| Event: | Men's 400 metres hurdles |
| Games: | 1979 |
| Venue: | Estadio Sixto Escobar |
| Win Value: | 49.66 |
| Win Label: | Winning time |
| Gold: | James Walker |
| Goldnoc: | USA |
| Silver: | Antônio Dias Ferreira |
| Silvernoc: | BRA |
| Bronze: | Frank Montiéh |
| Bronzenoc: | CUB |
| Prev: | 1975 |
| Next: | 1983 |
The men's 400 metres hurdles sprint competition of the athletics events at the 1979 Pan American Games took place at the Estadio Sixto Escobar.[1] [2] The defending Pan American Games champion was James King of the United States America.
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Pan American Games records were as follows:
| World record | 47.00 | Los Angeles, United States | June 11, 1977 | ||
| Pan American Games record | 49.10 | Cali, Colombia | 1971 |
| KEY: | WR | World Record | GR | Pan American Record |
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 51.28 | Q | |||
| 2 | 1 | 51.71 | Q | |||
| 3 | 2 | 51.73 | Q | |||
| 4 | 1 | 52.38 | Q | |||
| 5 | 1 | 52.45 | Q | |||
| 6 | 2 | 52.70 | Q | |||
| 7 | 1 | 53.32 | q | |||
| 8 | 2 | 53.46 | q | |||
| 9 | 2 | 53.64 | ||||
| 10 | 1 | 54.41 | ||||
| 1 | [4] |
Held on 8 July
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time[5] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Walker | 49.66 | ||||
| Antônio Dias Ferreira | 50.85 | ||||
| Frank Montiéh | 51.30 | ||||
| 4 | Julio Ferrer | 51.48 | |||
| 5 | Ian Newhouse | 51.58 | |||
| 6 | Dionizete de Araujo | 51.72 | |||
| 7 | Carlos Yambot | 51.76 | |||
| 8 | Alexis Misignak | 53.08 |