| | Event type
400 metres, Men
| Date | 24 – 25 July 1952 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Helsingin Olympiastadion, Helsinki |
| Participants | 71 from 35 countries |
The world record holder was Jamaica’s George Rhoden, who had run 45.8 in 1950 in Finland. His biggest rival was his countryman, Herb McKenley, the defending silver medalist who had been favored in 1948. The defending champion, Arthur Wint, was also back and Jamaican sweep was a possibility. In the final, Wint led early, which was unusual for him, but could not maintain the pace. Rhoden caught Wint just before the homestretch and quickly had a big lead. But McKenley closed very quickly and almost caught him by the line, with Wint fading to fifth place. The third-place finisher, Ollie Matson, was later a star running back in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams.
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | R1 | QF | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 296 | George Rhoden |  JAM | 48.1 (1 h10) | 47.2 (1 h2) | 46.5 (2 h2) | 45.9 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 295 | Herb McKenley | JAM | 48.0 (1 h5) | 47.4 (1 h4) | 46.4 (1 h2) | 45.9 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 987 | Ollie Matson |  USA | 48.1 (1 h12) | 47.4 (2 h2) | 46.7 (3 h2) | 46.8 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 733 | Karl-Friedrich Haas |  GER | 47.5 (1 h1) | 47.4 (3 h2) | 46.4 (2 h1) | 47.0 (4) | |||
| 5 | 297 | Arthur Wint | JAM | 47.3 (1 h3) | 46.9 (1 h1) | 46.3 (1 h1) | 47.0 (5) | |||
| 6 | 986 | Mal Whitfield | USA | 48.6 (1 h6) | 47.6 (1 h3) | 46.4 (3 h1) | 47.1 (6) | |||
| 4 h1 r3/4 | 988 | Gene Cole | USA | 48.3 (1 h9) | 47.7 (2 h4) | 46.8 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 4 h2 r3/4 | 732 | Hans Geister | GER | 47.9 (1 h8) | 47.7 (2 h3) | 46.7 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 5 h1 r3/4 | 416 | Ardalion Ignatyev |  URS | 48.1 (1 h2) | 48.0 (3 h4) | 47.4 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 5 h2 r3/4 | 349 | Jack Carroll |  CAN | 48.0 (2 h3) | 47.7 (3 h3) | 47.4 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 6 h1 r3/4 | 348 | James Lavery | CAN | 48.4 (1 h11) | 47.5 (2 h1) | 47.7 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 3 h1 r2/4 | 671 | Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt |  SWE | 48.4 (1 h4) | 47.8 (3 h1) | – (DNS h2) | – | |||
| 4 h1 r2/4 | 972 | Guillermo Gutiérrez |  VEN | 48.7 (2 h6) | 48.6 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 4 h2 r2/4 | 17 | Morris Curotta |  AUS | 48.7 (2 h7) | 48.8 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 4 h3 r2/4 | 107 | Louis van Biljon |  RSA | 48.1 (2 h5) | 48.5 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 4 h4 r2/4 | 600 | Yves Camus |  FRA | 48.0 (2 h8) | 48.1 (4 h4) | – | – | |||
| 5 h1 r2/4 | 173 | Les Lewis |  GBR | 47.8 (2 h1) | 49.0 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 5 h2 r2/4 | 775 | Rolf Back |  FIN | 48.5 (2 h2) | 51.1 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 5 h3 r2/4 | 602 | Jacques Degats | FRA | 48.5 (1 h7) | 48.8 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 5 h4 r2/4 | 172 | Terry Higgins | GBR | 48.7 (2 h4) | 49.1 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 6 h1 r2/4 | 846 | Hans Ernst Schneider |  SUI | 48.7 (2 h12) | 49.2 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 6 h3 r2/4 | 171 | Alan Dick | GBR | 48.7 (2 h9) | 49.0 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 2 h10 r1/4 | 564 | Gerard Mach |  POL | 48.5 (2 h10) | – (DNS h4) | – | – | |||
