1912 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 400 m (men)

sport	athletics
discipline	400 meter run
gender	Men
Attendees	49 athletes from 16 countries
Competition location	Stockholm Olympic Stadium
Competition phase	July 12, 1912 (preliminary round / semi-finals) July 13, 1912 (final)
Medalist Charles Reidpath ( USA )   Hanns Braun ( DEU )   Edward Lindberg ( USA )

The men's 400-meter race at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm was held on July 12th and 13th, 1912 in the Stockholm Olympic Stadium. 49 athletes took part.

The American Charles Reidpath became Olympic champion . The German Hanns Braun won the silver medal. Bronze went to Edward Lindberg (USA).

While the German athletes Max Herrmann , Heinrich Burkowitz , Erich Lehmann and Heinrich Wenseler failed in their preliminary runs, Jakob Person made it to the semifinals.

The Austrian Władysław Ponurski was also eliminated in the preliminary run. Swiss athletes were not at the start.

Existing records

World record	Maxie Long ( USA )	47.8 s (races over 440 yards)	new York	29th September 1900
Olympic record	Wyndham Neck Shaft ( Great Britain )	48.4 s (track with a length of 536 m)	London	July 22, 1908

Long's world record was retrospectively recognized after the founding of the IAAF World Athletics Federation in 1912.

Conducting the competition

A total of 15 preliminary runs were carried out on July 12th. The athletes who finished in the first two places qualified for the semi-finals, which were held on the same day. In each of the five races, only the winners qualified for the final on July 13th.

Note: The runners qualified for the next round are highlighted in light blue.

Prelims

Date: July 12, 2012

The first two runners qualified for the semi-finals.

The times of the individual starters are not completely recorded.

Like over 100 and 200 meters , the divisions in the heats were poorly organized. Some races were carried out with only two participants, who of course both had to get ahead beforehand, while other runs were carried out with up to six participants. A preliminary run was even carried out with only one athlete.

Forward 1

Charles Poulenard (FRA)

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	James Rosenberger	United States	50.6 s
2	Charles Poulenard	France	50.7 s
3	Wladyslaw Ponurski	Austria	k. A.
DNF	Claude Ross	Australasia

Forward 2

Mel Sheppard (USA)

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Ernest Haley	Great Britain	1: 06.6 min
2	Mel Sheppard	United States	1: 06.6 min

Forward 3

The US athlete Ted Meredith took the lead after the start, but Hanns Braun was able to beat him on the home straight. Meredith was a meter behind.

Ted Meredith (USA)

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Hanns Braun	German Empire	50.6 s
2	Ted Meredith	United States	k. A.
3	Armando Cortesão	Portugal	k. A.

Forward 4

Yahiko Mishima was able to maintain the lead at the start of the race, but Swede Paul Zerling passed him and won.

Pre-run 4: Swede Paul Zerling (r.) Wins ahead of Japanese Yahiko Mishima (l.)

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Paul Zerling	Sweden	55.4 s
2	Yahiko Mishima	Japan	55.5 s

Forward 5

Charles Lelong celebrated a start-to-finish victory. The second-placed Donnell Young was able to keep his opponents in check and reached the semi-finals.

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Charles Lelong	France	50.2 s
2	Donnell Young	United States	50.4 s
3	István Déván	Hungary	k. A.
4th	Gustav Möller	Sweden	k. A.

Forward 6

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Knut Stenborg	Sweden	1: 01.6 min

Forward 7

Carroll Haff and Emilio Lunghi fought a duel over the entire race. The American, who took the lead after the first corner, held his own ahead of the Italian.

Emilio Lunghi (ITA)

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Carroll Haff	United States	50.4 s
2	Emilio Lunghi	Italy	50.5 s
3	Max Herrmann	German Empire	k. A.

Forward 8

Malfait took the lead in the first corner but was overtaken by Dahlin. Until shortly before the end it looked like a Swedish victory, but the Hungarian Wiesner overtook the Swede in the final sprint.

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Frigyes Wiesner	Hungary	50.8 s
2	John Dahlin	Sweden	51.0 s
3	Georges Malfait	France	k. A.

Forward 9

Eric Lindholm was in last place after the 100 meters, but passed his opponent in the last corner and won.

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Eric Lindholm	Sweden	51.4 s
2	Jacob Pedersen	Norway	51.6 s
3	Heinrich Burkowitz	German Empire	51.7 s
4th	Václav Labík-Gregan	Bohemia	k. A.

Forward 10

Edward Lindberg took the lead from the start, but was pushed hard by James Soutter. Lindberg was able to maintain his small lead until the end and narrowly won.

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Edward Lindberg	United States	50.6 s
2	James Soutter	Great Britain	k. A.
3	Franco Giongo	Italy	k. A.

Forward 11

A three-way battle between Mel Brock, Clarence Edmundson and Ernest Henley continued until the home straight. In the final sprint, the American was able to defeat his opponents.

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Clarence Edmundson	United States	50.2 s
2	Ernest Henley	Great Britain	k. A.
3	Mel Brock	Canada	k. A.
4th	Pyotr Gaevsky	Russia	k. A.

Forward 12

Ira Davenport, who was considered a high favorite, took the race leisurely, leaving the victory to British George Nicol, who achieved the fastest time of all lead times.

