| | Event type
400 metres Hurdles, Men
| Date | 31 August – 2 September 1960 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Stadio Olimpico, Roma |
| Participants | 34 from 23 countries |
Glenn Davis was the defending champion, world record holder, and the heavy favorite in 1960. He had won the AAU title in 1956, 57, 58, and 60, not competing in 1959 when the event was won by Dick Howard. Howard had also placed second at the 1959 Pan-American Games, third in that event going to Cliff Cushman. The only hurdler felt capable of challenging Davis was South Africa’s Gert Potgieter, 1958 Commonwealth Games champion in a 440 yard world record of 49.7. But he was injured in a car accident shortly before the Roma Olympics and could not compete. In Roma, Davis led an American sweep, with Howard getting the bronze medal, the silver medal going to Cushman. Cushman and Howard both died young, for different reasons. Cushman was listed as missing in action in Vietnam in 1966, while Howard died in 1967 from a heroin overdose.
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 417 | Glenn Davis |  USA | 52.2 (2 h2) | 51.1 (1 h1) | 49.3 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 416 | Cliff Cushman | USA | 51.8 (1 h3) | 50.8 (1 h2) | 49.6 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 418 | Dick Howard | USA | 51.2 (2 h1) | 50.8 (2 h2) | 49.7 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 284 | Helmut Janz |  GER | 51.1 (1 h5) | 51.4 (3 h1) | 49.9 (4) | |||
| 5 | 501 | Jussi Rintamäki |  FIN | 51.5 (3 h5) | 51.1 (2 h1) | 50.8 (5) | |||
| 6 | 224 | Bruno Galliker |  SUI | 51.0 (1 h1) | 51.3 (3 h2) | 51.0 (6) | |||
| 4 h1 r2/3 | 566 | Georgy Chevychalov |  URS | 51.8 (1 h4) | 52.0 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 4 h2 r2/3 | 607 | Salvatore Morale |  ITA | 52.0 (2 h4) | 51.3 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 5 h1 r2/3 | 609 | Elio Catola | ITA | 51.8 (4 h5) | 52.3 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 5 h2 r2/3 | 178 | Bartonjo Rotich |  KEN | 51.2 (2 h5) | 51.8 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 6 h1 r2/3 | 686 | Jan Gulbrandsen |  NOR | 52.2 (1 h2) | 52.4 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 6 h2 r2/3 | 285 | Willi Matthias | GER | 52.1 (2 h3) | 51.8 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 7 h1 r2/3 | 608 | Moreno Martini | ITA | 52.1 (2 h6) | 52.4 (7 h1) | – | |||
| 7 h2 r2/3 | 643 | John Metcalf |  GBR | 52.1 (1 h6) | 52.5 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 3 h1 r1/3 | 39 | Anubes da Silva |  BRA | 52.1 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 3 h2 r1/3 | 567 | Arnold Matsulevich | URS | 52.9 (3 h2) | – | – | |||
| 3 h3 r1/3 | 376 | Keiji Ogushi |  JPN | 52.4 (3 h3) | – | – | |||
| 3 h4 r1/3 | 348 | Per-Owe Trollsås |  SWE | 52.3 (3 h4) | – | – | |||
| 3 h6 r1/3 | 565 | Boris Kriunov | URS | 52.5 (3 h6) | – | – | |||
| 4 h1 r1/3 | 644 | Max Boyes | GBR | 52.1 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 4 h2 r1/3 | 141 | George Shepherd |  CAN | 53.0 (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 4 h3 r1/3 | 642 | Chris Goudge | GBR | 52.6 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 4 h4 r1/3 | 283 | Wolfgang Fischer | GER | 53.2 (4 h4) | – | – | |||
| 4 h6 r1/3 | 363 | Víctor Maldonado |  VEN | 52.6 (4 h6) | – | – | |||
| 5 h1 r1/3 | 529 | Wiesław Król |  POL | 52.4 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 5 h2 r1/3 | 241 | Marcel Lambrechts |  BEL | 53.5 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 5 h3 r1/3 | 120 | Muhammad Yaqub |  PAK | 52.8 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 5 h4 r1/3 | 333 | Dimitrios Skourtis |  GRE | 53.7 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 5 h5 r1/3 | 660 | Fahir Özgüden |  TUR | 55.3 (5 h5) | – | – | |||
| 5 h6 r1/3 | 528 | Zdzisław Kumiszcze | POL | 53.3 (5 h6) | – | – | |||
| 6 h1 r1/3 | 186 | Mohamed Zouaki |  MAR | 55.2 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 6 h3 r1/3 | 72 | Mongi Soussi Zarrouki |  TUN | 54.3 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 6 h5 r1/3 | 25 | Nazzar Al-Jamali |  IRQ | 58.0 (6 h5) | – | – | |||
| 6 h6 r1/3 | 32 | Li Po-Ting |  TPE | 54.1 (6 h6) | – | – | |||
| 493 | Soedjanoedji |  INA | – (DNS h2) | – | – | ||||
