| | Event type

400 metres, Men

Date	4 – 5 August 1948
Status	Olympic
Location	Empire Stadium, Wembley, London
Participants	53 from 28 countries

The heavy favorite in 1948 was Herb McKenley who had set three world records earlier in 1948 over 400 metres and 440 yards, winning the AAU (US) in 45.9 over 400 metres. He was expected to be challenged by America’s Mal Whitfield, who had already won the 800 in London, and his teammate, Arthur Wint. Whitfield won his semi-final in a PR 46.3, the first time he had run under 47 seconds. In the final, McKenley took off from the gun and led by 7 metres at the halfway point. But off the final curve, the effort got to him and he faltered, with Wint catching him 20 metres from the finish and pulling away. Whitfield hung on to third, but never challenged for the gold.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	QF	SF	Final
1	122	Arthur Wint	JAM	47.7 (1 h9)	47.7 (1 h2)	46.3 (1 h1)	46.2 (1)	Gold
2	90	Herb McKenley	JAM	48.4 (1 h2)	48.0 (1 h3)	47.3 (1 h2)	46.4 (2)	Silver
3	136	Mal Whitfield	USA	48.3 (1 h8)	48.0 (1 h1)	47.4 (3 h1)	46.9 (3)	Bronze
4	134	Dave Bolen	USA	50.1 (1 h6)	48.0 (1 h4)	47.9 (2 h2)	47.2 (4)
5	5	Morris Curotta	AUS	49.1 (1 h10)	48.4 (2 h2)	47.2 (2 h1)	47.9 (5)
6	135	George Guida	USA	49.0 (1 h11)	48.0 (2 h3)	48.3 (3 h2)	50.2 (6)
4 h1 r3/4	52	George Rhoden	JAM	48.4 (1 h4)	48.6 (2 h1)	47.7 (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r3/4	63	Dennis Shore	RSA	49.0 (2 h4)	48.5 (3 h2)	48.8 (4 h2)	–
5 h1 r3/4	107	Jimmy Reardon	IRL	48.4 (1 h1)	48.3 (2 h4)	47.8 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r3/4	80	Rosalvo Ramos	BRA	49.2 (2 h10)	48.7 (3 h1)	49.1 (5 h2)	–
6 h2 r3/4	98	Bob McFarlane	CAN	50.6 (2 h12)	48.4 (3 h4)	51.7 (6 h2)	–
3 h3 r2/4	128	Rune Larsson	SWE	49.2 (2 h2)	48.8 (3 h3)	– (DNS h1)	–
4 h1 r2/4	116	Les Lewis	GBR	48.9 (1 h7)	49.2 (4 h1)	–	–
4 h2 r2/4	118	Bill Roberts	GBR	48.9 (2 h8)	48.6 (4 h2)	–	–
4 h3 r2/4	4	John Bartram	AUS	50.8 (2 h6)	49.9 (4 h3)	–	–
4 h4 r2/4	127	Kurt Lundquist	SWE	50.0 (2 h3)	48.4 (4 h4)	–	–
5 h1 r2/4	139	Zvonko Sabolović	YUG	49.9 (1 h3)	49.5 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r2/4	125	Bjørn Vade	NOR	49.6 (2 h7)	49.7 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r2/4	113	Francis Schewetta	FRA	48.9 (2 h9)	49.9 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r2/4	117	Derek Pugh	GBR	49.3 (2 h11)	48.8 (5 h4)	–	–
6 h1 r2/4	126	Folke Alnevik	SWE	50.2 (2 h5)	50.6 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h3 r2/4	138	Marko Račič	YUG	50.5 (2 h1)	52.1 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r2/4	112	Jacques Lunis	FRA	49.3 (1 h5)	48.9 (6 h4)	–	–
1 h12 r1/4	96	Herman Kunnen	BEL	50.0 (1 h12)	– (DNS h3)	–	–
3 h1 r1/4	102	Chen Yinglang	CHN	50.9 (3 h1)	–	–	–
3 h2 r1/4	119	Ferenc Bánhalmi	HUN	49.6 (3 h2)	–	–	–
3 h3 r1/4	94	Antonio Pocoví	ARG	50.7 (3 h3)	–	–	–
3 h4 r1/4	129	Oskar Hardmeier	SUI	49.2 (3 h4)	–	–	–
3 h5 r1/4	123	Carlos Monges	MEX	50.9 (3 h5)	–	–	–
3 h6 r1/4	79	Hazzard Dill	BER	53.0 (3 h6)	–	–	–
3 h7 r1/4	97	Ernie McCullough	CAN	49.9 (3 h7)	–	–	–
3 h8 r1/4	99	Don McFarlane	CAN	49.5 (3 h8)	–	–	–
3 h9 r1/4	21	John De Saram	SRI	51.2 (3 h9)	–	–	–
3 h10 r1/4	111	Raymond Crapet	FRA	49.4 (3 h10)	–	–	–
3 h11 r1/4	100	Gustavo Ehlers	CHI	49.5 (3 h11)	–	–	–
3 h12 r1/4	120	Reynir Sigurðsson	ISL	51.4 (3 h12)	–	–	–
4 h1 r1/4	115	Georgios Karageorgos	GRE	54.5 (4 h1)	–	–	–
4 h2 r1/4	103	Jaime Aparicio	COL	50.8 (4 h2)	–	–	–
4 h3 r1/4	104	Mario Rosas	COL	51.4 (4 h3)	–	–	–
4 h4 r1/4	26	Ángel García	CUB	50.2 (4 h4)	–	–	–
4 h7 r1/4	130	Walter Keller	SUI	50.3 (4 h7)	–	–	–
4 h8 r1/4	109	Olavi Talja	FIN	50.4 (4 h8)	–	–	–
4 h9 r1/4	110	Tauno Suvanto	FIN	51.5 (4 h9)	–	–	–
4 h10 r1/4	133	Kemal Horulu	TUR	51.5 (4 h10)	–	–	–
4 h11 r1/4	38	Stefanos Petrakis	GRE	54.5 (4 h11)	–	–	–
4 h12 r1/4	101	Jaime Itlman	CHI	51.5 (4 h12)	–	–	–
5 h2 r1/4	93	Guillermo Evans	ARG	51.8 (5 h2)	–	–	–
5 h3 r1/4	121	Labib Hasso	IRQ	56.8 (5 h3)	–	–	–
5 h4 r1/4	95	Bill Ramsay	AUS	50.3 (5 h4)	–	–	–
5 h7 r1/4	108	Runar Holmberg	FIN	50.6 (5 h7)	–	–	–
5 h8 r1/4	131	Max Trepp	SUI	50.9 (5 h8)	–	–	–
5 h9 r1/4	132	Doğan Acarbay	TUR	53.0 (5 h9)	–	–	–
5 h12 r1/4	114	Stylianos Stratakos	GRE	52.8 (5 h12)	–	–	–
DNS	92	Rodolfo Carrera	ARG	– (DNS h1)	–	–	–
DNS	105	Herluf Christensen	DEN	– (DNS h5)	–	–	–
DNS	106	Niels Holst-Sørensen	DEN	– (DNS h1)	–	–	–
DNS	124	Doug Harris	NZL	– (DNS h3)	–	–	–
DNS	309	Santiago Ferrando	PER	– (DNS h6)	–	–	–
DNS	22	Duncan White	SRI	– (DNS h10)	–	–	–
DNS	74	Mario Fayos	URU	– (DNS h11)	–	–	–
DNS	137	Jerko Bulić	YUG	– (DNS h5)	–	–	–