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	George Nicol	Great Britain	50.0 s
2	Ira Davenport	United States	k. A.
3	Thomas Gallon	Canada	k. A.
4th	Erich Lehmann	German Empire	k. A.
5	Georges Rolot	France	k. A.
6th	Ödön Bodor	Hungary	k. A.

Forward 13

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Jacob person	German Empire	55.4 s
2	Joseph Wells	Great Britain	1: 01.2 min

Forward 14

Cyril Seedhouse controlled the pace. The Norwegian Alexander Pedersen was disqualified because of his disability.

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Cyril Seedhouse	Great Britain	51.5 s
2	Ervin Szerelemhegyi	Hungary	k. A.
DSQ	Alexander Pedersen	Norway

Forward 15

Charles Reidpath controlled the race over 300 meters. At the exit of the last corner he let George Patching pull.

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	George Patching	South African Union	51.1 s
2	Charles Reidpath	United States	51.2 s
3	Heinrich Wenseler	German Empire	k. A.
4th	Alan Patterson	Great Britain	k. A.
5	Robert Schurrer	France	k. A.

Semifinals

Olympic Champion Charles Reidpath (USA)

Date: July 12, 2012

Only the winners qualified for the final.

As in the preliminary stages, only a few times are transmitted.

Run 1

Charles Reidpath immediately picked up the pace and took the lead. After the first corner, Charles Poulenard was in second place, but was quickly overtaken by George Nicol. Reidpath was able to control the race and won with the fastest semifinal time ahead of his compatriot Edmundson.

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Charles Reidpath	United States	48.7 s
2	Clarence Edmundson	United States	k. A.
3	George Nicol	Great Britain	k. A.
4th	Frigyes Wiesner	Hungary	k. A.
5	Charles Poulenard	France	k. A.
DNS	John Dahlin	Sweden

Run 2

Edward Lindberg won superiorly. The second, Eric Lindholm, achieved the best time of a Swedish runner with 50.2 seconds.

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Edward Lindberg	United States	48.9 s
2	Eric Lindholm	Sweden	50.2 s
3	Charles Lelong	France	k. A.
DNF	Jacob person	German Empire
	Cyril Seedhouse	Great Britain
	Joseph Wells	Great Britain

Run 3

Mel Sheppard took the lead and was able to maintain it until the last corner. There Ted Meredith passed him and narrowly won.

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Ted Meredith	United States	48.8 s
2	Mel Sheppard	United States	48.9 s
3	George Patching	South African Union	50.5 s
4th	Knut Stenborg	Sweden	50.5 s
5	Jacob Pedersen	Norway	k. A.
DNF	Ernest Henley	Great Britain

Run 4

Carroll Haff won, the rest of the field couldn't follow him.

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Carroll Haff	United States	49.7 s
2	Emilio Lunghi	Italy	k. A.
3	Ervin Szerelemhegyi	Hungary	k. A.
DNF	Ernest Haley	Great Britain
	James Rosenberger	United States
	Yahiko Mishima	Japan

Run 5

The American Donnell Young was quickly in the lead, but was irritated when Hanns Braun appeared to his right. Young bumped into the German, who was pushed outwards. Although the referees indicated that the US athlete was disqualified, Young continued to run and crossed the finish line first, with Braun in second place. Young was now officially disqualified and Braun moved into the final.

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Hanns Braun	German Empire	49.2 s
2	Ira Davenport	United States	k. A.
3	James Soutter	Great Britain	k. A.
4th	Paul Zerling	Sweden	k. A.
DSQ	Donnell Young	United States

final

Crossing the finish line in the final: Reidpath (2nd from left) wins ahead of Braun (2nd from right) and Lindberg (left). In the background Meredith (r.) And Haff (center)

After three false starts, the starting field started the race. The organizers had laid lane markings to prevent further incidents with disabilities such as in the semifinals. Ted Meredith took the lead in the first corner, followed by Hanns Braun. After 200 meters, Braun picked up the pace and took the lead. From the middle of the second bend, Reidpath, who was still second, slowly came closer and closer to Braun and finally overtook him in the last 15 meters. Reidpath secured victory with a new Olympic record. The old record was also beaten by Braun, who was half a meter ahead of Edward Lindberg. Ted Meredith crossed the finish line five meters behind.

In the fifth Olympic final over 400 meters , Charles Reidpath was the fourth American to win.

After only one finalist had contested the race in 1908 , a full race took place here again, in which all finalists stayed below 50 seconds for the first time.

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Charles Reidpath	United States	48.2 s	OR '
2	Hanns Braun	German Empire	48.3 s
3	Edward Lindberg	United States	48.4 s
4th	Ted Meredith	United States	49.2 s
5	Carroll Haff	United States	49.5 s

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896-1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, pp 101-103

Video

• Charles Reidpath , published August 3, 2016 on youtube.com, accessed August 25, 2017

Web links

• SportsReference 400m , accessed August 25, 2017
• Official report , English (PDF), accessed on August 25, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009 page 548 ( Memento from June 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
2. ↑ Description of the preliminary steps in the official report, pp. 357–358 ( Memento of the original dated February 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) 
3. ↑ Description of the semi-finals in the official report, pp. 359–360 ( Memento of the original from February 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) 
4. ↑ Description of the semi-finals in the official report, p. 360 ( Memento of the original from February 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)