1984 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 400 m (men)

sport	athletics
discipline	400 meter run
gender	Men
Attendees	80 athletes from 56 countries
Competition location	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Competition phase	August 4, 1984 (preliminary round) August 5, 1984 (quarter-finals) August 6, 1984 (semi-finals) August 8, 1984 (final)
Medalist Alonzo Babers ( USA )   Gabriel Tiacoh ( CIV )   Antonio McKay ( USA )

Olympic Champion Alonzo Babers (USA)

The men's 400-meter run at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles was held on August 4, 5, 6 and 8, 1984 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum . 80 athletes took part.

The US athlete Alonzo Babers became Olympic champion . He won ahead of the Ivorian Gabriel Tiacoh and the American Antonio McKay .

The Federal Republic of Germany was represented by Erwin Skamrahl , who survived the preliminary round as the winner of his run, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals.
The Swiss Marcel Arnold also failed in the quarter-finals.
Runners from Austria and Liechtenstein did not take part. Athletes from the GDR were also not there because of the Olympic boycott.

Current title holders

Olympic champion 1980	Viktor Markin ( Soviet Union )	44.60 s	Moscow 1980
World Champion 1983	Bert Cameron ( Jamaica )	45.05 s	Helsinki 1983
European Champion 1982	Hartmut Weber ( Federal Republic of Germany )	44.72 s	Athens 1982
Pan American Champion 1983	Cliff Wiley ( USA )	45.02 s	Caracas 1983
Central America and Caribbean Champion 1983	Lázaro Martínez ( Cuba )	45.91 s	Havana 1983
South America Champion 1983	Sérgio Menezes ( Brazil )	46.8 s	Santa Fe 1983
Asian champion 1983	Isidro des Prado ( Philippines )	46.24 s	Kuwait City 1983
African champions 1982	Amadou Dia Ba ( Senegal )	45.8 s	Cairo 1982

Existing records

World record	43.86 s	Lee Evans ( USA )	Mexico City , Mexico	October 18, 1968
Olympic record			Mexico City Final , Mexico

Preliminary round

Date: August 4, 1984

The 80 participants were drawn in ten runs. The first three athletes per run qualified for the quarter-finals. Furthermore, the two fastest drivers, the so-called lucky losers , advanced. The directly qualified athletes are highlighted in light blue, the lucky losers in light green.

At 17 years old, Dawda Jallow from Gambia was the youngest participant. The oldest starter was Joseph Rodan from Fiji at the age of 33 .

The American Sunder Nix achieved the fastest lead time with 45.42 s in run 7. The slowest directly qualified athlete was Gérson de Souza from Brazil in run 3 with 48.02 s. The fastest athlete who could not qualify was the Egyptian Nafee Mersal, who retired in the sixth run with 46.46 s.

Forward 1

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Davison Lishebo	Zambia	46.20 s
2	David Peltier	Barbados	46.57 s
3	Allan Ingraham	Bahamas	46.72 s
4th	Boubacar Diallo	Senegal	46.73 s
5	Dean Greenaway	British Virgin Islands	47.33 s
6th	Evaldo Rosa Silva	Brazil	47.55 s
7th	Ibrahim Okash	Somalia	47.91 s
8th	Issaka Hassane	Chad	49.64 s

Forward 2

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Gabriel Tiacoh	Ivory Coast	45.96 s
2	David Kitur	Kenya	46.25 s
3	Marcel Arnold	Switzerland	46.46 s
4th	Gary Minihan	Australia	46.93 s
5	Nordin Mohamed Jadi	Malaysia	47.12 s
6th	Lauri Tommy Johansson	Sweden	47.77 s
7th	Daniel André	Mauritius	49.09 s
8th	Faustin Butéra	Rwanda	51.41 s

Forward 3

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Innocent Egbunike	Nigeria	46.63 s
2	Mark Senior	Jamaica	46.73 s
3	Gérson de Souza	Brazil	47.02 s
4th	Manuel Ramírez-Caicedo	Colombia	47.17 s
5	Brian Saunders	Canada	47.40 s
6th	Mohamed Amer Al-Malky	Oman	47.61 s
7th	Meesaq Rizvi	Pakistan	49.58 s
DSQ	Secundino Borabota	Equatorial Guinea

Forward 4

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Bert Cameron	Jamaica	46.14 s
2	Oddur Sigurðsson	Iceland	46.30 s
3	Douglas Hinds	Canada	46.42 s
4th	Richard Louis	Barbados	46.70 s
5	Jean Didace Bemou	People's Republic of the Congo	47.26 s
6th	Hector Llatser	France	47.30 s
7th	Phillip Pipersburg	Belize	48.04 s
8th	Alberto López Davila	Guatemala	52.21 s