Round One (4 August 1948 — 15:30)

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

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	2	Jimmy Reardon	IRL	48.4	48.4	Q
2	6	Marko Račič	YUG	50.5	–	Q
3	4	Chen Yinglang	CHN	50.9	–
4	5	Georgios Karageorgos	GRE	54.5	–
DNS	3	Rodolfo Carrera	ARG	–	–
DNS	1	Niels Holst-Sørensen	DEN	–	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Herb McKenley	JAM	48.4	48.6	Q
2	2	Rune Larsson	SWE	49.2	–	Q
3	5	Ferenc Bánhalmi	HUN	49.6	–
4	4	Jaime Aparicio	COL	50.8	–
5	3	Guillermo Evans	ARG	51.8	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	6	Zvonko Sabolović	YUG	49.9	49.9	Q
2	2	Kurt Lundquist	SWE	50.0	–	Q
3	3	Antonio Pocoví	ARG	50.7	–
4	4	Mario Rosas	COL	51.4	–
5	5	Labib Hasso	IRQ	56.8	–
DNS	1	Doug Harris	NZL	–	–

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	5	George Rhoden	JAM	48.4	48.7	Q
2	1	Dennis Shore	RSA	49.0	–	Q
3	2	Oskar Hardmeier	SUI	49.2	–
4	4	Ángel García	CUB	50.2	–
5	3	Bill Ramsay	AUS	50.3	–

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Jacques Lunis	FRA	49.3	49.3	Q
2	2	Folke Alnevik	SWE	50.2	–	Q
3	5	Carlos Monges	MEX	50.9	–
DNS	4	Herluf Christensen	DEN	–	–
DNS	3	Jerko Bulić	YUG	–	–

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Dave Bolen	USA	50.1	50.2	Q
2	2	John Bartram	AUS	50.8	–	Q
3	3	Hazzard Dill	BER	53.0	–
DNS	4	Santiago Ferrando	PER	–	–

