| | Event type
400 metres, Men
| Date | 28 – 29 November 1956 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Participants | 43 from 23 countries |
In 1955, American Lou Jones had set the world record of 45.4 in winning the Pan American Games. But that mark was specious, as it was set at the altitude of Ciudad de México. Still, Jones had won the US Olympic Trials and was favored. He was expected to be pushed by his teammate, Charlie Jenkins, the 1955 AAU Champion, and 1954 European Champion, Ardalion Ignatyev (URS). In the final, Jones was drawn in the outside lane and led by two metres at the 200 mark. But Ignatyev caught him by 300 metres as Jones tied up and was never again a factor. Jenkins had started slowly but had plenty left. He caught Ignatyev with 50 metres left and won by two metres over Germany’s Karl-Friedrich Haas. Ignatyev tied for third with Finland’s Voitto Hellstén. The final time (46.7 for Jenkins) was slow, but the day was windy and the final and semi-finals were held on the same day, for the last time at the Olympics.
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | R1 | QF | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 116 | Charlie Jenkins |  USA | 48.7 (3 h3) | 47.5 (3 h4) | 46.1 (1 h2) | 46.7 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 68 | Karl-Friedrich Haas |  GER | 47.2 (1 h5) | 47.3 (2 h4) | 46.2 (3 h2) | 46.8 (2) | Silver | ||
| =3 | 93 | Voitto Hellstén |  FIN | 48.4 (1 h4) | 46.8 (1 h3) | 46.1 (2 h2) | 47.0 (=3) | Bronze | ||
| =3 | 119 | Ardalion Ignatyev |  URS | 48.6 (1 h6) | 46.8 (1 h2) | 46.8 (1 h1) | 47.0 (=3) | Bronze | ||
| 5 | 117 | Lou Jones | USA | 48.1 (1 h1) | 47.4 (1 h1) | 47.3 (3 h1) | 48.1 (5) | |||
| 6 | 114 | Malcolm Spence |  RSA | 47.7 (1 h3) | 47.1 (2 h3) | 47.2 (2 h1) | 48.3 (6) | |||
| 4 h1 r3/4 | 78 | Mel Spence |  JAM | 47.9 (2 h8) | 47.3 (3 h3) | 47.5 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 4 h2 r3/4 | 89 | Kevan Gosper |  AUS | 48.0 (1 h7) | 46.7 (1 h4) | 46.2 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 5 h1 r3/4 | 99 | Peter Higgins |  GBR | 47.9 (1 h8) | 47.4 (3 h2) | 47.7 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 5 h2 r3/4 | 100 | John Salisbury | GBR | 47.7 (3 h5) | 47.4 (2 h1) | 47.3 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 6 h1 r3/4 | 83 | Iván Rodríguez |  PUR | 48.8 (3 h7) | 47.5 (3 h1) | 47.7 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 6 h2 r3/4 | 77 | Mal Spence | JAM | 48.2 (2 h7) | 47.4 (2 h2) | 47.4 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 4 h1 r2/4 | 92 | Terry Tobacco |  CAN | 47.9 (1 h2) | 47.7 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 4 h2 r2/4 | 60 | Graham Gipson | AUS | 47.7 (2 h5) | 47.4 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 4 h3 r2/4 | 95 | Pierre Haarhoff |  FRA | 49.8 (3 h6) | 47.6 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 4 h4 r2/4 | 103 | George Kerr | JAM | 49.7 (2 h6) | 47.7 (4 h4) | – | – | |||