| 2 h11 r1/4 | 417 | Yury Lituyev | URS | 48.8 (2 h11) | – (DNS h2) | – | – | |||
| 3 h1 r1/4 | 20 | Edwin Carr, Jr. | AUS | 48.0 (3 h1) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h2 r1/4 | 275 | Rupert Blöch |  AUT | 49.6 (3 h2) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h3 r1/4 | 934 | Egon Solymossy |  HUN | 49.2 (3 h3) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h4 r1/4 | 302 | Junkichi Matoba |  JPN | 49.4 (3 h4) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h5 r1/4 | 36 | Roger Moens |  BEL | 48.6 (3 h5) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h6 r1/4 | 247 | Gianni Rocca |  ITA | 49.2 (3 h6) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h7 r1/4 | 248 | Vincenzo Lombardo | ITA | 49.3 (3 h7) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h8 r1/4 | 898 | Milan Fillo |  TCH | 48.7 (3 h8) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h9 r1/4 | 418 | Edmunds Pīlāgs | URS | 49.2 (3 h9) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h10 r1/4 | 146 | Paul Dolan |  IRL | 48.5 (3 h10) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h11 r1/4 | 543 | Frank Rivera |  PUR | 49.3 (3 h11) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h12 r1/4 | 59 | Argemiro Roque |  BRA | 48.9 (3 h12) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h1 r1/4 | 935 | Zoltán Adamik | HUN | 48.5 (4 h1) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h2 r1/4 | 404 | Gérard Rasquin |  LUX | 50.0 (4 h2) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h3 r1/4 | 847 | Sepp Steger | SUI | 49.2 (4 h3) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h4 r1/4 | 375 | Vasilios Sillis |  GRE | 49.7 (4 h4) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h5 r1/4 | 933 | Ferenc Bánhalmi | HUN | 49.4 (4 h5) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h6 r1/4 | 670 | Gösta Brännström | SWE | 50.1 (4 h6) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h7 r1/4 | 274 | Rudolf Haidegger | AUT | 49.9 (4 h7) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h8 r1/4 | 157 | Guðmundur Lárusson |  ISL | 49.7 (4 h8) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h9 r1/4 | 399 | Ángel García |  CUB | 49.2 (4 h9) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h10 r1/4 | 601 | Jean-Pierre Goudeau | FRA | 48.8 (4 h10) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h11 r1/4 | 246 | Antonio Siddi | ITA | 50.9 (4 h11) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h12 r1/4 | 105 | Schalk Booysen | RSA | 49.0 (4 h12) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h1 r1/4 | 400 | Evelio Planas | CUB | 49.4 (5 h1) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h2 r1/4 | 106 | John Anderton | RSA | 50.3 (5 h2) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h3 r1/4 | 777 | Jaakko Suikkari | FIN | 50.9 (5 h3) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h4 r1/4 | 915 | Doğan Acarbay |  TUR | 50.7 (5 h4) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h5 r1/4 | 233 | Arie Gill |  ISR | 50.2 (5 h5) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h6 r1/4 | 409 | Javier Souza |  MEX | 50.3 (5 h6) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h7 r1/4 | 37 | Albert Lowagie | BEL | 50.1 (5 h7) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h8 r1/4 | 888 | Sompop Svadanandana |  THA | 53.6 (5 h8) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h9 r1/4 | 35 | Antoine Uytterhoeven | BEL | 50.0 (5 h9) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h10 