Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles

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Men's 400 metres hurdles
at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Akii-Bua 1972.jpg
John Akii-Bua
Venue Olympiastadion
Dates31 August 1972 & 2 September 1972
Competitors37 from 25 nations
Winning time47.82 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg John Akii-Bua
Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda
Silver medal icon.svg Ralph Mann
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg David Hemery
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
  1968
1976  

The men's 400 metres hurdles was an event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The competition was held on 31 August - 2 September. [1] There were 37 competitors from 25 nations. [2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by John Akii-Bua of Uganda, the nation's first medal in the event and first gold medal in any Olympic event. Ralph Mann returned the United States to the podium after a one-Games absence with his silver medal, while David Hemery added a bronze to his 1968 gold to become the fifth man (and first non-American) to earn multiple medals in the event while extending Great Britain's podium streak in the 400 metres hurdles to three Games.

Contents

Background

This was the 15th 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.

Four of the eight finalists from the 1968 Games returned: gold medalist David Hemery and bronze medalist John Sherwood of Great Britain, seventh-place finisher Rainer Schubert of West Germany, and eighth-place finisher Roberto Frinolli of Italy. Hemery was one of the favorites, along with Ralph Mann of the United States, who had won the American championship from 1969 to 1971 as well as the U.S. trials. Uganda's John Akii-Bua had run the fastest time in 1971, but had little competitive experience. [2]

Madagascar, Nigeria, and Spain each made their debut in the event; East Germany competed separately for the first time. The United States made its 15th appearance, the only nation to have competed at every edition of the event to that point.

Competition format

The competition used the three-round format used every Games since 1908 (except the four-round competition in 1952): 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 standard.

There were 5 quarterfinal heats with 7 or 8 athletes each. The top 3 men in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals, along with the next fastest hurdler overall. The 16 semifinalists were divided into 2 semifinals of 8 athletes each, with the top 4 in each semifinal advancing to the 8-man final. [2]

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World recordFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  David Hemery  (GBR)48.1 Mexico City, Mexico 15 October 1968
Olympic recordFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  David Hemery  (GBR)48.1 Mexico City, Mexico 15 October 1968

John Akii-Bua was the first to run the event in under 48 seconds, setting a new world record in the final with a time of 47.82 seconds.

Schedule

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

DateTimeRound
Thursday, 31 August 197210:00Quarterfinals
Friday, 1 September 197214:30Semifinals
Saturday, 2 September 197216:15Final

Results

Quarterfinals

The top three runners in each of the five heats (blue) and the next fastest (green), advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Dieter Büttner Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 49.78Q
2 Viktor Savchenko Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 49.90Q
3 Jean-Pierre Corval Flag of France.svg  France 50.15Q
4 Tadeusz Kulczycki Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 50.19q
5 Manuel Soriano Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 50.88
6 Fatwell Kimaiyo Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 51.23
7 Roberto Frinolli Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 51.69
8 Jean-Aimé Randrianalijaona Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar 52.75

Quarterfinal 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 David Hemery Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 49.72Q
2 Gary Knoke Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 50.10Q
3 Yuriy Zorin Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 50.35Q
4 Bill Koskei Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 50.58
5 Giorgio Ballati Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 50.90
6 José Jacinto Hidalgo Flag of Venezuela (1954-2006).png  Venezuela 54.00
7 Norman Brinkworth Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 54.67

Quarterfinal 3

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Christian Rudolph Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 50.00Q
2 Ralph Mann Flag of the United States.svg  United States 50.18Q
3 Rainer Schubert Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 50.23Q
4 Ari Salin Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 50.45
5 Jean-Pierre Perrinelle Flag of France.svg  France 51.81
6 José Carvalho Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 52.64
7 Hassan Bergaoui Pre-1999 Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia 53.70

Quarterfinal 4

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 John Akii-Bua Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 50.35Q
2 Stavros Tziortzis Flag of Greece (1970-1975).svg  Greece 50.54Q
3 Ivan Daniš Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 50.62Q
4 Bruce Field Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 51.46
5 Hansjörg Wirz Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 52.34
6 Dick Bruggeman Flag of the United States.svg  United States 54.36
7 Julio Ferrer Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico 54.83
Francisco Rojas Soto Flag of Paraguay (1954-1988).svg  Paraguay DNS

Quarterfinal 5

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Yevgeny Gavrilenko Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 49.73Q
2 Jim Seymour Flag of the United States.svg  United States 49.81Q
3 Rolf Ziegler Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 50.17Q
4 Roger Johnson Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 50.48
5 Mike Murei Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 51.63
6 Lee Chung-Ping Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Republic of China 52.61
7 Gladstone Agbamu Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria 53.68
John Sherwood Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain DNF

Semifinals

The top four in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.

