| | Event type

400 metres, Men

Date	3 – 6 September 1960
Status	Olympic
Location	Stadio Olimpico, Roma
Participants	54 from 41 countries

There was no heavy favorite in this event in 1960. The best US runner was likely Otis Davis, but he was a relative newcomer to the event. No European runner had really established themselves as the leader in Europe. One interesting challenger was India’s Milkha Singh, who had won the 1958 Commonwealth Games, the first major title won in track & field athletics from that nation. The final was led by South Africa’s Malcolm Spence (not to be confused with Jamaica’s Mal Spence, who did not survive the semi-finals). Davis accelerated as he entered the final turn, and pulled ahead. On the final straight, Germany’s Carl Kaufmann began to close. He dove at the tape, but Davis won in a photo-finish. Both Davis and Kaufmann were credited with the world record of 44.9, Davis winning on auto-time, 45.07 to 45.08.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	QF	SF	Final
1	400	Otis Davis	USA	46.8 (1 h9)	45.9 (1 h4)	45.5 (1 h1)	44.9 (1)	Gold	WR
2	267	Carl Kaufmann	GER	47.3 (1 h3)	46.5 (1 h1)	45.7 (1 h2)	44.9 (2)	Silver
3	109	Malcolm Spence	RSA	46.7 (1 h4)	46.1 (2 h4)	45.8 (2 h2)	45.5 (3)	Bronze
4	171	Milkha Singh	IND	47.6 (2 h6)	46.5 (2 h1)	45.9 (2 h1)	45.6 (4)
5	266	Manfred Kinder	GER	46.7 (1 h1)	46.7 (3 h2)	46.0 (3 h1)	45.9 (5)
6	401	Earl Young	USA	47.6 (2 h7)	46.1 (1 h3)	46.1 (3 h2)	45.9 (6)
4 h1 r3/4	625	Robbie Brightwell	GBR	48.4 (2 h2)	46.2 (2 h3)	46.1 (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r3/4	49	Abdul Karim Amu	NGR	46.8 (1 h8)	46.6 (3 h4)	46.6 (4 h2)	–
5 h1 r3/4	110	Gordon Day	RSA	47.1 (2 h8)	46.3 (3 h3)	46.7 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r3/4	101	Mal Spence	WIF	47.6 (1 h7)	46.9 (3 h1)	46.8 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r3/4	8	Kevan Gosper	AUS	47.1 (2 h4)	46.5 (2 h2)	47.1 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r3/4	402	Jack Yerman	USA	47.2 (1 h6)	46.4 (1 h2)	48.9 (6 h2)	–
4 h1 r2/4	136	Terry Tobacco	CAN	47.4 (3 h4)	47.5 (4 h1)	–	–
4 h2 r2/4	102	Jim Wedderburn	WIF	47.4 (2 h9)	47.0 (4 h2)	–	–
4 h3 r2/4	268	Jochen Reske	GER	47.2 (3 h8)	47.3 (4 h3)	–	–
4 h4 r2/4	519	Jerzy Kowalski	POL	48.3 (2 h5)	46.7 (4 h4)	–	–
5 h1 r2/4	112	Edgar Davis	RSA	47.2 (2 h1)	48.0 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r2/4	247	Germán Guenard	PUR	47.3 (1 h5)	47.2 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r2/4	518	Stanisław Swatowski	POL	48.1 (3 h6)	47.4 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r2/4	599	Giuseppe Bommarito	ITA	48.6 (3 h5)	47.5 (5 h4)	–	–
6 h1 r2/4	627	Malcolm Yardley	GBR	47.3 (3 h1)	48.8 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r2/4	626	John Wrighton	GBR	47.4 (3 h9)	48.0 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r2/4	551	Konstantin Grachov	URS	49.3 (3 h2)	47.6 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r2/4	82	Barry Robinson	NZL	47.6 (2 h3)	48.3 (6 h4)	–	–
7 h3 r2/4	178	Bartonjo Rotich	KEN	47.7 (3 h7)	47.8 (7 h3)	–	–
7 h4 r2/4	235	Louis De Clerck	BEL	47.9 (3 h3)	48.4 (7 h4)	–	–
1 h2 r1/4	345	Alf Petersson	SWE	48.3 (1 h2)	– (DNS h1)	–	–
4 h1 r1/4	148	Josef Trousil	TCH	47.4 (4 h1)	–	–	–
4 h2 r1/4	55	Felix Heuertz	LUX	50.2 (4 h2)	–	–	–
4 h3 r1/4	39	Anubes da Silva	BRA	48.0 (4 h3)	–	–	–
4 h4 r1/4	76	Gadi Ado	UGA	49.0 (4 h4)	–	–	–
4 h5 r1/4	32	Li Po-Ting	TPE	49.5 (4 h5)	–	–	–
4 h6 r1/4	682	Mani Jegathesan	MAL	48.4 (4 h6)	–	–	–
4 h7 r1/4	147	Zdeněk Váňa	TCH	48.3 (4 h7)	–	–	–
4 h8 r1/4	495	Voitto Hellstén	FIN	48.4 (4 h8)	–	–	–
4 h9 r1/4	221	René Weber	SUI	47.6 (4 h9)	–	–	–
5 h1 r1/4	130	John Asare-Antwi	GHA	47.7 (5 h1)	–	–	–
5 h3 r1/4	192	Csaba Csutorás	HUN	48.2 (5 h3)	–	–	–
5 h4 r1/4	241	Marcel Lambrechts	BEL	49.5 (5 h4)	–	–	–
5 h5 r1/4	167	Clayton Glasgow	GUY	50.7 (5 h5)	–	–	–
5 h6 r1/4	248	Iván Rodríguez	PUR	49.6 (5 h6)	–	–	–
5 h7 r1/4	327	Vasilios Sillis	GRE	48.4 (5 h7)	–	–	–
5 h8 r1/4	23	Jassim Karim	IRQ	49.2 (5 h8)	–	–	–
5 h9 r1/4	80	Moussa Said	ETH	48.2 (5 h9)	–	–	–
6 h1 r1/4	374	Hirotada Hayase	JPN	49.1 (6 h1)	–	–	–
6 h3 r1/4	253	Hugh Bullard	BAH	51.1 (6 h3)	–	–	–
6 h4 r1/4	256	Jorge Terán	MEX	49.6 (6 h4)	–	–	–
6 h5 r1/4	47	George Johnson	LBR	51.4 (6 h5)	–	–	–
6 h6 r1/4	44	Claro Pellosis	PHI	51.4 (6 h6)	–	–	–
6 h7 r1/4	64	Manut Bumrungphuk	THA	49.6 (6 h7)	–	–	–
6 h8 r1/4	660	Fahir Özgüden	TUR	50.7 (6 h8)	–	–	–
6 h9 r1/4	671	Amos Grodzinowsky	ISR	48.9 (6 h9)	–	–	–
7 h1 r1/4	3	Habib Sayed	AFG	53.8 (7 h1)	–	–	–
7 h4 r1/4	69	Brahim Karabi	TUN	52.0 (7 h4)	–	–	–
DNS	100	George Kerr	WIF	– (DNS h2)	–	–	–
DNS	362	Rafael Romero	VEN	– (DNS h2)	–	–	–