r1/4 | 347 | Doug Clement | CAN | 50.0 (5 h10) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h12 r1/4 | 897 | Jiří David | TCH | 49.1 (5 h12) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h1 r1/4 | 526 | Abdul Rehman |  PAK | 51.2 (6 h1) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h2 r1/4 | 891 | Pongummart Ummarttayakul | THA | 52.9 (6 h2) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h3 r1/4 | 527 | Aurang Zeb | PAK | 51.0 (6 h3) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h4 r1/4 | 138 | Ivan Jacob |  IND | 51.3 (6 h4) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h5 r1/4 | 845 | Ernst von Gunten | SUI | 50.7 (6 h5) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h6 r1/4 | 916 | Emin Doybak | TUR | 51.1 (6 h6) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h8 r1/4 | 120 | Jeremías Stokes |  GUA | 53.6 (6 h8) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h9 r1/4 | 407 | Jean Hamilius | LUX | 50.3 (6 h9) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h12 r1/4 | 403 | Fred Hammer | LUX | 49.6 (6 h12) | – | – | – | |||
| 7 h6 r1/4 | 555 | Fernando Casimiro |  POR | 52.2 (7 h6) | – | – | – | |||
| 7 h12 r1/4 | 776 | Ossi Mildh | FIN | 50.2 (7 h12) | – | – | – | |||
| AC h5 r1/4 | 672 | Tage Ekfeldt | SWE | – (DQ h5) | – | – | – | |||
| 539 | Cirilo McSween |  PAN | – (DNS h4) | – | – | – | ||||
| 870 | Knud Schibsbye |  DEN | – (DNS h7) | – | – | – | ||||
| 540 | Sam LaBeach | PAN | – (DNS h7) | – | – | – | ||||
| 97 | José Fórmica |  ESP | – (DNS h9) | – | – | – | ||||
| 541 | Clayton Clark | PAN | – (DNS h11) | – | – | – | ||||
| 73 | Gustavo Ehlers |  CHI | – (DNS h8) | – | – | – | ||||
| 376 | Vasilios Mavroidis | GRE | – (DNS h1) | – | – | – | ||||
| 149 | Jimmy Reardon | IRL | – (DNS h3) | – | – | – | ||||
| 303 | Eitaro Okano | JPN | – (DNS h11) | – | – | – | ||||
| 368 | Eom Pal-Yong |  KOR | – (DNS h10) | – | – | – | ||||
| 914 | Ekrem Koçak | TUR | – (DNS h10) | – | – | – |
Round One (24 July 1952 — 15:20)
Top two in each heat advanced to the quarter-finals.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Karl-Friedrich Haas | GER | 47.5 | 47.58 | |||
| 2 | 3 | Les Lewis | GBR | 47.8 | 47.95 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Edwin Carr, Jr. | AUS | 48.0 | 48.23 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Zoltán Adamik | HUN | 48.5 | 48.70 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Evelio Planas | CUB | 49.4 | 49.44 | |||
| 6 | 6 | Abdul Rehman | PAK | 51.2 | 51.47 | |||
| 7 | Vasilios Mavroidis | GRE | – | – |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Ardalion Ignatyev | URS | 48.1 | 48.22 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Rolf Back | FIN | 48.5 | 48.58 | |||
| 3 | 1 | Rupert Blöch | AUT | 49.6 | 49.82 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Gérard Rasquin | LUX | 50.0 | 50.12 | |||
| 5 | 2 | John Anderton | RSA | 50.3 | 50.35 | |||
| 6 | 5 | Pongummart Ummarttayakul | THA | 52.9 | 53.23 |
Heat Three
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Arthur Wint | JAM | 47.3 | 47.42 | |||
| 2 | 3 | Jack Carroll | CAN | 48.0 | 48.05 | |||
| 3 | 1 | Egon Solymossy | HUN | 49.2 | 49.32 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Sepp Steger | SUI | 49.2 | 49.35 | |||
| 5 | 5 | Jaakko Suikkari | FIN | 50.9 | 50.92 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Aurang Zeb | PAK | 51.0 | 51.25 | |||
| 4 | Jimmy Reardon | IRL | – | – |
Heat Four
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt | SWE | 48.4 | 48.57 | |||
| 2 | 3 | Terry Higgins | GBR | 48.7 | 48.77 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Junkichi Matoba | JPN | 49.4 | 49.57 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Vasilios Sillis | GRE | 49.7 | 49.79 | |||
| 5 | 5 | Doğan Acarbay | TUR | 50.7 | 50.83 | |||
| 6 | 2 | Ivan Jacob | IND | 51.3 | 51.48 | |||
| 7 | Cirilo McSween | PAN | – | – |
Heat Five
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Herb McKenley | JAM | 48.0 | 48.09 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Louis van Biljon | RSA | 48.1 | 48.31 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Roger Moens | BEL | 48.6 | 48.71 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Ferenc Bánhalmi | HUN | 49.4 | 49.55 | |||
| 5 | 5 | Arie Gill | ISR | 50.2 | 50.27 | |||
| 6 | 6 | Ernst von Gunten | SUI | 50.7 | 50.88 | |||
| 7 | Tage Ekfeldt | SWE | – | – |
Heat Six
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Mal Whitfield | USA | 48.6 | 48.68 | |||
| 2 | 7 | Guillermo Gutiérrez | VEN | 48.7 | 48.82 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Gianni Rocca | ITA | 49.2 | 49.51 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Gösta Brännström | SWE | 50.1 | 50.32 | |||
| 5 | 5 | Javier Souza | MEX | 50.3 | 50.47 | |||
| 6 | 1 | Emin Doybak | TUR | 51.1 | 51.34 | |||
| 7 | 6 | Fernando Casimiro | POR | 52.2 | 52.33 |
Heat Seven
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Jacques Degats | FRA | 48.5 | 48.60 | |||
| 2 | 6 | Morris Curotta | AUS | 48.7 | 48.87 | |||
| 3 | 7 | Vincenzo Lombardo | ITA | 49.3 | 49.53 | |||
| 4 | 5 | Rudolf Haidegger | AUT | 49.9 | 50.01 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Albert Lowagie | BEL | 50.1 | 50.26 | |||
| 2 | Knud Schibsbye | DEN | – | – | ||||
| 3 | Sam LaBeach | PAN | – | – |
Heat Eight
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Hans Geister | GER | 47.9 | 47.99 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Yves Camus | FRA | 48.0 | 48.06 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Milan Fillo | TCH | 48.7 | 48.91 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Guðmundur Lárusson | ISL | 49.7 | 49.81 | |||
| 5 | 6 | Sompop Svadanandana | THA | 53.6 | 53.68 | |||
| 6 | 2 | Jeremías Stokes | GUA | 53.6 | 53.81 | |||
| 7 | Gustavo Ehlers | CHI | – | – |
Heat Nine
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Gene Cole | USA | 48.3 | 48.44 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Alan Dick | GBR | 48.7 | 48.84 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Edmunds Pīlāgs | URS | 49.2 | 49.29 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Ángel García | CUB | 49.2 | 49.34 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Antoine Uytterhoeven | BEL | 50.0 | 50.21 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Jean Hamilius | LUX | 50.3 | 50.75 | |||
| 6 | José Fórmica | ESP | – | – |
Heat Ten
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | George Rhoden | JAM | 48.1 | 48.28 | |||
| 2 | 7 | Gerard Mach | POL | 48.5 | 48.64 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Paul Dolan | IRL | 48.5 | 48.81 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Jean-Pierre Goudeau | FRA | 48.8 | 48.94 | |||
| 5 | 1 | Doug Clement | CAN | 50.0 | 50.19 | |||
| 6 | Eom Pal-Yong | KOR | – | – | ||||
| 5 | Ekrem Koçak | TUR | – | – |
Heat Eleven
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | James Lavery | CAN | 48.4 | 48.47 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Yury Lituyev | URS | 48.8 | 49.01 | |||
