Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

Men's 400 metres
at the Games of the XVII Olympiad
VenueOlympic Stadium
Dates3–6 September
Competitors59 from 44 nations
Medalists
 Otis Davis  United States
 Carl Kaufmann  Germany
 Malcolm Spence  South Africa
Official Video Highlights
Athletics at the
1960 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m   men   women
200 m men women
400 m men
800 m men women
1500 m men
5000 m men
10,000 m men
80 m hurdles women
110 m hurdles men
400 m hurdles men
3000 m
steeplechase		 men
4×100 m relay men women
4×400 m relay men
Road events
Marathon men
20 km walk men
50 km walk men
Field events
Long jump men women
Triple jump men
High jump men women
Pole vault men
Shot put men women
Discus throw men women
Javelin throw men women
Hammer throw men
Combined events
Decathlon men

These are the official results of the Men's 400 metres event at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. The competition was held on September 3, 1960 and to on September 6, 1960. 59 competitors from 44 nations entered, but participated 54 competitors from 41 nations.

This race was settled via photo finish using one of the first experimental attempts at fully automatic timing. Carl Kaufmann made a diving lunge at the finish line, his head crossing the line first. But it is the torso that counts and Otis Davis, running upright had his body ahead of Kaufmann. After a suspenseful pause, Davis was ruled the winner. The photo made further famous after being published in Life Magazine.[1][2] In fourth place, Milkha Singh ran the Indian national record that lasted 44 years until the 2004 Olympics.[3]

There is potential confusion with two athletes in the competition named Malcolm Spence, both qualifying to the second semifinal. The (one year) younger Malcolm Spence representing South Africa eventually netted the Bronze medal, while the senior Malcolm Spence from Jamaica, shortened his name to "Mal" while representing the British West Indies, achieved a Bronze as part of their 4x400 metres relay, one second ahead of the 4th place South African team.

In the final, South African Malcolm Spence took off hard from the gun, making up the stagger and passing Milkha Singh to his outside before the second turn. Through the second turn, Otis Davis gained ground strongly, passing Spence to his outside halfway through the turn, emerging onto the home straight with the lead, two lanes inside of him Carl Kaufmann also gained on the turn and emerged slightly ahead of Spence. Kaufmann gained steadily on Davis but never caught him, desperately diving at the finish line from a half meter back but unable to get more than his head ahead of Davis. Singh was the best of the rest, holding his own the second half of the race against the initial lead of Spence, but unable to gain much ground. Ultimately Spence held on for bronze.

Results

First round

The top three runners in each of the 9 heats advanced.

First round, heat 1

Place Athlete Nation Time

date/time[4]

1 Manfred Kinder Germany 46.7 seconds
2 Edgar Davis South Africa 47.2 seconds
3 Malcolm Yardley Great Britain 47.3 seconds
4 Josef Trousil Czechoslovakia 47.4 seconds
5 John Asare-Antwi Ghana 47.7 seconds
6 Kimitada Hayase Japan 49.1 seconds
7 Habib Sayed Afghanistan 53.8 seconds

First round, heat 2

Place Athlete Nation Time
1 Alf Pettersson Sweden 48.3 seconds
2 Robbie Brightwell Great Britain 48.4 seconds
3 Konstantin Grachev Soviet Union 49.3 seconds
4 Felix Heuertz Luxembourg 50.2 seconds
- George Kerr British West Indies DNS
- N. Romero Venezuela DNS

First round, heat 3

Place Athlete Nation Time
1 Carl Kaufmann Germany 47.3 seconds
2 Barry Robinson New Zealand 47.6 seconds
3 Lodewijk De Clerck Belgium 47.9 seconds
4 Anubes Ferraz Da Silva Brazil 48.0 seconds
5 Csaba Csutorás Hungary 48.2 seconds
6 Hugh Bullard Bahamas 51.1 seconds

First round, heat 4

Place Athlete Nation Time
1 Malcolm Spence South Africa 46.7 seconds
2 Kevan Gosper Australia 47.1 seconds
3 Terry Tobacco Canada 47.4 seconds
4 Gadi Ado Uganda 49.0 seconds
5 Marcel Lambrechts Belgium 49.5 seconds
6 Jorge Teran Mexico 49.6 seconds
7 Brahim Karabi Tunisia 52.0 seconds

First round, heat 5

Place Athlete Nation Time
1 German Guenard Puerto Rico 47.3 seconds
2 Jerzy Kowalski Poland 48.3 seconds
3 Giuseppe Bommarito Italy 48.6 seconds
4 Li Po-Ting Republic of China 49.5 seconds
5 Clayton Glasgow British Guiana 50.7 seconds
6 George Johnson Liberia 51.4 seconds

First round, heat 6

Place Athlete Nation Time
1 Jack Yerman United States 47.2 seconds
2 Milkha Singh India 47.6 seconds
3 Stanisław Swatowski Poland 48.1 seconds
4 Manikavasagam Jegathesan Malaya 48.4 seconds
5 Iván Rodríguez Puerto Rico 49.6 seconds
6 Claro Pellosis Philippines 51.4 seconds