| 3 | Habib Sayed |  AFG | – (DNS h4) | – | – |
Round One (31 August 1960 — 15:00)
Top two in each heat and the next two fastest advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Bruno Galliker | SUI | 51.0 | 51.20 | |||
| 2 | 6 | Dick Howard | USA | 51.2 | 51.32 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Anubes da Silva | BRA | 52.1 | 52.25 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Max Boyes | GBR | 52.1 | 52.32 | |||
| 5 | 1 | Wiesław Król | POL | 52.4 | 52.52 | |||
| 6 | 4 | Mohamed Zouaki | MAR | 55.2 | 55.65 |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Jan Gulbrandsen | NOR | 52.2 | 52.39 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Glenn Davis | USA | 52.2 | 52.41 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Arnold Matsulevich | URS | 52.9 | 53.00 | |||
| 4 | 2 | George Shepherd | CAN | 53.0 | 53.05 | |||
| 5 | 6 | Marcel Lambrechts | BEL | 53.5 | 53.67 | |||
| 1 | Soedjanoedji | INA | – | – |
Heat Three
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Cliff Cushman | USA | 51.8 | 51.98 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Willi Matthias | GER | 52.1 | 52.23 | |||
| 3 | 1 | Keiji Ogushi | JPN | 52.4 | 52.58 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Chris Goudge | GBR | 52.6 | 52.75 | |||
| 5 | 6 | Muhammad Yaqub | PAK | 52.8 | 52.91 | |||
| 6 | 3 | Mongi Soussi Zarrouki | TUN | 54.3 | 54.34 |
Heat Four
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Georgy Chevychalov | URS | 51.8 | 51.97 | |||
| 2 | 3 | Salvatore Morale | ITA | 52.0 | 52.13 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Per-Owe Trollsås | SWE | 52.3 | 52.49 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Wolfgang Fischer | GER | 53.2 | 53.35 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Dimitrios Skourtis | GRE | 53.7 | 53.85 | |||
| 2 | Habib Sayed | AFG | – | – |
Heat Five
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Helmut Janz | GER | 51.1 | 51.30 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Bartonjo Rotich | KEN | 51.2 | 51.39 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Jussi Rintamäki | FIN | 51.5 | 51.70 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Elio Catola | ITA | 51.8 | 51.94 | |||
| 5 | 6 | Fahir Özgüden | TUR | 55.3 | 55.43 | |||
| 6 | 5 | Nazzar Al-Jamali | IRQ | 58.0 | – |
Heat Six
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | John Metcalf | GBR | 52.1 | 52.24 | |||
| 2 | 6 | Moreno Martini | ITA | 52.1 | 52.26 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Boris Kriunov | URS | 52.5 | 52.66 | |||
| 4 | 4 | Víctor Maldonado | VEN | 52.6 | 52.79 | |||
| 5 | 3 | Zdzisław Kumiszcze | POL | 53.3 | 53.47 | |||
| 6 | 1 | Li Po-Ting | TPE | 54.1 | 54.23 |
Semi-Finals (1 September 1960 — 16:15)
Top three in each heat advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Glenn Davis | USA | 51.1 | 51.20 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Jussi Rintamäki | FIN | 51.1 | 51.20 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Helmut Janz | GER | 51.4 | 51.55 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Georgy Chevychalov | URS | 52.0 | 52.14 | |||
| 5 | 7 | Elio Catola | ITA | 52.3 | 52.44 | |||
| 6 | 4 | Jan Gulbrandsen | NOR | 52.4 | 52.56 | |||
| 7 | 3 | Moreno Martini | ITA | 52.4 | 52.57 |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Cliff Cushman | USA | 50.8 | 50.89 | |||
| 2 | 1 | Dick Howard | USA | 50.8 | 50.91 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Bruno Galliker | SUI | 51.3 | 51.47 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Salvatore Morale | ITA | 51.3 | 51.48 | |||
| 5 | 7 | Bartonjo Rotich | KEN | 51.8 | 51.97 | 1 | ||
| 6 | 2 | Willi Matthias | GER | 51.8 | 51.95 | 2 | ||
| 7 | 3 | John Metcalf | GBR | 52.5 | 52.72 |
Final (2 September 1960 — 16:00)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Glenn Davis | USA | 49.3 | 49.51 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Cliff Cushman | USA | 49.6 | 49.77 | |||
| 3 | 1 | Dick Howard | USA | 49.7 | 49.90 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Helmut Janz | GER | 49.9 | 50.05 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Jussi Rintamäki | FIN | 50.8 | 50.98 | |||
| 6 | 3 | Bruno Galliker | SUI | 51.0 | 51.11 |