| | Event type

400 metres, Men

Date	4 – 5 August 1932
Status	Olympic
Location	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
Participants	27 from 15 countries

Early in 1932, Ben Eastman had broken the world record for 400 metres and 440 yards with 46.4. But he was defeated at both the Olympic Trials and the IC4A Championships by Bill Carr. The two won the semi-finals with Carr posting 47.2 and Eastman 47.6. In the final, Eastman led thru the first 300 metres, but he was caught by Carr with 80 metres to go, who held on for a two-metre victory in the world record time of 46.2.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	QF	SF	Final
1	408	Bill Carr	USA	48.8 (1 h4)	48.4 (1 h1)	47.2 (1 h1)	46.2 (1)	Gold	WR
2	420	Ben Eastman	USA	49.0 (1 h2)	48.8 (1 h3)	47.6 (1 h2)	46.4 (2)	Silver
3	82	Alex Wilson	CAN	50.5 (3 h1)	49.6 (4 h1)	47.8 (2 h1)	47.4 (3)	Bronze
4	375	Willie Walters	RSA	49.8 (3 h5)	48.5 (2 h1)	48.2 (2 h2)	48.2 (4)
5	425	James Gordon	USA	50.6 (1 h6)	48.6 (1 h2)	48.2 (3 h2)	48.2 (5)
6	17	George Golding	AUS	49.0 (2 h4)	48.6 (3 h1)	48.0 (3 h1)	48.8 (6)
4 h1 r3/4	203	Godfrey Rampling	GBR	49.5 (2 h5)	48.8 (2 h2)	48.0 (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r3/4	135	Börje Strandvall	FIN	49.8 (1 h3)	49.0 (3 h3)	48.4 (4 h2)	–
5 h1 r3/4	23	Felix Rinner	AUT	49.2 (1 h5)	48.9 (2 h3)	48.8 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r3/4	205	Crew Stoneley	GBR	49.1 (3 h4)	49.1 (4 h3)	48.6 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r3/4	160	Jochen Büchner	GER	49.3 (2 h2)	48.9 (3 h2)	49.2 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r3/4	62	Jimmy Ball	CAN	50.0 (2 h3)	49.3 (4 h2)	49.0 (6 h2)	–
5 h1 r2/4	52	Domingos Puglisi	BRA	50.8 (3 h6)	50.1 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r2/4	358	Hjalle Johannesen	NOR	49.5 (3 h2)	49.4 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r2/4	72	Ray Lewis	CAN	50.7 (2 h6)	49.1 (5 h3)	–	–
6 h1 r2/4	287	Iwao Masuda	JPN	50.1 (3 h3)	– (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r2/4	298	Seikan Oki	JPN	50.5 (2 h1)	– (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r2/4	171	Adolf Metzner	GER	50.4 (1 h1)	49.2 (6 h3)	–	–
4 h1 r1/4	380	Kell Areskoug	SWE	50.7 (4 h1)	–	–	–
4 h2 r1/4	327	Carlos de Anda	MEX	49.8 (4 h2)	–	–	–
4 h3 r1/4	385	Sten Pettersson	SWE	50.2 (4 h3)	–	–	–
4 h4 r1/4	172	Walter Nehb	GER	49.4 (4 h4)	–	–	–
4 h5 r1/4	350	Stuart Black	NZL	49.9 (4 h5)	–	–	–
4 h6 r1/4	323	Ricardo Argüello	MEX	50.9 (4 h6)	–	–	–
5 h4 r1/4	219	Christos Mantikas	GRE	49.6 (5 h4)	–	–	–
5 h5 r1/4	281	Zhang Hsing-Hsien	JPN	50.0 (5 h5)	–	–	–
6 h4 r1/4	322	Manuel Álvarez	MEX	49.9 (6 h4)	–	–	–
DNS	54	Carlos dos Reis Júnior	BRA	– (DNS h1)	–	–	–
DNS	220	Vangelis Moiropoulos	GRE	– (DNS h2)	–	–	–
DNS	374	Danie Joubert	RSA	– (DNS h2)	–	–	–
DNS	150	Marcel Moulines	FRA	– (DNS h3)	–	–	–
DNS	30	Esmeraldo Azuaga	BRA	– (DNS h5)	–	–	–
DNS	199	Tommy Hampson	GBR	– (DNS h6)	–	–	–

Round One (4 August 1932 — 14:30)

Top three in each heat advanced to the quarter-finals.

