Athletics at the 1928 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles explained

Event:	Men's 400 metres hurdles
Games:	1928 Summer
Venue:	Olympic Stadium
Dates:	July 29 (heats & semifinals) July 30 (final)
Competitors:	25
Nations:	13
Longnames:	yes
Win Value:	53.4
Gold:	David Burghley
Goldnoc:	GBR
Silver:	Frank Cuhel
Silvernoc:	USA
Bronze:	Morgan Taylor
Bronzenoc:	USA
Prev:	1924
Next:	1932

The men's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1928 Olympic Games took place between July 29 & July 30.^[1] There were 25 athletes from 13 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation was 4.^[2] The event was won by David Burghley of Great Britain, the first time a hurdler not from the United States had won. Americans Frank Cuhel and Morgan Taylor took silver and bronze. Taylor, who had been the defending champion, was the second man to win multiple medals in the 400 metres hurdles.

Background

This was the sixth 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.

Two of the six finalists from the 1924 Games returned: gold medalist Morgan Taylor of the United States and silver medalist Erik Wilén of Finland. Taylor had won the 1924, 1925, and 1926 AAU titles and set a new world record at the U.S. Trials; he was favored in the event.^[3]

India and Poland each made their debut in the event. The United States made its sixth appearance, the only nation to have competed at every edition of the event to that point.

Competition format

The competition featured the three-round format introduced in 1908: 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 now standard.

There were 6 quarterfinal heats, with between 3 and 6 athletes each. The top 2 men in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals. The 12 semifinalists were divided into 2 semifinals of 6 athletes each, with the top 3 in each semifinal advancing to the 6-man final.^[3]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1928 Summer Olympics.

Morgan Taylor set a new Olympic record with 53.4 seconds in the first semifinal. David Burghley matched that time in the final.

Schedule

Date	Time	Round
Sunday, 29 July 1928	14:00 17:30	Quarterfinals Semifinals
Monday, 30 July 1928	15:10	Final

Results

Quarterfinals

The first two finishers in each of the six heats advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			57.0
2	Robert Maxwell		57.2
3	Evangelos Moiropoulos		58.4
4	André Adelheim		59.2
5	Herman Larsen		data-sort-value=60.0	1:00.0

Quarterfinal 2

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Johnny Gibson		57.0
2	Frederick Chauncy		data-sort-value=60.0	Unknown
3	Émile Swinnen		data-sort-value=70.0	Unknown
data-sort-value=4	—	Pierre Arnaudin		data-sort-value=90.0

Quarterfinal 3

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Roger Viel		56.2
2	Thomas Livingston-Learmonth		56.4
3	Jukka Matilainen		56.7
4	Alf Watson		57.8

Quarterfinal 4

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Morgan Taylor		55.2
2	Erkka Wilén		56.5
3	Erik Kjellström		56.6

Quarterfinal 5

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Sten Pettersson		55.8
2	Stefan Kostrzewski		56.0
3	Lance Percival		data-sort-value=60.0	Unknown

Quarterfinal 6

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Frank Cuhel		54.6
2	Luigi Facelli		55.1
3	Louis Lundgren		55.9
4	Warren Montabone		56.5
5	Édouard Max-Robert		data-sort-value=70.0	Unknown
6	S. Abdul Hamid		data-sort-value=80.0	Unknown

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			53.4	,
2			53.6
3			53.9
4			57.6
5			58.0
6			data-sort-value=60.0	Unknown

Semifinal 2

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			54.0
2			54.2
3			54.3
4			54.4
5			54.5
6			data-sort-value=60.0	Unknown

Final

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
			53.4
			53.6
			53.6
4			53.8
5			54.2
6			55.8

Results summary

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final	Notes
			57.0	53.9	53.4
			54.6	53.6	53.6
			55.2	53.4	53.6
4			55.8	54.3	53.8
5			56.4	54.0	54.2
6			55.1	54.2	55.8
7			57.0	54.4	Did not advance
8			56.5	54.5
9			56.2	57.6
10			56.0	58.0
11			data-sort-value=60.0	Unknown	data-sort-value=60.0	Unknown	6th in semifinal
11			57.2	data-sort-value=60.0	Unknown	6th in semifinal
13	Louis Lundgren		55.9	Did not advance
14	Warren Montabone		56.5
15	Erik Kjellström		56.6
16	Jukka Matilainen		56.7
17	Alf Watson		57.8
18	Evangelos Moiropoulos		58.4
19	André Adelheim		59.2
20	Herman Larsen		data-sort-value=60.0	1:00.0
21	Lance Percival		data-sort-value=60.0	Unknown	3rd in quarterfinal
21	Émile Swinnen		data-sort-value=60.0	Unknown	3rd in quarterfinal
23	Édouard Max-Robert		data-sort-value=70.0	Unknown	5th in quarterfinal
24	S. Abdul Hamid		data-sort-value=80.0	Unknown	6th in quarterfinal
25	Pierre Arnaudin		data-sort-value=90.0

Notes and References

Web site: Athletics at the 1928 Amsterdam Summer Games: Men's 400 metres Hurdles . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417175248/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1928/ATH/mens-400-metres-hurdles.html . dead . 17 April 2020 . 1 October 2017 . sports-reference.com.
Official Report, p. 374.
Web site: 400 metres Hurdles, Men . Olympedia . 8 January 2021.