Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres
December 12, 2023
The men's 400 metres was an event at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. The competition was held between September 3 and September 6, 1960. 59 competitors from 44 nations entered, but 54 competitors from 41 nations participated.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Otis Davis of the United States, the second consecutive and ninth overall title in the event for an American. Carl Kaufmann's silver was the second straight silver for a German in the event, while Malcolm Spence's bronze was the first medal for South Africa in the 400 metres since 1920.
This race was settled via photo finish using one of the first experimental attempts at fully automatic timing. Carl Kaufmann made a diving lunge at the finish line, his head crossing the line first. But it is the torso that counts and Otis Davis, running upright had his body ahead of Kaufmann. After a suspenseful pause, Davis was ruled the winner. The photo was made further famous after being published in Life Magazine.[2] In fourth place, Milkha Singh ran the Indian national record that lasted 44 years until the 2004 Olympics.[3]
There is potential confusion with two athletes in the competition named Malcolm Spence, both qualifying to the second semifinal. The (one year) younger Malcolm Spence representing South Africa eventually netted the bronze medal, while the senior Malcolm Spence from Jamaica, shortened his name to "Mal" while representing the British West Indies, achieved a bronze as part of their 4x400 metres relay, one second ahead of the 4th place South African team.
In the final, South African Malcolm Spence took off hard from the gun, making up the stagger and passing Milkha Singh to his outside before the second turn. Through the second turn, Otis Davis gained ground strongly, passing Spence to his outside halfway through the turn, emerging onto the home straight with the lead, two lanes inside of him Carl Kaufmann also gained on the turn and emerged slightly ahead of Spence. Kaufmann gained steadily on Davis but never caught him, desperately diving at the finish line from a half meter back but unable to get more than his head ahead of Davis. Singh was the best of the rest, holding his own the second half of the race against the initial lead of Spence, but unable to gain much ground. Ultimately Spence held on for bronze.
Backgroundedit
This was the fourteenth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Of the finalists from 1956, bronze medalist Voitto Hellstén of Finland and sixth-place finisher Malcolm Spence returned in 1960. The field was relatively open, with no clear favorite.[4]
Afghanistan, the Bahamas, the British West Indies, Ghana, Guyana, Tunisia, and Uganda appeared in this event for the first time. The United States made its fourteenth appearance in the event, the only nation to compete in it at every Olympic Games to that point.
Competition formatedit
The competition retained the basic four-round format from 1920. There were 9 heats in the first round, each scheduled to have 6 or 7 athletes but with some dropping to as low as 4 after withdrawals. The top three runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals. There were 4 quarterfinals of 6 or 7 runners each; the top three athletes in each quarterfinal heat advanced to the semifinals. The semifinals featured 2 heats of 6 runners each. The top three runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making a six-man final.[4][5]
Recordsedit
Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
Otis Davis matched the Olympic record of 45.9 seconds in the quarterfinals. In the first semifinal, he set a new Olympic record at 45.5 seconds; by the end of the semifinals, four men had matched (Milkha Singh) or beaten (Malcolm Spence at 45.8 seconds, Carl Kaufmann at 45.7 seconds, and Otis at 45.5 seconds) the old record. In the final, the fifth- and sixth-place finishers (Manfred Kinder and Earl Young matched the old record—but still finished a full second behind the leaders, as Otis and Kaufmann broke the world record with 44.9 second finishes to take gold and silver. Singh's 45.6 seconds in the final set a national record that stood for 44 years.
Scheduleedit
The semifinals and final were on different days for the first time since 1912.