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	171	Adolf Metzner	GER	50.4	Q
2	298	Seikan Oki	JPN	50.5	Q
3	82	Alex Wilson	CAN	50.5	Q
4	380	Kell Areskoug	SWE	50.7
DNS	54	Carlos dos Reis Júnior	BRA	–

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	420	Ben Eastman	USA	49.0	49.02	Q
2	160	Jochen Büchner	GER	49.3	–	Q
3	358	Hjalle Johannesen	NOR	49.5	–	Q
4	327	Carlos de Anda	MEX	49.8	–
DNS	220	Vangelis Moiropoulos	GRE	–	–
DNS	374	Danie Joubert	RSA	–	–

Heat Three

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	135	Börje Strandvall	FIN	49.8	Q
2	62	Jimmy Ball	CAN	50.0	Q
3	287	Iwao Masuda	JPN	50.1	Q
4	385	Sten Pettersson	SWE	50.2
DNS	150	Marcel Moulines	FRA	–

Heat Four

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	408	Bill Carr	USA	48.8	48.70	Q
2	17	George Golding	AUS	49.0	–	Q
3	205	Crew Stoneley	GBR	49.1	–	Q
4	172	Walter Nehb	GER	49.4	–
5	219	Christos Mantikas	GRE	49.6	–
6	322	Manuel Álvarez	MEX	49.9	–

Heat Five

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	23	Felix Rinner	AUT	49.2	49.50	Q
2	203	Godfrey Rampling	GBR	49.5	–	Q
3	375	Willie Walters	RSA	49.8	–	Q
4	350	Stuart Black	NZL	49.9	–
5	281	Zhang Hsing-Hsien	JPN	50.0	–
DNS	30	Esmeraldo Azuaga	BRA	–	–

Heat Six

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	425	James Gordon	USA	50.6	Q
2	72	Ray Lewis	CAN	50.7	Q
3	52	Domingos Puglisi	BRA	50.8	Q
4	323	Ricardo Argüello	MEX	50.9
DNS	199	Tommy Hampson	GBR	–

Quarter-Finals (4 August 1932 — 16:00)

Top four in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	408	Bill Carr	USA	48.4	48.31	Q
2	375	Willie Walters	RSA	48.5	–	Q
3	17	George Golding	AUS	48.6	–	Q
4	82	Alex Wilson	CAN	49.6	–	Q
5	52	Domingos Puglisi	BRA	50.1	–
6	287	Iwao Masuda	JPN	–	–

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	425	James Gordon	USA	48.6	48.66	Q
2	203	Godfrey Rampling	GBR	48.8	–	Q
3	160	Jochen Büchner	GER	48.9	–	Q
4	62	Jimmy Ball	CAN	49.3	–	Q
5	358	Hjalle Johannesen	NOR	49.4	–
6	298	Seikan Oki	JPN	–	–

Heat Three

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	420	Ben Eastman	USA	48.8	48.90	Q
2	23	Felix Rinner	AUT	48.9	–	Q
3	135	Börje Strandvall	FIN	49.0	–	Q
4	205	Crew Stoneley	GBR	49.1	–	Q
5	72	Ray Lewis	CAN	49.1	–
6	171	Adolf Metzner	GER	49.2	–

Semi-Finals (5 August 1932 — 14:30)

Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	408	Bill Carr	USA	47.2	47.25	QOR
2	82	Alex Wilson	CAN	47.8	–	Q
3	17	George Golding	AUS	48.0	–	Q
4	203	Godfrey Rampling	GBR	48.0	–
5	23	Felix Rinner	AUT	48.8	–
6	160	Jochen Büchner	GER	49.2	–

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	420	Ben Eastman	USA	47.6	47.60	Q
2	375	Willie Walters	RSA	48.2	–	Q
3	425	James Gordon	USA	48.2	–	Q
4	135	Börje Strandvall	FIN	48.4	–
5	205	Crew Stoneley	GBR	48.6	–
6	62	Jimmy Ball	CAN	49.0	–

Final (5 August 1932 — 16:30)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	4	Bill Carr	USA	46.2	–	WR
2	2	Ben Eastman	USA	46.4	–
3	3	Alex Wilson	CAN	47.4	–
4	1	Willie Walters	RSA	48.2	–
5	5	James Gordon	USA	48.2	–
6	6	George Golding	AUS	48.8	–