1900 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 400 m hurdles (men)

sport	athletics
discipline	400 meter hurdles
gender	Men
place	Croix Catelan
Attendees	11 athletes from 5 countries
Competition phase	14./15. July 1900
Medalist
gold	Walter Tewksbury ( USA )
silver	Henri Tauzin ( FRA )
bronze	George Orton ( CAN )

Olympic champion Walter Tewksbury, USA, also winner over 200 meters , second over 60 and 100 meters and third over 200 meter hurdles

The 400-meter hurdles of the men at the Olympics in Paris in 1900 was on 15 July 1900 at the Croix Catelan decided. The day before, there had been two preliminary runs, from each of which two runners reached the final. The competition was added to the Olympic program in Paris.

The American Walter Tewksbury was Olympic champion ahead of the French Henri Tauzin . Third place went to the Canadian George Orton .

The competition is not to be equated with later hurdles over the same route. The "hurdles" consisted of 8 to 9 meter long poles - presumably telephone poles, which were placed at a height of one meter across the railway. There was also a ditch about half a meter deep on the home straight. There are contradicting statements about its width and about whether it was filled with water. In this respect, the reliable comparability of the following records must remain questionable.

Records

The unofficial world record named here was set over 440  yards , which corresponds to 402.336 meters. Since the 400-meter hurdles were held here for the first time at the Olympic Games, there was still no Olympic record .

World record	57.2 s	Great Britain	Godfrey Shaw	August 12, 1891

The following records were broken or set in the 400 meter hurdles at these Olympic Games:

OR	61.0 s	United States	Walter Tewksbury	1st preliminary, July 14th
	60.2 s	France	Henri Tauzin	2nd preliminary, July 14th
	57.6 s	United States	Walter Tewksbury	Final run, July 15th

The French Olympic runner-up Henri Tauzin

The Canadian obstacle specialist George Orton becomes Olympic Knight

Results

Prelims

There were two preliminary runs, from each of which two runners - highlighted in color - reached the final. However, it remains a mystery why there were only five participants, because it would have been possible to hold the final with all the starters without any problems. In the end, only one runner was eliminated and, curiously, the second preliminary run was occupied by only two athletes who, regardless of the time, only had to cross the finish line to reach the final.

Forward 1

space	Surname	country	Time (s)
1	Walter Tewksbury	United States	61.0	OR
2	William Lewis	United States	unknown	9 m back
3	Karel Nedvěd	Bohemia	unknown

There is a small difference in the Megede , who lists 61.2 seconds as the winning time.

Forward 2

space	Surname	country	Time (s)
1	Henri Tauzin	France	60.2	OR
2	George Orton	Canada	60.4	estimated

Tauzin just won the run against Orton. The time of the runner-up comes from zur Megede .

final

William Lewis did not start at the finals, which were held on a Sunday.

space	Surname	country	Time (s)
1	Walter Tewksbury	United States	57.6	OR
2	Henri Tauzin	France	58.2	estimated
3	George Orton	Canada	unknown
?	William Lewis	United States	DNS ?

Internationally, this competition was something new, in France, on the other hand, national championships over 400 meter hurdles had been held since 1893. The multiple French master Henri Tauzin was universally considered a favorite. But despite a hurdle technique that was sophisticated for the time, he had to admit defeat to the significantly higher basic speed of Walter Tewksbury. According to SportsReference, Tewskbury had a lead of five  yards over Tauzin, who in turn was four yards ahead of Orton. The time of the runner-up comes from zur Megede .

The information about William Lewis, who actually qualified for the final, differ. In Sports Reference is stated that the runner on religious grounds renounced a start because the race was held on a Sunday. On the IOC side and also at the Megede, however , the American is named fourth.

literature

• Volker Kluge , Olympic Summer Games - The Chronicle I, Berlin 1997 ( ISBN 3-328-00715-6 )
• Ekkehard zur Megede , The history of Olympic athletics, Volume 1: 1896–1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970

Web links

• SportsReference, Athletics at the 1900 Paris Summer Games: Men's 400 meters Hurdles , accessed July 22, 2018
• Olympic Games Paris 1900, Athletics, 400m hurdles men , IOC website on athletics at the 1900 Olympic Games from olympic.org, English, accessed on 22 July 2018

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Description of the obstacles in Volker Kluge cited from personal information from Kraenzlein, in: Volker Kluge , Olympische Sommerspiele - Die Chronik I, Berlin 1997 ( ISBN 3-328-00715-6 )
2. ↑ ^{a b} Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896–1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, p. 36