# Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles

The men's 400 metres hurdles at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 38 competitors, with five qualifying heats (38 runners) and two semifinals (16) before the final (8) took place on Sunday September 25, 1988. One athlete did not start, so there were 37 competitors from 28 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Andre Phillips of the United States, the nation's second consecutive and 14th overall victory in the event. Amadou Dia Ba earned Senegal's first medal in the event with his silver. Dia Ba broke up a potential American sweep, as 1976 and 1984 champion Edwin Moses took bronze and Kevin Young placed fourth. Moses was the second man to earn three medals in the event (after Morgan Taylor from 1924 to 1932).

## Background

This was the 19th 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.
Three of the eight finalists from the 1984 Games returned: gold medalist (and 1976 champion) Edwin Moses of the United States, bronze medalist Harald Schmid of West Germany, and fifth-place finisher Amadou Dia Bâ of Senegal. Fourth-place finisher Sven Nylander of Sweden was entered but did not start. Moses had won over 100 consecutive finals in nearly 10 years starting in August 1977, but had finally been beaten in June 1987. No longer unbeatable, Moses had still won the 1987 World Championships and the 1988 U.S. Olympic trials—both featured very strong fields.
Barbados, Fiji, Honduras, Nepal, Sierra Leone, and South Korea each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 18th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

## 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.
There were 5 quarterfinal heats with between 7 and 8 athletes each. The top 3 men in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals along with the next fastest 1 overall. The 16 semifinalists were divided into 2 semifinals of 8 athletes each, with the top 4 in each semifinal advancing to the 8-man final.

## Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.
| World record | Edwin Moses (USA) | 47.02 | Koblenz, West Germany | 31 August 1983 |
| Olympic record | Edwin Moses (USA) | 47.64 | Montreal, Canada | 25 July 1976 |
Andre Phillips set a new Olympic record in the final with a time of 47.19 seconds.

## Schedule

All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (UTC+10)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Friday, 23 September 1988 | 11:10 | Quarterfinals |
| Saturday, 24 September 1988 | 16:00 | Semifinals |
| Sunday, 25 September 1988 | 13:35 | Final |

## Results
### Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals were held on Friday September 23, 1988.

#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Amadou Dia Ba | Senegal | 49.41 | Q |
| 2 | Klaus Ehrle | Austria | 50.10 | Q |
| 3 | John Graham | Canada | 50.30 | Q |
| 4 | Hwang Hong-Chul | South Korea | 50.52 | |
| 5 | Philip Harries | Great Britain | 50.81 | |
| 6 | Jasem Aldowaila | Kuwait | 51.87 | |
| 7 | Dambar Kunwar | Nepal | 56.80 | |
| — | Sven Nylander | Sweden | DNS | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Harald Schmid | West Germany | 49.77 | Q |
| 2 | Simon Kitur | Kenya | 49.88 | Q |
| 3 | Alain Cuypers | Belgium | 50.42 | Q |
| 4 | Ahmed Ghanem | Egypt | 50.44 | |
| 5 | Ryoichi Yoshida | Japan | 50.49 | |
| 6 | Samuel Matete | Zambia | 51.06 | |
| 7 | Domingo Cordero | Puerto Rico | 51.26 | |
| 8 | Jorge Fidel Ponce | Honduras | 55.38 | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Edwin Moses | United States | 49.38 | Q |
| 2 | Edgar Itt | West Germany | 50.10 | Q |
| 3 | José Alonso | Spain | 50.12 | Q |
| 4 | Leigh Miller | Australia | 50.53 | |
| 5 | Branislav Karaulić | Yugoslavia | 51.32 | |
| 6 | Allan Ince | Barbados | 52.76 | |
| 7 | Oral Selkridge | Antigua and Barbuda | 53.44 | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Kevin Young | United States | 49.35 | Q |
| 2 | Kriss Akabusi | Great Britain | 49.62 | Q |
| 3 | Gideon Yego | Kenya | 49.80 | Q |
| 4 | Jozef Kucej | Czechoslovakia | 49.89 | |
| 5 | Rok Kopitar | Yugoslavia | 50.54 | |
| 6 | Hamidou M'Baye | Senegal | 50.58 | |
| 7 | Benjamin Grant | Sierra Leone | 51.73 | |
| 8 | Joseph Rodan | Fiji | 53.66 | |

#### Quarterfinal 5

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Andre Phillips | United States | 49.34 | Q |
| 2 | Winthrop Graham | Jamaica | 49.40 | Q |
| 3 | Joseph Maritim | Kenya | 49.64 | Q |
| 4 | Toma Tomov | Bulgaria | 49.66 | q |
| 5 | Max Robertson | Great Britain | 50.67 | |
| 6 | Ahmed Hamada Jassim | Bahrain | 51.34 | |
| 7 | Yousif Al-Dossary | Saudi Arabia | 53.51 | |