Round One (3 September 1960 — 9:50)

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

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Manfred Kinder	GER	46.7	46.84	Q
2	5	Edgar Davis	RSA	47.2	47.31	Q
3	2	Malcolm Yardley	GBR	47.3	47.38	Q
4	1	Josef Trousil	TCH	47.4	47.53
5	4	John Asare-Antwi	GHA	47.7	47.81
6	7	Hirotada Hayase	JPN	49.1	49.13
7	6	Habib Sayed	AFG	53.8	53.91

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	5	Alf Petersson	SWE	48.3	48.44	Q
2	4	Robbie Brightwell	GBR	48.4	48.58	Q
3	3	Konstantin Grachov	URS	49.3	49.44	Q
4	2	Felix Heuertz	LUX	50.2	50.34
DNS	1	George Kerr	WIF	–	–
DNS	6	Rafael Romero	VEN	–	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Carl Kaufmann	GER	47.3	47.42	Q
2	6	Barry Robinson	NZL	47.6	47.70	Q
3	5	Louis De Clerck	BEL	47.9	48.00	Q
4	2	Anubes da Silva	BRA	48.0	48.10
5	1	Csaba Csutorás	HUN	48.2	48.31
6	4	Hugh Bullard	BAH	51.1	51.20

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	5	Malcolm Spence	RSA	46.7	46.79	Q
2	2	Kevan Gosper	AUS	47.1	47.20	Q
3	4	Terry Tobacco	CAN	47.4	48.52	Q	1
4	6	Gadi Ado	UGA	49.0	49.12
5	1	Marcel Lambrechts	BEL	49.5	49.66
6	7	Jorge Terán	MEX	49.6	49.75
7	3	Brahim Karabi	TUN	52.0	52.12

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	2	Germán Guenard	PUR	47.3	47.39	Q
2	4	Jerzy Kowalski	POL	48.3	48.49	Q
3	3	Giuseppe Bommarito	ITA	48.6	48.79	Q
4	5	Li Po-Ting	TPE	49.5	49.69
5	6	Clayton Glasgow	GUY	50.7	50.84
6	1	George Johnson	LBR	51.4	51.54

