metres Hurdles, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 374.