Forward 5

Finish of the fifth run: In the foreground on lane 7 Alonzo Babers (USA), on lane 3 Michael Paul (TTO), on lane 2 Philip Brown (GBR) and on lane 1 Moses Kyeswa (UGA)

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Alonzo Babers	United States	45.81 s
2	Michael Paul	Trinidad and Tobago	46.18 s
3	Philip Brown	Great Britain	46.26 s
4th	Moses Kyeswa	Uganda	46.78 s
5	Timothy Bethune	Canada	46.98 s
6th	Joseph Ramotshabi	Botswana	48.11 s
7th	Dawda Jallow	Gambia	48.36 s
8th	René López Escobar	El Salvador	48.71 s

Forward 6

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Bruce Frayne	Australia	46.08 s
2	Aldo Canti	France	46.14 s
3	Susumu Takano	Japan	46.26 s
4th	Nafee Mersal	Egypt	46.46 s
5	Alfred Browne	Antigua and Barbuda	47.29 s
6th	Rashed Al-Jirbi	United Arab Emirates	48.71s
7th	Siegfried Cruden	Suriname	50.07 s
DNF	Hassan El-Kashief	Sudan

Forward 7

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Sunder Nothing	United States	45.42 s
2	Elvis Forde	Barbados	45.47 s
3	Antonio Sánchez	Spain	46.03 s
4th	Anton Skerritt	Trinidad and Tobago	46.30 s
5	James Atuti	Kenya	47.04 s
6th	Adjé Adjeoda Vignon	Togo	47.43 s
7th	Lapule Tamean	Papua New Guinea	47.60 s
8th	Pushpa Raj Ojha	Kingdom of Nepal	52.12 s

Forward 8

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Antonio McKay	United States	45.55 s
2	John Anzrah	Kenya	46.12 s
3	Isidro del Prado	Philippines	46.82 s
4th	Leonardo Loforte	Mozambique	47.07 s
5	Joseph Rodan	Fiji	49.00 s
6th	Agripa Mwausegha	Malawi	49.12 s
7th	Charles Moses	Ghana	50.39 s
DNF	Ali St. Louis	Trinidad and Tobago

Forward 9

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Erwin Skamrahl	BR Germany	45.94 s
2	Ángel Heras	Spain	46.06 s
3	Todd Bennett	Great Britain	46.09 s
4th	Yann Quentrec	France	46.94 s
5	Wilson David dos Santos	Brazil	47.55 s
6th	Mark Handelsman	Israel	48.17 s
7th	Christopher Madzokere	Zimbabwe	48.49 s
8th	Arsène Randriamahazomana	Madagascar	48.86 s

Forward 10

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Kriss Akabusi	Great Britain	45.64 s
2	Darren Clark	Australia	45.68 s
3	Sunday Uti	Nigeria	45.74 s
4th	Devon Morris	Jamaica	45.80 s
5	Mike Okot	Uganda	46.68 s
6th	Samuel Sarkpa	Liberia	47.65 s
7th	Mama Moluh	Cameroon	48.90 s
DSQ	Vincent Confait	Seychelles

Quarter finals

Date: August 5, 1984

In each of the four quarter-finals, the first four athletes (highlighted in light blue) qualified for the semi-finals.

The American Antonio McKay ran the fastest quarter-final time in race 1 with 44.72 seconds . The slowest time of a qualifier was the 45.91 s of the Japanese Susumu Takano in run 4.

Run 1

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Antonio McKay	United States	44.72 s
2	Darren Clark	Australia	44.77 s
3	Kriss Akabusi	Great Britain	45.43 s
4th	Davison Lishebo	Zambia	45.57 s
5	John Anzrah	Kenya	45.67 s
6th	Devon Morris	Jamaica	46.14 s
7th	Allan Ingraham	Bahamas	46.14 s
8th	David Peltier	Barbados	46.48 s

Run 2

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Innocent Egbunike	Nigeria	45.26 s
2	Sunder Nothing	United States	45.31 s
3	Elvis Forde	Barbados	45.60 s
4th	Aldo Canti	France	45.64 s
5	Ángel Heras	Spain	45.88 s
6th	Marcel Arnold	Switzerland	46.10 s
7th	Philip Brown	Great Britain	46.63 s
8th	Anton Skerritt	Trinidad and Tobago	46.93 s

