# Athletics at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres event at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games was held on 22–23 July 1970 at the Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the first time that the metric distance was contested at the Games, replacing the 440 yards event.

## Medalists

Medallists :
| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Charles Asati Kenya | Ross Wilson Australia | Saimoni Tamani Fiji |

## Results
### Heats

Held on 22 July 1970

#### Qualification for quarterfinals

The first 4 in each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) qualified for the quarterfinals.
Heats results :
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Hezekiah Nyamau | Kenya | 47.3 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Edwin Roberts | Trinidad and Tobago | 47.3 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Martin Bilham | England | 48.5 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Larry Barton | Canada | 49.4 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Brian Cowley | Isle of Man | 51.3 | |
| 6 | 1 | Gerard Gangaram | Mauritius | 52.1 | |
| | 1 | William Koskei | Uganda | DNS | |
| 1 | 2 | Kent Bernard | Trinidad and Tobago | 48.5 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Julius Sang | Kenya | 49.1 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Leslie Miller | Bahamas | 49.3 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Ghulam Qadir | Pakistan | 50.9 | Q |
| | 2 | Tony Powell | Canada | DNS | |
| | 2 | Joe Chivers | Northern Ireland | DNS | |
| | 2 | David Jenkins | Scotland | DNS | |
| 1 | 3 | Charles Asati | Kenya | 46.7 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Mamman Makama | Nigeria | 47.8 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Leighton Priestley | Jamaica | 48.9 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Tony Harper | Bermuda | 50.0 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | John Mottley | Trinidad and Tobago | 50.1 | q |
| 6 | 3 | Peter Ndovi | Malawi | 50.1 | |
| 7 | 3 | Percy Coker | Gambia | 52.7 | |
| 1 | 4 | Garth Case | Jamaica | 48.7 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Ian Gordon | Canada | 49.7 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Ray Gordon | Scotland | 50.1 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | Charles Obilu | Uganda | 50.6 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | Dave Griffiths | Wales | 50.6 | |
| 6 | 4 | Wilbert Moss | Bahamas | 50.7 | |
| 7 | 4 | Nicodemus Maipambe | Zambia | 50.8 | |
| 1 | 5 | Saimoni Tamani | Fiji | 47.3 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Musa Dogon Yaro | Nigeria | 47.6 | Q |
| 3 | 5 | Sam Bugri | Ghana | 47.8 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | Andrew Wood | Scotland | 48.0 | Q |
| 7 | 5 | Malcolm Yardley | England | 50.7 | |
| 8 | 5 | Anthony Perera | Gibraltar | 53.2 | |
| 1 | 6 | Claver Kamanya | Tanzania | 47.2 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Ross Wilson | Australia | 47.76 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Anthony Egwunyenga | Nigeria | 48.6 | Q |
| 4 | 6 | Fred Sowerby | Antigua and Barbuda | 50.0 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | Vikimbi Radebe | Swaziland | 50.9 | |
| 6 | 6 | Francisco Mvula | Malawi | 51.2 | |
| | 6 | George Daniels | Ghana | DNS | |
| 1 | 7 | Clifton Forbes | Jamaica | 48.1 | Q |
| 2 | 7 | Mike Hauck | England | 48.7 | Q |
| 3 | 7 | Daniel Oboth | Uganda | 48.7 | Q |
| 4 | 7 | Gary Knoke | Australia | 48.91 | Q |
| 6 | 7 | Zuku Tofile | Swaziland | 50.3 | |
| 7 | 7 | Patrick Francis | Antigua and Barbuda | 52.1 | |
| 6 | 5 | Gerard Carson | Northern Ireland | 50.0 | q |
| 5 | 5 | Norman Brinkworth | Pakistan | 49.6 | q |
| 5 | 7 | Andrew McKinney | Bahamas | 49.7 | q |