| 5 h1 r2/4 | 97 | Jürgen Kühl | GER | 48.7 (2 h3) | 48.0 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 5 h2 r2/4 | 94 | Jacques Degats | FRA | 48.3 (2 h2) | 48.7 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 5 h3 r2/4 | 118 | Jim Lea | USA | 48.3 (3 h2) | 48.1 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 5 h4 r2/4 | 101 | Mike Wheeler | GBR | 49.3 (2 h4) | 47.9 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 6 h2 r2/4 | 90 | Murray Cockburn | CAN | 49.0 (2 h1) | 49.5 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 6 h3 r2/4 | 105 | Kibet Boit |  KEN | 49.3 (3 h4) | 49.1 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 6 h4 r2/4 | 96 | Jean-Paul Martin du Gard | FRA | 48.3 (3 h8) | 48.2 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 3 h1 r1/4 | 111 | Abdullah Khan |  PAK | 49.0 (3 h1) | – (DNS h1) | – | – | |||
| 4 h1 r1/4 | 121 | Konstantin Grachov | URS | 49.4 (4 h1) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h2 r1/4 | 104 | Bartonjo Rotich | KEN | 48.8 (4 h2) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h3 r1/4 | 301 | Abebe Hailou |  ETH | 49.0 (4 h3) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h4 r1/4 | 91 | Laird Sloan | CAN | 50.0 (4 h4) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h5 r1/4 | 71 | Milkha Singh |  IND | 48.9 (4 h5) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h6 r1/4 | 646 | Kamau Wanyoke | KEN | 50.6 (4 h6) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h7 r1/4 | 106 | Gérard Rasquin |  LUX | 50.6 (4 h7) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h8 r1/4 | 629 | John Goodman | AUS | 48.5 (4 h8) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h1 r1/4 | 302 | Beyene Legesse | ETH | 50.7 (5 h1) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h2 r1/4 | 675 | Jaime Aparicio |  COL | 49.0 (5 h2) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h3 r1/4 | 110 | Abdul Karim Amu |  NGR | 49.4 (5 h3) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h4 r1/4 | 115 | Somsak Thonf Ar-Ram |  THA | 53.4 (5 h4) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h7 r1/4 | 107 | Abdul Rahim bin Ahmed |  MAL | 50.8 (5 h7) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h8 r1/4 | 303 | Ajanew Bayene | ETH | 51.3 (5 h8) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h2 r1/4 | 271 | Pablo Somblingo |  PHI | 49.4 (6 h2) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h7 r1/4 | 668 | George Johnson |  LBR | 54.8 (6 h7) | – | – | – | |||
| 7 h2 r1/4 | 109 | Kenneth Perera | MAL | – (7 h2) | – | – | – | |||
| AC h1 r1/4 | 79 | Kanji Akagi |  JPN | [48.4] (DQ h1) | – | – | – | |||
| AC h8 r1/4 | 98 | Horst Mann | GER | – (DNF h8) | – | – | – | |||
| 695 | Joseph Narmah | LBR | – (DNS h3) | – | – | – | ||||
| 677 | Ruben Guevara | COL | – (DNS h5) | – | – | – | ||||
| 122 | Yury Bashlikov | URS | – (DNS h5) | – | – | – | ||||
| 678 | Alfonso Muñoz | COL | – (DNS h4) | – | – | – | ||||
| 108 | M. Hari Chandra | MAL | – (DNS h5) | – | – | – | ||||
| 113 | Ilie Savel |  ROU | – (DNS h6) | – | – | – | ||||
| 85 | René Weber |  SUI | – (DNS h6) | – | – | – | ||||
| 623 | Václav Janeček |  TCH | – (DNS h6) | – | – | – | ||||
| 625 | Jaroslav Jirásek | TCH | – (DNS h3) | – | – | – | ||||
| 624 | Josef Trousil | TCH | – (DNS h7) | – | – | – | ||||
| 50 | Mike Agostini |  TTO | – (DNS h1) | – | – | – | ||||
| 51 | Joe Goddard | TTO | – (DNS h4) | – | – | – | ||||
| 52 | Edmund Turton | TTO | – (DNS h8) | – | – | – |