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	5	Jack Yerman	USA	47.2	47.37	Q
2	2	Milkha Singh	IND	47.6	47.72	Q
3	1	Stanisław Swatowski	POL	48.1	48.23	Q
4	3	Mani Jegathesan	MAL	48.4	48.56
5	6	Iván Rodríguez	PUR	49.6	49.74
6	4	Claro Pellosis	PHI	51.4	51.51

Heat Seven

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	2	Mal Spence	WIF	47.6	47.77	Q
2	5	Earl Young	USA	47.6	47.79	Q
3	4	Bartonjo Rotich	KEN	47.7	47.89	Q
4	1	Zdeněk Váňa	TCH	48.3	48.48
5	3	Vasilios Sillis	GRE	48.4	48.56
6	6	Manut Bumrungphuk	THA	49.6	49.85

Heat Eight

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Abdul Karim Amu	NGR	46.8	46.93	Q
2	3	Gordon Day	RSA	47.1	47.22	Q
3	4	Jochen Reske	GER	47.2	47.38	Q
4	5	Voitto Hellstén	FIN	48.4	48.52
5	2	Jassim Karim	IRQ	49.2	49.35
6	6	Fahir Özgüden	TUR	50.7	50.87

Heat Nine

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	6	Otis Davis	USA	46.8	46.91	Q
2	1	Jim Wedderburn	WIF	47.4	47.56	Q
3	4	John Wrighton	GBR	47.4	47.60	Q
4	2	René Weber	SUI	47.6	47.73
5	5	Moussa Said	ETH	48.2	48.30
6	3	Amos Grodzinowsky	ISR	48.9	49.03

Quarter-Finals (3 September 1960 — 16:10)

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

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	267	Carl Kaufmann	GER	46.5	46.67	Q
2	171	Milkha Singh	IND	46.5	46.71	Q
3	101	Mal Spence	WIF	46.9	47.00	Q
4	136	Terry Tobacco	CAN	47.5	47.61
5	112	Edgar Davis	RSA	48.0	48.18
6	627	Malcolm Yardley	GBR	48.8	48.93
DNS	345	Alf Petersson	SWE	–	–

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	402	Jack Yerman	USA	46.4	46.54	Q
2	8	Kevan Gosper	AUS	46.5	46.64	Q
3	266	Manfred Kinder	GER	46.7	46.82	Q
4	102	Jim Wedderburn	WIF	47.0	47.22
5	247	Germán Guenard	PUR	47.2	47.39
6	626	John Wrighton	GBR	48.0	48.09

Heat Three

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	401	Earl Young	USA	46.1	46.25	Q
2	625	Robbie Brightwell	GBR	46.2	46.31	Q
3	110	Gordon Day	RSA	46.3	46.47	Q
4	268	Jochen Reske	GER	47.3	47.43
5	518	Stanisław Swatowski	POL	47.4	47.56
6	551	Konstantin Grachov	URS	47.6	47.78
7	178	Bartonjo Rotich	KEN	47.8	47.97

Heat Four

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	400	Otis Davis	USA	45.9	46.02	Q=OR
2	109	Malcolm Spence	RSA	46.1	46.21	Q
3	49	Abdul Karim Amu	NGR	46.6	46.76	Q
4	519	Jerzy Kowalski	POL	46.7	46.82
5	599	Giuseppe Bommarito	ITA	47.5	47.71
6	82	Barry Robinson	NZL	48.3	48.44
7	235	Louis De Clerck	BEL	48.4	48.51

Semi-Finals (5 September 1960 — 16:15)

Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	5	Otis Davis	USA	45.5	45.62	QOR
2	3	Milkha Singh	IND	45.9	46.08	Q
3	6	Manfred Kinder	GER	46.0	46.13	Q
4	4	Robbie Brightwell	GBR	46.1	46.25
5	2	Gordon Day	RSA	46.7	46.84
6	1	Kevan Gosper	AUS	47.1	47.28

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	6	Carl Kaufmann	GER	45.7	45.88	Q
2	5	Malcolm Spence	RSA	45.8	46.01	Q
3	4	Earl Young	USA	46.1	46.29	Q
4	1	Abdul Karim Amu	NGR	46.6	46.74
5	3	Mal Spence	WIF	46.8	46.99
6	2	Jack Yerman	USA	48.9	48.96

Final (6 September 1960 — 15:45)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Otis Davis	USA	44.9	45.07	WR
2	1	Carl Kaufmann	GER	44.9	45.08	=WR
3	4	Malcolm Spence	RSA	45.5	45.60
4	5	Milkha Singh	IND	45.6	45.73
5	6	Manfred Kinder	GER	45.9	46.04
6	2	Earl Young	USA	45.9	46.07