# Athletics at the 1928 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres was an event at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. Fifty athletes from 20 nations competed. NOCs were limited to 4 competitors each. The event was won by Ray Barbuti of the United States, the first title for the Americans in the event since 1912 and the fifth overall. Jimmy Ball won Canada's first medal in the event, a silver.

## Background

This was the eighth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics.
None of the finalists from 1924 returned. The world record holder, Emerson Spencer, came in fifth at the U.S. Olympic trials and missed the team. Ray Barbuti won the U.S. trials.
Chile and Greece appeared in the event for the first time. The United States made its eighth appearance in the event, the only nation to compete in it at every Olympic Games to that point.

## Competition format

The competition retained the basic four-round format from 1920. The first round had 15 heats, ranging from 2 to 5 athletes. The top two runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals. There were 6 quarterfinals of 5 runners each; the top two athletes in each quarterfinal heat advanced to the semifinals. The semifinals featured 2 heats of 6 runners each. The top two runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making a six-man final.

## Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics.
| World record | Emerson Spencer (USA) | 47.0 | Palo Alto, United States | 12 May 1928 |
| Olympic record | Eric Liddell (GBR) | 47.6 | Paris, France | 11 July 1924 |
No records were set during this event.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| Thursday, 2 August 1928 | 14:00 16:00 | Heats Quarterfinals |
| Friday, 3 August 1928 | 14:00 16:00 | Semifinals Final |

## Results
### Round 1

The top two finishers in each of the 15 heats advanced to the quarterfinals.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Hermon Phillips | United States | 49.4 | Q |
| 2 | Georges Dupont | France | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Zygmunt Weiss | Poland | 50.8 | |
| 4 | Rinus van den Berge | Netherlands | Unknown | |
| 5 | Víctor Villaseñor | Mexico | Unknown | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Emil Snider | United States | 50.4 | Q |
| 2 | François Prinsen | Belgium | Unknown | Q |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Phil Edwards | Canada | 49.8 | Q |
| 2 | Georges Krotoff | France | 50.5 | Q |
| 3 | Jaroslav Vykoupil | Czechoslovakia | Unknown | |
| 4 | Stefan Kostrzewski | Poland | 52.2 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | John Rinkel | Great Britain | 50.2 | Q |
| 2 | Johann Bartl | Czechoslovakia | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Émile Langenraedt | Belgium | Unknown | |
| 4 | Feliks Żuber | Poland | 52.6 | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jochen Büchner | Germany | 50.2 | Q |
| 2 | Andries Hoogerwerf | Netherlands | Unknown | Q |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ray Barbuti | United States | 49.8 | Q |
| 2 | Sean Lavan | Ireland | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Louis Lundgren | Denmark | Unknown | |
| 4 | Jenő Szalay | Hungary | Unknown | |
| 5 | Rudolfo Hannig | Chile | Unknown | |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Harry Storz | Germany | 50.6 | Q |
| 2 | Harry Broos | Netherlands | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Joaquín Miquel | Spain | Unknown | |

#### Heat 8

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jimmy Ball | Canada | 55.8 | Q |
| 2 | Roger Leigh-Wood | Great Britain | Unknown | Q |

#### Heat 9

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jesús Moraila | Mexico | 1:00.0 | Q |
| 2 | James Hall | India | Unknown | Q |

#### Heat 10

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | László Barsi | Hungary | 55.6 | Q |
| 2 | José Lucílo Iturbe | Mexico | Unknown | Q |

#### Heat 11

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Joe Tierney | United States | 49.8 | Q |
| 2 | Alex Wilson | Canada | 49.9 | Q |
| 3 | Klemens Biniakowski | Poland | 50.8 | |

#### Heat 12

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | René Féger | France | 51.4 | Q |
| 2 | Billy Green | Great Britain | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | José Vicente Salinas | Chile | Unknown | |

#### Heat 13

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Hermann Geißler | Austria | 50.2 | Q |
| 2 | Adje Paulen | Netherlands | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | László Magdics | Hungary | Unknown | |
| 4 | Vasilios Stavrinos | Greece | Unknown | |
| 5 | Fritz Eyschen | Luxembourg | Unknown | |

#### Heat 14

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Otto Neumann | Germany | 50.6 | Q |
| 2 | Fred Macbeth | Canada | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Charles Stuart | Australia | Unknown | |
| 4 | Mór Gerő | Hungary | Unknown | |

#### Heat 15

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Reinhold Schmidt | Germany | 50.0 | Q |
| 2 | Joseph Jackson | France | 50.6 | Q |
| 3 | John Hanlon | Great Britain | Unknown | |
| 4 | Alfonso García | Mexico | Unknown | |

### Quarterfinals

The first two finishers in each of the six heats advanced to the semifinal round.

#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Hermon Phillips | United States | 49.6 | Q |
| 2 | Georges Krotoff | France | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Billy Green | Great Britain | Unknown | |
| 4 | Reinhold Schmidt | Germany | Unknown | |
| 5 | James Hall | India | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ray Barbuti | United States | 48.8 | Q |
| 2 | Alex Wilson | Canada | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Otto Neumann | Germany | Unknown | |
| 4 | Georges Dupont | France | Unknown | |
| 5 | Jesús Moraila | Mexico | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jimmy Ball | Canada | 49.2 | Q |
| 2 | René Féger | France | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Euil Snider | United States | Unknown | |
| 4 | Andries Hoogerwerf | Netherlands | Unknown | |
| 5 | Hermann Geißler | Austria | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Harry Storz | Germany | 49.4 | Q |
| 2 | John Rinkel | Great Britain | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Joseph Jackson | France | Unknown | |
| 4 | François Prinsen | Belgium | Unknown | |
| 5 | José Lucílo Iturbe | Mexico | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 5

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Phil Edwards | Canada | 49.2 | Q |
| 2 | Harry Broos | Netherlands | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Johann Bartl | Czechoslovakia | Unknown | |
| 4 | Joe Tierney | United States | Unknown | |
| 5 | Sean Lavan | Ireland | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 6

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Joachim Büchner | Germany | 48.6 | Q |
| 2 | László Barsi | Hungary | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Roger Leigh-Wood | Great Britain | Unknown | |
| 4 | Adje Paulen | Netherlands | Unknown | |
| 5 | Fred Macbeth | Canada | Unknown | |

### Semifinals

The first three finishers in each of the two heats advanced to the final.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jimmy Ball | Canada | 48.6 | Q |
| 2 | Ray Barbuti | United States | 48.8 | Q |
| 3 | Harry Werner Storz | Germany | 49.0 | Q |
| 4 | László Barsi | Hungary | 49.2 | |
| 5 | Harry Broos | Netherlands | 49.9 | |
| 6 | Georges Krotoff | France | Unknown | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Joachim Büchner | Germany | 48.6 | Q |
| 2 | Hermon Phillips | United States | 49.1 | Q |
| 3 | John Rinkel | Great Britain | 49.1 | Q |
| 4 | Alex Wilson | Canada | 49.2 | |
| 5 | René Féger | France | 49.6 | |
| 6 | Phil Edwards | Canada | 50.2 | |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| | Ray Barbuti | United States | 47.8 |
| | Jimmy Ball | Canada | 48.0 |
| | Joachim Buchner | Germany | 48.2 |
| 4 | John Rinkel | Great Britain | 48.4 |
| 5 | Harry Werner Storz | Germany | 48.8 |
| 6 | Hermon Phillips | United States | 49.0 |