### Quarterfinals

Held on 22 July 1970

#### Qualification for semifinals

The first 4 in each heat (Q) qualified directly for the semifinals.
Quarterfinals results :
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Edwin Roberts | Trinidad and Tobago | 46.2 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Clifton Forbes | Jamaica | 46.6 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Mike Hauck | England | 46.75 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Mamman Makama | Nigeria | 47.0 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Andrew Wood | Scotland | 47.7 | |
| 6 | 1 | Ian Gordon | Canada | 48.4 | |
| 7 | 1 | Charles Obilu | Uganda | 48.5 | |
| 8 | 1 | Norman Brinkworth | Pakistan | 49.0 | |
| 1 | 2 | Claver Kamanya | Tanzania | 46.5 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Julius Sang | Kenya | 46.8 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Kent Bernard | Trinidad and Tobago | 46.8 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Sam Bugri | Ghana | 47.5 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Martin Bilham | England | 48.0 | |
| 6 | 2 | Larry Barton | Canada | 48.7 | |
| 7 | 2 | Fred Sowerby | Antigua and Barbuda | 48.8 | |
| 8 | 2 | Andrew McKinney | Bahamas | 49.9 | |
| 1 | 3 | Charles Asati | Kenya | 45.8 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Ross Wilson | Australia | 46.35 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Anthony Egwunyenga | Nigeria | 47.4 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Leighton Priestley | Jamaica | 47.9 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | Daniel Oboth | Uganda | 48.7 | |
| 6 | 3 | Leslie Miller | Bahamas | 49.5 | |
| 7 | 3 | Ghulam Qadir | Pakistan | 50.3 | |
| 8 | 3 | Gerard Carson | Northern Ireland | 52.3 | |
| 1 | 4 | Garth Case | Jamaica | 46.6 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Hezekiah Nyamau | Kenya | 46.9 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Saimoni Tamani | Fiji | 46.9 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | Gary Knoke | Australia | 47.3 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | Musa Dogon Yaro | Nigeria | 47.8 | |
| 6 | 4 | Tony Harper | Bermuda | 48.9 | |
| 7 | 4 | Ray Gordon | Scotland | 49.1 | |
| | 4 | John Mottley | Trinidad and Tobago | DNS | |

### Semifinals

Held on 23 July 1970

#### Qualification for final

The first 4 in each semifinal (Q) qualified directly for the final.
Semifinals results :
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Julius Sang | Kenya | 45.9 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Ross Wilson | Australia | 45.94 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Edwin Roberts | Trinidad and Tobago | ??.? | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Claver Kamanya | Tanzania | 46.0 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Sam Bugri | Ghana | 46.5 | |
| 6 | 1 | Leighton Priestley | Jamaica | 47.4 | |
| 7 | 1 | Anthony Egwunyenga | Nigeria | 47.5 | |
| | 1 | Garth Case | Jamaica | DNS | |
| 1 | 2 | Charles Asati | Kenya | 45.5 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Saimoni Tamani | Fiji | 46.0 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Kent Bernard | Trinidad and Tobago | ??.? | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Clifton Forbes | Jamaica | 46.8 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Mike Hauck | England | 46.9 | |
| 6 | 2 | Hezekiah Nyamau | Kenya | 47.3 | |
| 7 | 2 | Gary Knoke | Australia | 47.38 | |
| 8 | 2 | Mamman Makama | Nigeria | 47.6 | |

### Final

Held on 23 July 1970
Final results :
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| | Charles Asati | Kenya | 45.01 |
| | Ross Wilson | Australia | 45.61 |
| | Saimoni Tamani | Fiji | 45.82 |
| 4 | Claver Kamanya | Tanzania | 45.8 |
| 5 | Kent Bernard | Trinidad and Tobago | 46.0 |
| 6 | Edwin Roberts | Trinidad and Tobago | 46.1 |
| 7 | Clifton Forbes | Jamaica | 46.1 |
| 8 | Julius Sang | Kenya | 46.4 |