Heat Seven

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Les Lewis	GBR	48.9	49.0	Q
2	2	Bjørn Vade	NOR	49.6	–	Q
3	3	Ernie McCullough	CAN	49.9	–
4	5	Walter Keller	SUI	50.3	–
5	4	Runar Holmberg	FIN	50.6	–

Heat Eight

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Mal Whitfield	USA	48.3	–	Q
2	2	Bill Roberts	GBR	48.9	–	Q
3	3	Don McFarlane	CAN	49.5	–
4	4	Olavi Talja	FIN	50.4	–
5	5	Max Trepp	SUI	50.9	–

Heat Nine

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Arthur Wint	JAM	47.7	47.7	Q
2	2	Francis Schewetta	FRA	48.9	–	Q
3	3	John De Saram	SRI	51.2	–
4	4	Tauno Suvanto	FIN	51.5	–
5	5	Doğan Acarbay	TUR	53.0	–

Heat Ten

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Morris Curotta	AUS	49.1	49.2	Q
2	2	Rosalvo Ramos	BRA	49.2	–	Q
3	4	Raymond Crapet	FRA	49.4	–
4	5	Kemal Horulu	TUR	51.5	–
DNS	3	Duncan White	SRI	–	–

Heat Eleven

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	George Guida	USA	49.0	49.1	Q
2	2	Derek Pugh	GBR	49.3	–	Q
3	3	Gustavo Ehlers	CHI	49.5	–
4	4	Stefanos Petrakis	GRE	54.5	–
DNS	5	Mario Fayos	URU	–	–

Heat Twelve

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	5	Herman Kunnen	BEL	50.0	50.0	Q
2	1	Bob McFarlane	CAN	50.6	–	Q
3	2	Reynir Sigurðsson	ISL	51.4	–
4	3	Jaime Itlman	CHI	51.5	–
5	4	Stylianos Stratakos	GRE	52.8	–

Quarter-Finals (4 August 1948 — 17:15)

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

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	136	Mal Whitfield	USA	48.0	48.2	Q
2	52	George Rhoden	JAM	48.6	–	Q
3	80	Rosalvo Ramos	BRA	48.7	–	Q
4	116	Les Lewis	GBR	49.2	–
5	139	Zvonko Sabolović	YUG	49.5	–
6	126	Folke Alnevik	SWE	50.6	–

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	122	Arthur Wint	JAM	47.7	47.9	Q
2	5	Morris Curotta	AUS	48.4	–	Q
3	63	Dennis Shore	RSA	48.5	–	Q
4	118	Bill Roberts	GBR	48.6	–
5	125	Bjørn Vade	NOR	49.7	–

Heat Three

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	90	Herb McKenley	JAM	48.0	48.0	Q
2	135	George Guida	USA	48.0	48.06	Q
3	128	Rune Larsson	SWE	48.8	–	Q
4	4	John Bartram	AUS	49.9	–
5	113	Francis Schewetta	FRA	49.9	–
6	138	Marko Račič	YUG	52.1	–
DNS	96	Herman Kunnen	BEL	–	–

Heat Four

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	134	Dave Bolen	USA	48.0	48.1	Q
2	107	Jimmy Reardon	IRL	48.3	–	Q
3	98	Bob McFarlane	CAN	48.4	–	Q
4	127	Kurt Lundquist	SWE	48.4	–
5	117	Derek Pugh	GBR	48.8	–
6	112	Jacques Lunis	FRA	48.9	–

Semi-Finals (5 August 1948 — 15:00)

Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	2	Arthur Wint	JAM	46.3	46.5	Q
2	4	Morris Curotta	AUS	47.2	47.28	Q
3	1	Mal Whitfield	USA	47.4	47.46	Q
4	6	George Rhoden	JAM	47.7	47.76
5	3	Jimmy Reardon	IRL	47.8	47.82
DNS	5	Rune Larsson	SWE	–	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Herb McKenley	JAM	47.3	47.3	Q
2	2	Dave Bolen	USA	47.9	47.97	Q
3	3	George Guida	USA	48.3	48.40	Q
4	5	Dennis Shore	RSA	48.8	48.73
5	6	Rosalvo Ramos	BRA	49.1	49.23
6	4	Bob McFarlane	CAN	51.7	–

Final (5 August 1948 — 16:45)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Arthur Wint	JAM	46.2	46.3	=OR
2	2	Herb McKenley	JAM	46.4	46.53
3	4	Mal Whitfield	USA	46.9	46.96
4	1	Dave Bolen	USA	47.2	47.20
5	5	Morris Curotta	AUS	47.9	48.07
6	6	George Guida	USA	50.2	50.80