# Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles

The men's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1960 Olympic Games took place between August 31 and September 2. There were 34 competitors from 23 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Glenn Davis of the United States, the first man to successfully defend an Olympic title in the 400 metres hurdles. As of the 2016 Games, he remains the only man to do so; three others have won two gold medals in the event, but all three did so in nonconsecutive Games. It was the United States' fifth consecutive and 10th overall victory in the event. The Americans also completed their second consecutive (and fourth overall) medal sweep in the event, as Cliff Cushman took silver and Dick Howard took bronze.

## Background

This was the 12th time the event was held. It had been introduced along with the men's 200 metres hurdles in 1900, with the 200 being dropped after 1904 and the 400 being held through 1908 before being left off the 1912 programme. However, when the Olympics returned in 1920 after World War I, the men's 400 metres hurdles was back and would continue to be contested at every Games thereafter.
One of the six finalists from the 1956 Games returned: gold medalist Glenn Davis of the United States. Davis was favored to repeat; he had lowered his own world record to 49.2 seconds in 1958 and taken four of the last five AAU titles (not competing in the 1959 event). He was joined on the American team by Dick Howard (Pan American runner-up, 1959 AAU champion) and Cliff Cushman (third at the PanAm Games). The biggest challenger to Davis was Gert Potgieter of South Africa, the 1958 Commonwealth Games champion and 440 yards hurdles world record holder who had been in medal contention in the 1956 Olympic final before hitting the last hurdle and finishing sixth. Potgieter, however, had been injured in an automobile accident and was unable to compete in Rome.
Iraq, Kenya, Morocco, Norway, and Tunisia each made their debut in the event; East and West Germany competed together as the United Team of Germany for the first time. The United States made its 12th appearance, the only nation to have competed at every edition of the event to that point.

## Competition format

The competition used the three-round format used every Games since 1908 (except the four-round competition in 1952): quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. Ten sets of hurdles were set on the course. The hurdles were 3 feet (91.5 centimetres) tall and were placed 35 metres apart beginning 45 metres from the starting line, resulting in a 40 metres home stretch after the last hurdle. The 400 metres track was standard.
A significant change, however, was the introduction of the "fastest loser" system. Previously, advancement depended solely on the runners' place in their heat. The 1960 competition added advancement places to the fastest runners across the heats in the quarterfinals who did not advance based on place.
There were 6 quarterfinal heats with between 5 and 6 athletes each. The top 2 men in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals, along with the next 2 fastest overall. The 14 semifinalists were divided into 2 semifinals of 7 athletes each, with the top 3 in each semifinal advancing to the 6-man final.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Glenn Davis (USA) | 49.2 | Budapest, Hungary | 6 August 1958 |
| Olympic record | Eddie Southern (USA) | 50.1 | Melbourne, Australia | 23 November 1956 |
Four runners went under 50 seconds (hand-timed) in the final, the first time any had done so in the Olympics. Glenn Davis's time of 49.3 seconds was the new record.

## Schedule

The competition used a three-day schedule, with each round on a separate day, for the first time.
All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Wednesday, 31 August 1960 | 15:00 | Quarterfinals |
| Thursday, 1 September 1960 | 16:15 | Semifinals |
| Friday, 2 September 1960 | 16:00 | Final |

## Results
### Quarterfinals

The fastest two hurdlers in each of the six heats and the next two fastest advanced to the semifinal round.

#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Time (auto) |
| 1 | Bruno Galliker | Switzerland | 51.0 | 51.20 |
| 2 | Dick Howard | United States | 51.2 | 51.32 |
| 3 | Anubes da Silva | Brazil | 52.1 | 52.25 |
| 4 | Max Boyes | Great Britain | 52.1 | 52.32 |
| 5 | Wiesław Król | Poland | 52.4 | 52.52 |
| 6 | Mohamed Zouaki | Morocco | 55.2 | 55.65 |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Time (auto) | Notes |
| 1 | Jan Gulbrandsen | Norway | 52.2 | 52.39 | Q |
| 2 | Glenn Davis | United States | 52.2 | 52.41 | Q |
| 3 | Arnold Matsulevich | Soviet Union | 52.9 | 53.00 | |
| 4 | George Shepherd | Canada | 53.0 | 53.05 | |
| 5 | Marcel Lambrechts | Belgium | 53.5 | 53.67 | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Time (auto) | Notes |
| 1 | Cliff Cushman | United States | 51.8 | 51.98 | Q |
| 2 | Willi Matthias | United Team of Germany | 52.1 | 52.23 | Q |
| 3 | Keiji Ogushi | Japan | 52.4 | 52.58 | |
| 4 | Chris Goudge | Great Britain | 52.6 | 52.75 | |
| 5 | Muhammad Yaqub | Pakistan | 52.8 | 52.91 | |
| 6 | Mongi Soussi Zarrouki | Tunisia | 54.3 | 54.34 | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Time (auto) | Notes |
| 1 | Georgy Chevychalov | Soviet Union | 51.8 | 51.97 | Q |
| 2 | Salvatore Morale | Italy | 52.0 | 52.13 | Q |
| 3 | Per-Owe Trollsås | Sweden | 52.3 | 52.49 | |
| 4 | Wolfgang Fischer | United Team of Germany | 53.2 | 53.35 | |
| 5 | Dimitrios Skourtis | Greece | 53.7 | 53.85 | |