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The men s 400 metres was an event at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome The competition was held between September 3 and September 6 1960 59 competitors from 44 nations entered but 54 competitors from 41 nations participated 1 The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress The event was won by Otis Davis of the United States the second consecutive and ninth overall title in the event for an American Carl Kaufmann s silver was the second straight silver for a German in the event while Malcolm Spence s bronze was the first medal for South Africa in the 400 metres since 1920 Men s 400 metresat the Games of the XVII OlympiadVenueOlympic StadiumDates3 6 SeptemberCompetitors59 from 44 nationsWinning time44 9 WRMedalistsOtis Davis United StatesCarl Kaufmann United Team of GermanyMalcolm Spence South Africa 19561964 Official Video Highlights Contents 1 Summary 2 Background 3 Competition format 4 Records 5 Schedule 6 Results 6 1 First round 6 1 1 Heat 1 6 1 2 Heat 2 6 1 3 Heat 3 6 1 4 Heat 4 6 1 5 Heat 5 6 1 6 Heat 6 6 1 7 Heat 7 6 1 8 Heat 8 6 1 9 Heat 9 6 2 Quarterfinal round 6 2 1 Quarterfinal 1 6 2 2 Quarterfinal 2 6 2 3 Quarterfinal 3 6 2 4 Quarterfinal 4 6 3 Semifinal round 6 3 1 Semifinal 1 6 3 2 Semifinal 2 6 4 Final 7 ReferencesSummary editThis race was settled via photo finish using one of the first experimental attempts at fully automatic timing Carl Kaufmann made a diving lunge at the finish line his head crossing the line first But it is the torso that counts and Otis Davis running upright had his body ahead of Kaufmann After a suspenseful pause Davis was ruled the winner The photo was made further famous after being published in Life Magazine 2 In fourth place Milkha Singh ran the Indian national record that lasted 44 years until the 2004 Olympics 3 There is potential confusion with two athletes in the competition named Malcolm Spence both qualifying to the second semifinal The one year younger Malcolm Spence representing South Africa eventually netted the bronze medal while the senior Malcolm Spence from Jamaica shortened his name to Mal while representing the British West Indies achieved a bronze as part of their 4x400 metres relay one second ahead of the 4th place South African team In the final South African Malcolm Spence took off hard from the gun making up the stagger and passing Milkha Singh to his outside before the second turn Through the second turn Otis Davis gained ground strongly passing Spence to his outside halfway through the turn emerging onto the home straight with the lead two lanes inside of him Carl Kaufmann also gained on the turn and emerged slightly ahead of Spence Kaufmann gained steadily on Davis but never caught him desperately diving at the finish line from a half meter back but unable to get more than his head ahead of Davis Singh was the best of the rest holding his own the second half of the race against the initial lead of Spence but unable to gain much ground Ultimately Spence held on for bronze Background editThis was the fourteenth appearance of the event which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics Of the finalists from 1956 bronze medalist Voitto Hellsten of Finland and sixth place finisher Malcolm Spence returned in 1960 The field was relatively open with no clear favorite 4 Afghanistan the Bahamas the British West Indies Ghana Guyana Tunisia and Uganda appeared in this event for the first time The United States made its fourteenth appearance in the event the only nation to compete in it at every Olympic Games to that point Competition format editThe competition retained the basic four round format from 1920 There were 9 heats in the first round each scheduled to have 6 or 7 athletes but with some dropping to as low as 4 after withdrawals The top three runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals There were 4 quarterfinals of 6 or 7 runners each the top three athletes in each quarterfinal heat advanced to the semifinals The semifinals featured 2 heats of 6 runners each The top three runners in each semifinal heat advanced making a six man final 4 5 Records editPrior to the competition the existing World and Olympic records were as follows World record nbsp Lou Jones USA 45 2 Los Angeles United States 30 June 1956Olympic record nbsp George Rhoden JAM 45 9 Helsinki Finland 25 July 1952Otis Davis matched the Olympic record of 45 9 seconds in the quarterfinals In the first semifinal he set a new Olympic record at 45 5 seconds by the end of the semifinals four men had matched Milkha Singh or beaten Malcolm Spence at 45 8 seconds Carl Kaufmann at 45 7 seconds and Otis at 45 5 seconds the old record In the final the fifth and sixth place finishers Manfred Kinder and Earl Young matched the old record but still finished a full second behind the leaders as Otis and Kaufmann broke the world record with 44 9 second finishes to take gold and silver Singh s 45 6 seconds in the final set a national record that stood for 44 years Schedule editThe semifinals and final were on different days for the first time since 1912 All times are Central European Time UTC 1 Date Time RoundSaturday 3 September 1960 09 5016 10 Round 1QuarterfinalsMonday 5 September 1960 16 15 SemifinalsTuesday 6 September 1960 15 45 FinalsResults editFirst round edit The top three runners in each of the 9 heats advanced Heat 1 edit Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Manfred Kinder nbsp United Team of Germany 46 7 Q2 Edgar Davis nbsp South Africa 47 2 Q3 Malcolm Yardley nbsp Great Britain 47 3 Q4 Josef Trousil nbsp Czechoslovakia 47 45 John Asare Antwi nbsp Ghana 47 76 Kimitada Hayase nbsp Japan 49 17 Habib Sayed nbsp Afghanistan 53 8Heat 2 edit Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Alf Pettersson nbsp Sweden 48 3 Q2 Robbie Brightwell nbsp Great Britain 48 4 Q3 Konstantin Grachev nbsp Soviet Union 49 3 Q4 Felix Heuertz nbsp Luxembourg 50 2 George Kerr nbsp British West Indies DNSN Romero nbsp Venezuela DNSHeat 3 edit Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Carl Kaufmann nbsp United Team of Germany 47 3 Q2 Barry Robinson nbsp New Zealand 47 6 Q3 Lodewijk De Clerck nbsp Belgium 47 9 Q4 Anubes da Silva nbsp Brazil 48 05 Csaba Csutoras nbsp Hungary 48 26 Hugh Bullard nbsp Bahamas 51 1Heat 4 edit Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Malcolm Spence nbsp South Africa 46 7 Q2 Kevan Gosper nbsp Australia 47 1 Q3 Terry Tobacco nbsp Canada 47 4 Q4 Gadi Ado nbsp Uganda 49 05 Marcel Lambrechts nbsp Belgium 49 56 Jorge Teran nbsp Mexico 49 67 Brahim Karabi nbsp Tunisia 52 0Heat 5 edit Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 German Guenard nbsp Puerto Rico 47 3 Q2 Jerzy Kowalski nbsp Poland 48 3 Q3 Giuseppe Bommarito nbsp Italy 48 6 Q4 Li Po ting nbsp Formosa 49 55 Clayton Glasgow nbsp Guyana 50 76 George Johnson nbsp Liberia 51 4Heat 6 edit Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Jack Yerman nbsp United States 47 2 Q2 Milkha Singh nbsp India 47 6 Q3 Stanislaw Swatowski nbsp Poland 48 1 Q4 Manikavasagam Jegathesan nbsp Malaya 48 45 Ivan Rodriguez nbsp Puerto Rico 49 66 Claro Pellosis nbsp Philippines 51 4Heat 7 edit Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Mal Spence nbsp British West Indies 47 6 Q2 Earl Young nbsp United States 47 6 Q3 Bartonjo Rotich nbsp Kenya 47 7 Q4 Zdenĕk Vana nbsp Czechoslovakia 48 35 Vasilios Sillis nbsp Greece 48 46 Manum Bumroongpruck nbsp Thailand 49 6Heat 8 edit Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Abdul Karim Amu nbsp Nigeria 46 8 Q2 Gordon Day nbsp South Africa 47 1 Q3 Hans Joachim Reske nbsp United Team of Germany 47 2 Q4 Voitto Hellsten nbsp Finland 48 45 Jassim Karim Kuraishi nbsp Iraq 49 26 Fahir Ozguden nbsp Turkey 50 7Heat 9 edit Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Otis Davis nbsp United States 46 8 Q2 Jim Wedderburn nbsp British West Indies 47 4 Q3 John Wrighton nbsp Great Britain 47 4 Q4 Rene Weber nbsp Switzerland 47 65 Moussa Said nbsp Ethiopia 48 26 Amos Grodzinowsky nbsp Israel 48 9Quarterfinal round edit The top three in each of the 4 heats advanced Quarterfinal 1 edit Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Carl Kaufmann nbsp United Team of Germany 46 5 Q2 Milkha Singh nbsp India 46 5 Q3 Malcolm Spence nbsp British West Indies 46 9 Q4 Terry Tobacco nbsp Canada 47 55 Edgar Davis nbsp South Africa 48 06 Malcolm Yardley nbsp Great Britain 48 8 Alf Pettersson nbsp Sweden DNSQuarterfinal 2 edit Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Jack Yerman nbsp United States 46 4 Q2 Kevan Gosper nbsp Australia 46 5 Q3 Manfred Kinder nbsp United Team of Germany 46 7 Q4 Jim Wedderburn nbsp British West Indies 47 05 German Guenard nbsp Puerto Rico 47 26 John Wrighton nbsp Great Britain 48 4Quarterfinal 3 edit Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Earl Young nbsp United States 46 1 Q2 Robbie Brightwell nbsp Great Britain 46 2 Q3 Gordon Day nbsp South Africa 46 3 Q4 Hans Joachim Reske nbsp United Team of Germany 47 35 Stanislaw Swatowski nbsp Poland 47 46 Konstantin Grachov nbsp Soviet Union 47 67 Bartonjo Rotich nbsp Kenya 47 8Quarterfinal 4 edit Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes1 Otis Davis nbsp United States 45 9 Q OR2 Malcolm Spence nbsp South Africa 46 1 Q3 Abdel Karim Amu nbsp Nigeria 46 6 Q4 Jerzy Kowalski nbsp Poland 46 75 Giuseppe Bommarito nbsp Italy 47 56 Barry Robinson nbsp New Zealand 48 37 Lodewijk De Clerck nbsp Belgium 48 4Semifinal round edit The top three in each of the 4 heats advanced Semifinal 1 edit Rank Athlete Nation Time hand Time auto Notes1 Otis Davis nbsp United States 45 5 45 62 Q2 Milkha Singh nbsp India 45 9 46 08 Q3 Manfred Kinder nbsp United Team of Germany 46 0 46 13 Q4 Robbie Brightwell nbsp Great Britain 46 1 46 255 Gordon Day nbsp South Africa 46 7 46 846 Kevan Gosper nbsp Australia 47 1 47 28Semifinal 2 edit Rank Athlete Nation Time hand Time auto Notes1 Carl Kaufmann nbsp United Team of Germany 45 7 45 88 Q2 Malcolm Spence nbsp South Africa 45 8 46 01 Q3 Earl Young nbsp United States 46 1 46 29 Q4 Abdul Karim Amu nbsp Nigeria 46 6 46 745 Mal Spence nbsp British West Indies 46 8 46 996 Jack Yerman nbsp United States 48 9 48 96Final edit Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time hand Time auto Notes nbsp 3 Otis Davis nbsp United States 44 9 45 07 WR nbsp 1 Carl Kaufmann nbsp United Team of Germany 44 9 45 08 WR nbsp 4 Malcolm Spence nbsp South Africa 45 5 45 604 5 Milkha Singh nbsp India 45 6 45 73 NR5 6 Manfred Kinder nbsp United Team of Germany 45 9 46 046 2 Earl Young nbsp United States 45 9 46 07References edit Athletics at the 1960 Rome Summer Games Men s 400 metres sports reference com Archived from the original on 17 April 2020 Retrieved 31 July 2017 Otis Davis 1960 400 meter and 4x400m Olympic Champion 13 September 2009 rediff com Olympics Special Milkha Singh on the race of his life a b 400 metres Men Olympedia Retrieved 3 August 2020 Official Report vol 2 pp 75 79 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics Men 27s 400 metres amp oldid 1106608377, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