Round One (28 November 1956 — 15:00)
Top three in each heat advanced to the quarter-finals.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Lou Jones | USA | 48.1 | 48.30 | |||
| 2 | 7 | Murray Cockburn | CAN | 49.0 | 49.07 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Abdullah Khan | PAK | 49.0 | 49.19 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Konstantin Grachov | URS | 49.4 | 49.58 | |||
| 5 | 3 | Beyene Legesse | ETH | 50.7 | 50.83 | |||
| 5 | Kanji Akagi | JPN | [48.4] | [48.54] | ||||
| 6 | Mike Agostini | TTO | – | – |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Terry Tobacco | CAN | 47.9 | 47.92 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Jacques Degats | FRA | 48.3 | 48.32 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Jim Lea | USA | 48.3 | 48.41 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Bartonjo Rotich | KEN | 48.8 | 48.90 | |||
| 5 | 3 | Jaime Aparicio | COL | 49.0 | 49.14 | |||
| 6 | 6 | Pablo Somblingo | PHI | 49.4 | 49.50 | |||
| 7 | 4 | Kenneth Perera | MAL | – | 51.96 |
Heat Three
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Malcolm Spence | RSA | 47.7 | 47.77 | |||
| 2 | 1 | Jürgen Kühl | GER | 48.7 | 48.74 | |||
| 3 | 6 | Charlie Jenkins | USA | 48.7 | 48.82 | |||
| 4 | 7 | Abebe Hailou | ETH | 49.0 | 49.18 | |||
| 5 | 2 | Abdul Karim Amu | NGR | 49.4 | 49.57 | |||
| 5 | Joseph Narmah | LBR | – | – | ||||
| 3 | Jaroslav Jirásek | TCH | – | – |
Heat Four
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Voitto Hellstén | FIN | 48.4 | 48.52 | |||
| 2 | 1 | Mike Wheeler | GBR | 49.3 | 49.37 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Kibet Boit | KEN | 49.3 | 49.48 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Laird Sloan | CAN | 50.0 | 50.18 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Somsak Thonf Ar-Ram | THA | 53.4 | 53.61 | |||
| 7 | Alfonso Muñoz | COL | – | – | ||||
| 2 | Joe Goddard | TTO | – | – |
Heat Five
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Karl-Friedrich Haas | GER | 47.2 | 47.29 | |||
| 2 | 1 | Graham Gipson | AUS | 47.7 | 47.87 | |||
| 3 | 4 | John Salisbury | GBR | 47.7 | 47.95 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Milkha Singh | IND | 48.9 | 49.07 | |||
| 3 | Ruben Guevara | COL | – | – | ||||
| 7 | Yury Bashlikov | URS | – | – | ||||
| 2 | M. Hari Chandra | MAL | – | – |
Heat Six
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Ardalion Ignatyev | URS | 48.6 | 48.69 | |||
| 2 | 5 | George Kerr | JAM | 49.7 | 49.74 | |||
| 3 | 7 | Pierre Haarhoff | FRA | 49.8 | 49.99 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Kamau Wanyoke | KEN | 50.6 | 50.74 | |||
| 3 | Ilie Savel | ROU | – | – | ||||
| 1 | René Weber | SUI | – | – | ||||
| 4 | Václav Janeček | TCH | – | – |
Heat Seven
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Kevan Gosper | AUS | 48.0 | 48.07 | |||
| 2 | 6 | Mal Spence | JAM | 48.2 | 48.31 | |||
| 3 | 7 | Iván Rodríguez | PUR | 48.8 | 48.86 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Gérard Rasquin | LUX | 50.6 | 50.76 | |||
| 5 | 2 | Abdul Rahim bin Ahmed | MAL | 50.8 | 50.93 | |||
| 6 | 1 | George Johnson | LBR | 54.8 | – | |||
| 5 | Josef Trousil | TCH | – | – |
Heat Eight