Semifinal 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 John Akii-Bua Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 49.25Q
2 Ralph Mann Flag of the United States.svg  United States 49.53Q
3 David Hemery Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 49.66Q
4 Rainer Schubert Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 49.80Q
5 Rolf Ziegler Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 49.88
6 Ivan Daniš Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 50.01
7 Viktor Savchenko Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 50.28
8 Jean-Pierre Corval Flag of France.svg  France 50.75

Semifinal 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Jim Seymour Flag of the United States.svg  United States 49.33Q
2 Yevgeny Gavrilenko Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 49.34Q
3 Yuriy Zorin Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 49.60Q
4 Stavros Tziortzis Flag of Greece (1970-1975).svg  Greece 50.06Q
5 Tadeusz Kulczycki Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 50.80
6 Gary Knoke Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 52.79
Christian Rudolph Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany DNF
Dieter Büttner Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany DNF

Final

RankLaneAthleteNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg1 John Akii-Bua Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 47.82 WR
Silver medal icon.svg6 Ralph Mann Flag of the United States.svg  United States 48.51
Bronze medal icon.svg5 David Hemery Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 48.52
44 Jim Seymour Flag of the United States.svg  United States 48.64
57 Rainer Schubert Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 49.65
62 Yevgeny Gavrilenko Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 49.66
8 Stavros Tziortzis Flag of Greece (1970-1975).svg  Greece 49.66
83 Yuriy Zorin Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 50.25

Results summary

RankAthleteNationQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalNotes
Gold medal icon.svg John Akii-Bua Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 50.3549.2547.82 WR
Silver medal icon.svg Ralph Mann Flag of the United States.svg  United States 50.1849.5348.51
Bronze medal icon.svg David Hemery Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 49.7249.6648.52
4 Jim Seymour Flag of the United States.svg  United States 49.8149.3348.64
5 Rainer Schubert Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 50.2349.8049.65
6 Yevgeny Gavrilenko Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 49.7349.3449.66
Stavros Tziortzis Flag of Greece (1970-1975).svg  Greece 50.5450.0649.66
8 Yuriy Zorin Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 50.3549.6050.25
9 Rolf Ziegler Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 50.1749.88Did not advance
10 Ivan Daniš Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 50.6250.01
11 Viktor Savchenko Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 49.9050.28
12 Jean-Pierre Corval Flag of France.svg  France 50.1550.75
13 Tadeusz Kulczycki Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 50.1950.80
14 Gary Knoke Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 50.1052.79
15 Christian Rudolph Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 50.00DNF
Dieter Büttner Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 49.78DNF
17 Ari Salin Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 50.45Did not advance
18 Roger Johnson Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 50.48
19 Bill Koskei Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 50.58
20 Manuel Soriano Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain 50.88
21 Giorgio Ballati Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 50.90
22 Fatwell Kimaiyo Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 51.23
23 Bruce Field Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 51.46
24 Mike Murei Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 51.63
25 Roberto Frinolli Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 51.69
26 Jean-Pierre Perrinelle Flag of France.svg  France 51.81
27 Hansjörg Wirz Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 52.34
28 Lee Chung-Ping Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Republic of China 52.61
29 José Carvalho Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 52.64
30 Jean-Aimé Randrianalijaona Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar 52.75
31 Gladstone Agbamu Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria 53.68
32 Hassan Bergaoui Pre-1999 Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia 53.70
33 José Jacinto Hidalgo Flag of Venezuela (1954-2006).png  Venezuela 54.00
34 Dick Bruggeman Flag of the United States.svg  United States 54.36
35 Norman Brinkworth Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 54.67
36 Julio Ferrer Flag of Puerto Rico (1952-1995).svg  Puerto Rico 54.83
37 John Sherwood Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain DNF
Francisco Rojas Soto Flag of Paraguay (1954-1988).svg  Paraguay DNS

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References

  1. "Athletics at the 1972 Munich Summer Games: Men's 400 metres Hurdles". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "400 metres Hurdles, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 January 2021.