### Semifinals

The semifinals were held on Saturday September 24, 1988.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes | LANE |
| 1 | 3 | Edwin Moses | United States | 47.89 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Kevin Young | United States | 48.56 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Harald Schmid | West Germany | 48.93 | Q |
| 4 | 6 | Kriss Akabusi | Great Britain | 49.22 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | Joseph Maritim | Kenya | 49.50 | |
| 6 | 8 | José Alonso | Spain | 49.57 | |
| 7 | 2 | Klaus Ehrle | Austria | 51.04 | |
| 8 | 7 | John Graham | Canada | 51.33 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes | LANE |
| 1 | 5 | Andre Phillips | United States | 48.19 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Winthrop Graham | Jamaica | 48.37 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Amadou Dia Ba | Senegal | 48.48 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Edgar Itt | West Germany | 48.86 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | Toma Tomov | Bulgaria | 48.90 | |
| 6 | 1 | Simon Kitur | Kenya | 49.74 | |
| 7 | 7 | Alain Cuypers | Belgium | 49.75 | |
| — | 8 | Gideon Yego | Kenya | DSQ | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | 6 | Andre Phillips | United States | 47.19 | OR |
| | 5 | Amadou Dia Ba | Senegal | 47.23 | NR |
| | 3 | Edwin Moses | United States | 47.56 | |
| 4 | 2 | Kevin Young | United States | 47.94 | |
| 5 | 4 | Winthrop Graham | Jamaica | 48.04 | |
| 6 | 7 | Kriss Akabusi | Great Britain | 48.69 | |
| 7 | 1 | Harald Schmid | West Germany | 48.76 | |
| 8 | 8 | Edgar Itt | West Germany | 48.78 | |

## Results summary

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | Notes |
| | Andre Phillips | United States | 49.34 | 48.19 | 47.19 | OR |
| | Amadou Dia Ba | Senegal | 49.41 | 48.48 | 47.23 | NR |
| | Edwin Moses | United States | 49.38 | 47.89 | 47.56 | |
| 4 | Kevin Young | United States | 49.35 | 48.56 | 47.94 | |
| 5 | Winthrop Graham | Jamaica | 49.40 | 48.37 | 48.04 | |
| 6 | Kriss Akabusi | Great Britain | 49.62 | 49.22 | 48.69 | |
| 7 | Harald Schmid | West Germany | 49.77 | 48.93 | 48.76 | |
| 8 | Edgar Itt | West Germany | 50.10 | 48.86 | 48.78 | |
| 9 | Toma Tomov | Bulgaria | 49.66 | 48.90 | Did not advance | |
| 10 | Joseph Maritim | Kenya | 49.64 | 49.50 | Did not advance | |
| 11 | José Alonso | Spain | 50.12 | 49.57 | Did not advance | |
| 12 | Simon Kitur | Kenya | 49.88 | 49.74 | Did not advance | |
| 13 | Alain Cuypers | Belgium | 50.42 | 49.75 | Did not advance | |
| 14 | Klaus Ehrle | Austria | 50.10 | 51.04 | Did not advance | |
| 15 | John Graham | Canada | 50.30 | 51.33 | Did not advance | |
| 16 | Gideon Yego | Kenya | 49.80 | DSQ | Did not advance | |
| 17 | Jozef Kucej | Czechoslovakia | 49.89 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 18 | Ahmed Ghanem | Egypt | 50.44 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 19 | Ryoichi Yoshida | Japan | 50.49 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 20 | Hwang Hong-Chul | South Korea | 50.52 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 21 | Leigh Miller | Australia | 50.53 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 22 | Rok Kopitar | Yugoslavia | 50.54 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 23 | Hamidou M'Baye | Senegal | 50.58 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 24 | Max Robertson | Great Britain | 50.67 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 25 | Philip Harries | Great Britain | 50.81 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 26 | Samuel Matete | Zambia | 51.06 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 27 | Domingo Cordero | Puerto Rico | 51.26 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 28 | Branislav Karaulić | Yugoslavia | 51.32 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 29 | Ahmed Hamada Jassim | Bahrain | 51.34 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 30 | Benjamin Grant | Sierra Leone | 51.73 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 31 | Jasem Aldowaila | Kuwait | 51.87 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 32 | Allan Ince | Barbados | 52.76 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 33 | Oral Selkridge | Antigua and Barbuda | 53.44 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 34 | Yousif Al-Dossary | Saudi Arabia | 53.51 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 35 | Joseph Rodan | Fiji | 53.66 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 36 | Jorge Fidel Ponce | Honduras | 55.38 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 37 | Dambar Kunwar | Nepal | 56.80 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| — | Sven Nylander | Sweden | DNS | Did not advance | Did not advance | |