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Peter Higgins | GBR | 47.9 | 47.98 | |||
| 2 | 1 | Mel Spence | JAM | 47.9 | 48.00 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Jean-Paul Martin du Gard | FRA | 48.3 | 48.39 | |||
| 4 | 7 | John Goodman | AUS | 48.5 | 48.73 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Ajanew Bayene | ETH | 51.3 | 51.53 | |||
| 2 | Horst Mann | GER | – | – | ||||
| 6 | Edmund Turton | TTO | – | – |
Quarter-Finals (28 November 1956 — 17:35)
Top three in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 117 | Lou Jones | USA | 47.4 | 47.42 | |||
| 2 | 100 | John Salisbury | GBR | 47.4 | 47.60 | |||
| 3 | 83 | Iván Rodríguez | PUR | 47.5 | 47.64 | |||
| 4 | 92 | Terry Tobacco | CAN | 47.7 | 47.79 | |||
| 5 | 97 | Jürgen Kühl | GER | 48.0 | 48.23 | |||
| 111 | Abdullah Khan | PAK | – | – |
Heat Two
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 119 | Ardalion Ignatyev | URS | 46.8 | 46.88 | |||
| 2 | 77 | Mal Spence | JAM | 47.4 | 47.42 | |||
| 3 | 99 | Peter Higgins | GBR | 47.4 | 47.43 | |||
| 4 | 60 | Graham Gipson | AUS | 47.4 | 47.45 | |||
| 5 | 94 | Jacques Degats | FRA | 48.7 | 48.79 | |||
| 6 | 90 | Murray Cockburn | CAN | 49.5 | 49.74 |
Heat Three
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 93 | Voitto Hellstén | FIN | 46.8 | 46.85 | |||
| 2 | 114 | Malcolm Spence | RSA | 47.1 | 47.08 | |||
| 3 | 78 | Mel Spence | JAM | 47.3 | 47.38 | |||
| 4 | 95 | Pierre Haarhoff | FRA | 47.6 | 47.82 | |||
| 5 | 118 | Jim Lea | USA | 48.1 | 48.33 | |||
| 6 | 105 | Kibet Boit | KEN | 49.1 | 49.18 |
Heat Four
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 89 | Kevan Gosper | AUS | 46.7 | 46.83 | |||
| 2 | 68 | Karl-Friedrich Haas | GER | 47.3 | 47.37 | |||
| 3 | 116 | Charlie Jenkins | USA | 47.5 | 47.63 | |||
| 4 | 103 | George Kerr | JAM | 47.7 | 47.79 | |||
| 5 | 101 | Mike Wheeler | GBR | 47.9 | 48.05 | |||
| 6 | 96 | Jean-Paul Martin du Gard | FRA | 48.2 | 48.37 |
Semi-Finals (29 November 1956 — 15:00)
Top three in each heat advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Ardalion Ignatyev | URS | 46.8 | 46.93 | |||
| 2 | 3 | Malcolm Spence | RSA | 47.2 | 47.27 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Lou Jones | USA | 47.3 | 47.32 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Mel Spence | JAM | 47.5 | 47.58 | |||
| 5 | 5 | Peter Higgins | GBR | 47.7 | 47.65 | |||
| 6 | 4 | Iván Rodríguez | PUR | 47.7 | 47.86 |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Charlie Jenkins | USA | 46.1 | 46.19 | |||
| 2 | 6 | Voitto Hellstén | FIN | 46.1 | 46.20 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Karl-Friedrich Haas | GER | 46.2 | 46.29 | |||
| 4 | 4 | Kevan Gosper | AUS | 46.2 | 46.45 | |||
| 5 | 3 | John Salisbury | GBR | 47.3 | 47.47 | |||
| 6 | 2 | Mal Spence | JAM | 47.4 | 47.52 |
Final (29 November 1956 — 17:30)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Charlie Jenkins | USA | 46.7 | 46.86 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Karl-Friedrich Haas | GER | 46.8 | 47.12 | |||
| =3 | 3 | Voitto Hellstén | FIN | 47.0 | 47.15 | |||
| =3 | 2 | Ardalion Ignatyev | URS | 47.0 | 47.15 | |||
| 5 | 6 | Lou Jones | USA | 48.1 | 48.35 | |||
| 6 | 1 | Malcolm Spence | RSA | 48.3 | 48.40 |