Summer Olympics 1896 / Athletics - 400 m (men)
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| sport | athletics | ||||||||
| discipline | 400 meter run | ||||||||
| gender | Men | ||||||||
| Attendees | 7 athletes from 4 countries | ||||||||
| Competition location | Panathinaic Stadium | ||||||||
| Competition phase | April 6-7, 1896 | ||||||||
| Winning time | 54.2 s | ||||||||
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 Athletics competitions at the 1896 Olympic Games |
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| 100 m | Men |
| 400 m | Men |
| 800 m | Men |
| 1500 m | Men |
| 110 m hurdles | Men |
| marathon | Men |
| Long jump | Men |
| Triple jump | Men |
| high jump | Men |
| Pole vault | Men |
| Shot put | Men |
| Discus throw | Men |
The 400-meter race of the men at the Olympic Games in 1896 was on 6 and 7 April 1896 in Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens held. According to the information from the SportsReference website below , a total of seven athletes from five nations took part; according to the literature by Ekkehard on Megede listed below , there were eleven athletes from seven countries. Five - according to SportsReference - or eight - after the Megede - of them had also taken part in the 100-meter run .
The two best runners of their time were the American Thomas Burke and the British Edgar Bredin . Bredin had equalized the six-year-old world record of his compatriot Henry Tindall in June 1895 , but was beaten by Burke in the same year in the prestigious competition between the New York Athletic Club and the London Athletic Club . In early 1896, Bredin decided to continue his career as a professional athlete, which meant that he was no longer eligible to compete in Athens . So Burke came as a favorite.
In the Panathinaiko Stadium, the athletes had to run a little more than one lap. There were no lanes separating the runners.
Records
The following list includes the world records before the Olympics. They are all unofficial records. They were set up over a distance of 440 yards - that's 402.336 meters.
| World record |
Henry Tindall ( Great Britain )
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48.5 s | London , UK | June 28, 1889 |
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Edgar Bredin ( Great Britain )
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48.5 s | London , UK | June 22, 1895 |
The following Olympic records were set during the competition:
| Olympic record |
Herbert Jamison ( United States )
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56.8 s | April 6, 1896 |
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Thomas Burke ( United States )
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54.2 s | April 7, 1896 |
Time schedule
| Prelims | Monday April 6th | |
| final | Tuesday April 7th | 3:30 p.m. |
Results
Prelims
April 6, 1896
Two preliminary runs were scheduled. The two best placed in each heat - highlighted in light green - qualified for the final.
As with many other competitions, different results are presented in the various sources mentioned below. For comparison, the results are compared in the tables listed.
Forward 1
According to SportsReference , Doerry and Grisel caused a false start on the first attempt and had to line up about two meters behind Jamison and Hofmann on the second start as a penalty. In the presentation by zur Megede , it was Hofmann who had to go back two meters after a false start. Hofmann then took action very quickly and caught up with the leading Jamison, but had to let the American go down the home straight. In any case, Jamison won the heat easily with about twelve meters ahead of Hofmann.
Result according to SportsReference
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Result to the Megede
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Forward 2
Although tired from the short run over 100 meters, the favorite Burke clearly prevailed. At the finish the lead over the Briton Gmelin was about 13½ meters. Gmelin beat Reichel by about eleven meters. According to SportsReference , only the times of the first two were taken, the third is estimated. As before, zur Megede states that the values given from second place onwards were estimated.
Result according to SportsReference
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Result to the Megede
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final
April 7, 1896, 3:30 p.m.
Burke ran more than four seconds faster than the day before and also improved the Olympic record set by his compatriot Jamison the previous day by 2.6 seconds. At the finish he was 7½ meters ahead of Jamison. Third place was secured by SportsReference and also according to the IOC Gmelin website mentioned below, one foot ahead of Hofmann. According to information from zur Megede , however, Hofmann reached third place, Gmelin came fourth.
As with the preliminary runs, according to SportsReference, the times of the two first-placed values are taken, while according to the Megede , estimates were made from second place.
Result according to SportsReference
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Result to the Megede
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literature
- Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896–1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, p. 17
Web links
- SportsReference, Men's 400 meters , accessed July 13, 2018
- Olympic Games Athens 1896, Athletics, 400m men , IOC website on athletics at the Olympic Games 1896 at olympic.org, English, accessed July 13, 2018
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