| 3 | 1 | Frank Rivera | PUR | 49.3 | 49.48 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Antonio Siddi | ITA | 50.9 | 51.03 | |||
| 5 | Clayton Clark | PAN | – | – | ||||
| 2 | Eitaro Okano | JPN | – | – |
Heat Twelve
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Ollie Matson | USA | 48.1 | 48.17 | |||
| 2 | 3 | Hans Ernst Schneider | SUI | 48.7 | 48.86 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Argemiro Roque | BRA | 48.9 | 49.05 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Schalk Booysen | RSA | 49.0 | 49.17 | |||
| 5 | 7 | Jiří David | TCH | 49.1 | 49.23 | |||
| 6 | 5 | Fred Hammer | LUX | 49.6 | 49.90 | |||
| 7 | 1 | Ossi Mildh | FIN | 50.2 | 50.36 |
Quarter-Finals (24 July 1952 — 18:35)
Top three in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 297 | Arthur Wint | JAM | 46.9 | 46.98 | |||
| 2 | 348 | James Lavery | CAN | 47.5 | 47.67 | |||
| 3 | 671 | Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt | SWE | 47.8 | 48.08 | |||
| 4 | 972 | Guillermo Gutiérrez | VEN | 48.6 | 48.75 | |||
| 5 | 173 | Les Lewis | GBR | 49.0 | 49.09 | |||
| 6 | 846 | Hans Ernst Schneider | SUI | 49.2 | 49.32 |
Heat Two
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 296 | George Rhoden | JAM | 47.2 | 47.24 | |||
| 2 | 987 | Ollie Matson | USA | 47.4 | 47.53 | |||
| 3 | 733 | Karl-Friedrich Haas | GER | 47.4 | 47.66 | |||
| 4 | 17 | Morris Curotta | AUS | 48.8 | 48.86 | |||
| 5 | 775 | Rolf Back | FIN | 51.1 | 51.53 | |||
| 417 | Yury Lituyev | URS | – | – |
Heat Three
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 996 | Mal Whitfield | USA | 47.6 | 47.74 | |||
| 2 | 732 | Hans Geister | GER | 47.7 | 47.81 | |||
| 3 | 349 | Jack Carroll | CAN | 47.7 | 47.82 | |||
| 4 | 107 | Louis van Biljon | RSA | 48.5 | 48.63 | |||
| 5 | 602 | Jacques Degats | FRA | 48.8 | 48.90 | |||
| 6 | 171 | Alan Dick | GBR | 49.0 | 49.20 |
Heat Four
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 295 | Herb McKenley | JAM | 47.4 | 47.56 | |||
| 2 | 988 | Gene Cole | USA | 47.7 | 47.88 | |||
| 3 | 416 | Ardalion Ignatyev | URS | 48.0 | 48.25 | |||
| 4 | 600 | Yves Camus | FRA | 48.1 | 48.43 | |||
| 5 | 172 | Terry Higgins | GBR | 49.1 | 49.22 | |||
| 564 | Gerard Mach | POL | – | – |
Semi-Finals (25 July 1952 — 15:00)
Top three in each heat advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Arthur Wint | JAM | 46.3 | 46.38 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Karl-Friedrich Haas | GER | 46.4 | 46.56 | |||
| 3 | 6 | Mal Whitfield | USA | 46.4 | 46.64 | |||
| 4 | 4 | Gene Cole | USA | 46.8 | 46.94 | |||
| 5 | 2 | Ardalion Ignatyev | URS | 47.4 | 47.49 | |||
| 6 | 1 | James Lavery | CAN | 47.7 | 47.83 |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Herb McKenley | JAM | 46.4 | 46.53 | |||
| 2 | 5 | George Rhoden | JAM | 46.5 | 46.61 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Ollie Matson | USA | 46.7 | 46.99 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Hans Geister | GER | 46.7 | 47.00 | |||
| 5 | 1 | Jack Carroll | CAN | 47.4 | 47.61 | |||
| 2 | Lars-Erik Wolfbrandt | SWE | – | – |
Final (25 July 1952 — 17:05)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | George Rhoden | JAM | 45.9 | 46.09 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Herb McKenley | JAM | 45.9 | 46.20 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Ollie Matson | USA | 46.8 | 46.94 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Karl-Friedrich Haas | GER | 47.0 | 47.22 | |||
| 5 | 2 | Arthur Wint | JAM | 47.0 | 47.24 | |||
| 6 | 1 | Mal Whitfield | USA | 47.1 | 47.30 |