First round, heat 7

Place Athlete Nation Time
1 Mal Spence British West Indies 47.6 seconds
2 Earl Young United States 47.6 seconds
3 Bartonjo Rotich Kenya 47.7 seconds
4 Zdenĕk Váňa Czechoslovakia 48.3 seconds
5 Vasilios Sillis Greece 48.4 seconds
6 Manum Bumroongpruck Thailand 49.6 seconds

First round, heat 8

Place Athlete Nation Time
1 Abdul Karim Amu Nigeria 46.8 seconds
2 Gordon Day South Africa 47.1 seconds
3 Hans-Joachim Reske Germany 47.2 seconds
4 Voitto Hellstén Finland 48.4 seconds
5 Jassim Karim Kuraishi Iraq 49.2 seconds
6 Fahir Özgüden Turkey 50.7 seconds

First round, heat 9

Place Athlete Nation Time
1 Otis Davis United States 46.8 seconds
2 Jim Wedderburn British West Indies 47.4 seconds
3 John Wrighton Great Britain 47.4 seconds
4 René Weber Switzerland 47.6 seconds
5 Moussa Said Ethiopia 48.2 seconds
6 Amos Grodzinowsky Israel 48.9 seconds

Quarterfinal round

The top three in each of the 4 heats advanced.

Quarterfinal round, heat 1

Place Athlete Nation Time
1 Carl Kaufmann Germany 46.5 seconds
2 Milkha Singh India 46.5 seconds
3 Malcolm Spence British West Indies 46.9 seconds
4 Terry Tobacco Canada 47.5 seconds
5 Edgar Davis South Africa 48.0 seconds
6 Malcolm Yardley Great Britain 48.8 seconds
- Alf Pettersson Sweden DNS

Quarterfinal round, heat 2

Place Athlete Nation Time
1 Jack Yerman United States 46.4 seconds
2 Kevan Gosper Australia 46.5 seconds
3 Manfred Kinder Germany 46.7 seconds
4 Jim Wedderburn British West Indies 47.0 seconds
5 German Guenard Puerto Rico 47.2 seconds
6 John Wrighton Great Britain 48.4 seconds

Quarterfinal round, heat 3

Place Athlete Nation Time
1 Earl Young United States 46.1 seconds
2 Robbie Brightwell Great Britain 46.2 seconds
3 Gordon Day South Africa 46.3 seconds
4 Hans-Joachim Reske Germany 47.3 seconds
5 Stanisław Swatowski Poland 47.4 seconds
6 Konstantin Grachov Soviet Union 47.6 seconds
7 Bartonjo Rotich Kenya 47.8 seconds

Quarterfinal round, heat 4

Place Athlete Nation Time
1 Otis Davis United States 45.9 seconds =OR
2 Malcolm Spence South Africa 46.1 seconds
3 Abdel Karim Amu Nigeria 46.6 seconds
4 Jerzy Kowalski Poland 46.7 seconds
5 Giuseppe Bommarito Italy 47.5 seconds
6 Barry Robinson New Zealand 48.3 seconds
7 Lodewijk De Clerck Belgium 48.4 seconds

Semifinal round

The top three in each of the 4 heats advanced.

Semifinal round, heat 1

Place Athlete Nation Time
1 Otis Davis United States 45.5 seconds (45.62)
2 Milkha Singh India 45.9 seconds (46.08)
3 Manfred Kinder Germany 46.0 seconds (46.13)
4 Robbie Brightwell Great Britain 46.1 seconds (46.25)
5 Gordon Day South Africa 46.7 seconds (46.84)
6 Kevan Gosper Australia 47.1 seconds (47.28)

Semifinal round, heat 2

Place Athlete Nation Time
1 Carl Kaufmann Germany 45.7 seconds (45.88)
2 Malcolm Spence South Africa 45.8 seconds (46.01)
3 Earl Young United States 46.1 seconds (46.29)
4 Abdul Karim Amu Nigeria 46.6 seconds (46.74)
5 Mal Spence British West Indies 46.8 seconds (46.99)
6 Jack Yerman United States 48.9 seconds (48.96)

Final

Place Athlete Nation Time
1 Otis Davis United States 44.9 seconds (45.07) WR
2 Carl Kaufmann Germany 44.9 seconds (45.08) =WR
3 Malcolm Spence South Africa 45.5 seconds (45.60)
4 Milkha Singh India 45.6 seconds (45.73) NR
5 Manfred Kinder Germany 45.9 seconds (46.04)
6 Earl Young United States 45.9 seconds (46.07)

References

  1. ↑ http://speedendurance.com/2009/09/13/otis-davis-1960-400-meter-and-4x400m-olympic-champion/
  2. ↑ http://www.zoominfo.com/#!search/profile/person?personId=45985682&targetid=profile
  3. ↑ http://www.rediff.com/sports/2000/sep/08milka.htm
  4. ↑ reference needed
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