Run 3

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Alonzo Babers	United States	44.75 s
2	Sunday Uti	Nigeria	45.01 s
3	Bert Cameron	Jamaica	45.16 s
4th	Bruce Frayne	Australia	45.35 s
5	Todd Bennett	Great Britain	45.51 s
6th	Antonio Sánchez	Spain	45.79 s
7th	Oddur Sigurðsson	Iceland	46.07 s
8th	Douglas Hinds	Canada	46.19 s

Run 4

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Gabriel Tiacoh	Ivory Coast	45.15 s
2	David Kitur	Kenya	45.78 s
3	Michael Paul	Trinidad and Tobago	45.84 s
4th	Susumu Takano	Japan	45.91 s
5	Erwin Skamrahl	BR Germany	46.39 s
6th	Mark Senior	Jamaica	46.50 s
7th	Gérson de Souza	Brazil	46.65 s
8th	Isidro del Prado	Philippines	46.71 s

Semifinals

Date: August 6, 1984

In each of the two semi-finals, the first four (highlighted in light blue) qualified for the final.

In the second semifinals, the Jamaican Bert Cameron interrupted his run after 150 meters and - apparently in pain - performed a few hops. After 20 meters he resumed the race and actually qualified for the final.

Gabriel Tiacoh achieved the best time of the semifinals with 44.64 s in run 2.

Run 1

Gabriel Tiacoh (CIV), winner of the silver medal

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Innocent Egbunike	Nigeria	45.16 s
2	Alonzo Babers	United States	45.17 s
3	Darren Clark	Australia	45.26 s
4th	Sunder Nothing	United States	45.41 s
5	Aldo Canti	France	45.59 s
6th	Michael Paul	Trinidad and Tobago	45.60 s
7th	Kriss Akabusi	Great Britain	45.69 s
8th	Susumu Takano	Japan	45.88 s

Run 2

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Gabriel Tiacoh	Ivory Coast	44.64 s
2	Sunday Uti	Nigeria	44.83 s
3	Antonio McKay	United States	44.92 s
4th	Bert Cameron	Jamaica	45.10 s
5	Bruce Frayne	Australia	45.21 s
6th	Elvis Forde	Barbados	45.32 s
7th	David Kitur	Kenya	45.62 s
8th	Davison Lishebo	Zambia	45.97 s

Crossing the finish line of the final: With the No. 882 Olympic champion Alonzo Babers (USA), bronze medalist Antonio McKay (USA) on lane 1, the sixth-placed Sunday Uti (NGR) on lane 2

final

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Alonzo Babers	United States	44.27 s
2	Gabriel Tiacoh	Ivory Coast	44.54 s
3	Antonio McKay	United States	44.71 s
4th	Darren Clark	Australia	44.75 s
5	Sunder Nothing	United States	44.75 s
6th	Sunday Uti	Nigeria	44.93 s
7th	Innocent Egbunike	Nigeria	45.35 s

Date: August 8, 1984

All three Americans had qualified for the final. There were also two Nigerians, an Ivorian and an Australian. The qualified Jamaican Bert Cameron , the real favorite for the gold medal, had to forego the start. He injured his thigh in the second semi-final.

The Australian Darren Clark had the best start, he was ahead after the first corner. Alonzo Babers overtook him before the last corner, and Gabriel Tiacoh now also passed Clark. Babers was able to keep his high pace to the finish, Tiacoh finished second. Antonio McKay also finished ahead of Clark and won bronze. Clark stayed in fourth place ahead of third US runner Sunder Nix . The two Nigerians Sunday Uti and Innocent Egbunike placed behind Nix .

With his silver medal, Gabriel Tiacoh became the first medalist in Ivory Coast at the Olympic Games.
In the 20th Olympic final, Alonzo Babers achieved the 13th US victory.

literature

• Olympic Games 1984 Los Angeles Sarajevo with contributions by Ulrich Kaiser and Heinz Maegerlein , Eds. Manfred Vorderwülbecke , C. Bertelsmann Verlag, Munich 1984, ISBN 3-570-01851-2 , p. 16f

Web links

• SportsReference 400m , accessed January 6, 2018
• Los Angeles 1984 Official Report, 3, Results of the Games , p. 273f, English / French (PDF, 11 MB), accessed on January 6, 2018

Video

• Men's 400m Final at LA Olympics in 1984 , posted June 15, 2015 on youtube.com, accessed January 6, 2018

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Beijing 2015, page 669 , accessed on January 6, 2018
2. ↑ Los Angeles 1984 Official Report, 3, Results of the Games , p. 273, English / French (PDF, 11 MB), accessed on January 6, 2018
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Los Angeles 1984 Official Report, 3, Results of the Games , p. 274, English / French (PDF, 11 MB), accessed on January 6, 2018
4. ↑ SportsReference 400 m , accessed January 6, 2018