#### Quarterfinal 5

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Time (auto) | Notes |
| 1 | Helmut Janz | United Team of Germany | 51.1 | 51.30 | Q |
| 2 | Bartonjo Rotich | Kenya | 51.2 | 51.39 | Q |
| 3 | Jussi Rintamäki | Finland | 51.5 | 51.70 | q |
| 4 | Elio Catola | Italy | 51.8 | 51.94 | q |
| 5 | Fahir Özgüden | Turkey | 55.3 | 55.43 | |
| 6 | Nazzar Al-Jamali | Iraq | 58.0 | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 6

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Time (auto) | Notes |
| 1 | John Metcalf | Great Britain | 52.1 | 52.24 | Q |
| 2 | Moreno Martini | Italy | 52.1 | 52.26 | Q |
| 3 | Boris Kriunov | Soviet Union | 52.5 | 52.66 | |
| 4 | Víctor Maldonado | Venezuela | 52.6 | 52.79 | |
| 5 | Zdzisław Kumiszcze | Poland | 53.3 | 53.47 | |
| 6 | Li Po-Ting | Formosa | 54.1 | 54.23 | |

### Semifinals

The fastest three hurdlers in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Time (auto) | Notes |
| 1 | Glenn Davis | United States | 51.1 | 51.20 | Q |
| 2 | Jussi Rintamäki | Finland | 51.1 | 51.20 | Q |
| 3 | Helmut Janz | United Team of Germany | 51.4 | 51.55 | Q |
| 4 | Georgy Chevychalov | Soviet Union | 52.0 | 52.14 | |
| 5 | Elio Catola | Italy | 52.3 | 52.44 | |
| 6 | Jan Gulbrandsen | Norway | 52.4 | 52.56 | |
| 7 | Moreno Martini | Italy | 52.4 | 52.57 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Time (auto) | Notes |
| 1 | Cliff Cushman | United States | 50.8 | 50.89 | Q |
| 2 | Dick Howard | United States | 50.8 | 50.91 | Q |
| 3 | Bruno Galliker | Switzerland | 51.3 | 51.47 | Q |
| 4 | Salvatore Morale | Italy | 51.3 | 51.48 | |
| 5 | Bartonjo Rotich | Kenya | 51.8 | 51.97 | |
| 6 | Willi Matthias | United Team of Germany | 51.8 | 51.95 | |
| 7 | John Metcalf | Great Britain | 52.5 | 52.72 | |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Time (auto) | Notes |
| | Glenn Davis | United States | 49.3 | 49.51 | OR |
| | Cliff Cushman | United States | 49.6 | 49.77 | |
| | Dick Howard | United States | 49.7 | 49.90 | |
| 4 | Helmut Janz | United Team of Germany | 49.9 | 50.05 | |
| 5 | Jussi Rintamäki | Finland | 50.8 | 50.98 | |
| 6 | Bruno Galliker | Switzerland | 51.0 | 51.11 | |
| | | | Wind: +0.1 m/s | Wind: +0.1 m/s | Wind: +0.1 m/s |

## Results summary

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | Notes |
| | Glenn Davis | United States | 52.41 | 51.20 | 49.51 | OR |
| | Cliff Cushman | United States | 51.98 | 50.89 | 49.77 | |
| | Dick Howard | United States | 51.32 | 50.91 | 49.90 | |
| 4 | Helmut Janz | United Team of Germany | 51.30 | 51.55 | 50.05 | |
| 5 | Jussi Rintamäki | Finland | 51.70 | 51.20 | 50.98 | |
| 6 | Bruno Galliker | Switzerland | 51.20 | 51.47 | 51.11 | |
| 7 | Salvatore Morale | Italy | 52.13 | 51.48 | Did not advance | |
| 8 | Bartonjo Rotich | Kenya | 51.39 | 51.97 | Did not advance | |
| 9 | Willi Matthias | United Team of Germany | 52.23 | 51.95 | Did not advance | |
| 10 | Georgy Chevychalov | Soviet Union | 51.97 | 52.14 | Did not advance | |
| 11 | Elio Catola | Italy | 51.94 | 52.44 | Did not advance | |
| 12 | Jan Gulbrandsen | Norway | 52.39 | 52.56 | Did not advance | |
| 13 | Moreno Martini | Italy | 52.26 | 52.57 | Did not advance | |
| 14 | John Metcalf | Great Britain | 52.24 | 52.72 | Did not advance | |
| 15 | Anubes da Silva | Brazil | 52.25 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 16 | Max Boyes | Great Britain | 52.32 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 17 | Per-Owe Trollsås | Sweden | 52.49 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 18 | Wiesław Król | Poland | 52.52 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 19 | Keiji Ogushi | Japan | 52.58 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 20 | Boris Kriunov | Soviet Union | 52.66 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 21 | Chris Goudge | Great Britain | 52.75 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 22 | Víctor Maldonado | Venezuela | 52.79 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 23 | Muhammad Yaqub | Pakistan | 52.91 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 24 | Arnold Matsulevich | Soviet Union | 53.00 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 25 | George Shepherd | Canada | 53.05 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 26 | Wolfgang Fischer | United Team of Germany | 53.35 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 27 | Zdzisław Kumiszcze | Poland | 53.47 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 28 | Marcel Lambrechts | Belgium | 53.67 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 29 | Dimitrios Skourtis | Greece | 53.85 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 30 | Li Po-Ting | Formosa | 54.23 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 31 | Mongi Soussi Zarrouki | Tunisia | 54.34 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 32 | Fahir Özgüden | Turkey | 55.43 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 33 | Mohamed Zouaki | Morocco | 55.65 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 34 | Nazzar Al-Jamali | Iraq | 58.0 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |