# Athletics at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. This race was depicted in the film Chariots of Fire. The competition was held on Thursday, July 10, 1924, and on Friday, July 11, 1924.
As for all other races the track was 500 metres in circumference.
Sixty runners from 27 nations competed. No nation had more than 4 athletes.

## Background

This was the seventh appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The defending gold medalist from 1920, Bevil Rudd of South Africa, did not return; the other two medalists, silver-winning Guy Butler of Great Britain and bronze-winning Nils Engdahl of Sweden, did. Eric Liddell of Great Britain was the 1924 Scottish and AAA champion.
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Haiti, Ireland, Mexico, Poland, and Switzerland appeared in the event for the first time. The United States made its seventh 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 17 heats, ranging from 1 to 5 athletes. The top two runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals. There were 6 quarterfinals, intended to have 5 or 6 runners in each but sometimes having 4 due to withdrawals; the top two 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.

## Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1924 Summer Olympics.
| World record | Ted Meredith (USA) | 47.4(*) | Cambridge, United States | 27 May 1916 |
| Olympic record | Charles Reidpath (USA) | 48.2 | Stockholm, Sweden | 13 July 1912 |
(*) 440 yards (= 402.34 m)
In the quarterfinals, Josef Imbach set a new Olympic record with 48.0 seconds. In the semifinals Horatio Fitch improved the Olympic record with 47.8 seconds. In the final, Eric Liddell set a new world record with 47.6 seconds; this time was ratified as a 400 metres world record as Ted Meredith ran his record over 440 yards. World Athletics rescinded Liddell's time as a world record in 1928.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| Thursday, 10 July 1924 | 14:00 16:00 | Heats Quarterfinals |
| Friday, 11 July 1924 | 14:45 17:30 | Semifinals Final |

## Results
### Round 1

All heats were held on Thursday, July 10, 1924, and started at 2 p.m.
The best two finishers of every heat qualified for the quarter-finals.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Horace Aylwin | Canada | 54.0 | Q |
| 2 | Erik Wilén | Finland | 54.8 | Q |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ray Robertson | United States | 50.2 | Q |
| 2 | Kai Jensen | Denmark | 50.9 | Q |
| 3 | Jules Migeot | Belgium | 51.6 | |
| 4 | Reinhold Kesküll | Estonia | 53.2 | |
| 5 | Christophe Mirgain | Luxembourg | Unknown | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Gustaf Wejnarth | Sweden | 50.2 | Q |
| 2 | Lajos Kurunczy | Hungary | 52.6 | Q |
| 3 | Richard Honner | Australia | 53.1 | |
| 4 | Kiril Petrunov | Bulgaria | Unknown | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Eric Wilson | United States | 49.6 | Q |
| 2 | Roy Norman | Australia | 50.6 | Q |
| 3 | William Fuller | Canada | 51.5 | |
| 4 | Édouard Armand | Haiti | Unknown | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Josef Imbach | Switzerland | 51.8 | Q |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | David Johnson | Canada | 51.8 | Q |
| 2 | Charles Hoff | Norway | 53.0 | Q |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | John Coard Taylor | United States | 50.8 | Q |
| 2 | Tokushige Noto | Japan | 51.7 | Q |
| 3 | Wim Bolten | Netherlands | 53.0 | |

#### Heat 8

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Toby Betts | South Africa | 49.8 | Q |
| 2 | Sean Lavan | Ireland | 51.2 | Q |
| 3 | Wim Kat | Netherlands | 51.8 | |
| 4 | Guillermo Amparan | Mexico | 52.0 | |

#### Heat 9

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Artur Svensson | Sweden | 50.0 | Q |
| 2 | Raymond Fritz | France | 51.0 | Q |
| 3 | Charles Lane | Australia | 51.4 | |
| 4 | Menso Menso | Netherlands | Unknown | |
| 5 | Juan Escutia | Mexico | Unknown | |

#### Heat 10

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Clarence Oldfield | South Africa | 49.6 | Q |
| 2 | Edward Toms | Great Britain | 49.9 | Q |
| 3 | Carlos Garces | Mexico | 51.0 | |
| 4 | Emilio Casanovas | Argentina | Unknown | |

#### Heat 11

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Nils Engdahl | Sweden | 49.2 | Q |
| 2 | George Renwick | Great Britain | 50.3 | Q |
| 3 | Francisco Dova | Argentina | 51.0 | |
| 4 | José Martínez | Mexico | Unknown | |

#### Heat 12

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Terence Pitt | India | 49.8 | Q |
| 2 | Alan Christie | Canada | 50.5 | Q |
| 3 | Félix Escobar | Argentina | 51.4 | |
| 4 | Raymond Jamois | France | Unknown | |
| 5 | Karel Přibyl | Czechoslovakia | 52.8 | |

#### Heat 13

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Luigi Facelli | Italy | 51.0 | Q |
| 2 | Federico Brewster | Argentina | 51.8 | Q |
| 3 | Stefan Ołdak | Poland | 55.0 | |

#### Heat 14

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Eric Liddell | Great Britain | 50.2 | Q |
| 2 | Alfredo Gargiullo | Italy | 50.4 | Q |
| 3 | Erik Byléhn | Sweden | 50.6 | |
| 4 | Stanisław Świętochowski | Poland | 55.4 | |

#### Heat 15

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Horatio Fitch | United States | 52.0 | Q |
| 2 | Erik Åström | Finland | 52.1 | Q |

#### Heat 16

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Guy Butler | Great Britain | 50.2 | Q |
| 2 | Gaston Féry | France | 51.1 | Q |
| 3 | Narciso Costa | Brazil | Unknown | |
| 4 | Ennio Maffiolini | Italy | Unknown | |
| 5 | Christian Simmen | Switzerland | Unknown | |

#### Heat 17

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Barthélémy Favodon | France | 51.2 | Q |
| 2 | Adriaan Paulen | Netherlands | 52.0 | Q |
| 3 | Paul Hammer | Luxembourg | 53.1 | |

### Quarterfinals

All quarter-finals were held on Thursday, July 10, 1924, and started at 4 p.m.
The best two finishers of every heat qualified for the semifinals.
Lajos Kurunczy and Erik Åström had qualified for the quarterfinals but withdrew.

#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Horatio Fitch | United States | 49.0 | Q |
| 2 | Artur Svensson | Sweden | 50.0 | Q |
| 3 | Alan Christie | Canada | 50.8 | |
| 4 | Edward Toms | Great Britain | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Toby Betts | South Africa | 49.0 | Q |
| 2 | Charles Hoff | Norway | 49.2 | Q |
| 3 | Gustaf Wejnarth | Sweden | 50.2 | |
| 4 | Gaston Féry | France | 50.7 | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Guy Butler | Great Britain | 49.8 | Q |
| 2 | John Coard Taylor | United States | 50.4 | Q |
| 3 | Barthélémy Favodon | France | 50.9 | |
| 4 | Terence Pitt | India | 51.6 | |
| 5 | Kai Jensen | Denmark | Unknown | |
| 6 | Federico Brewster | Argentina | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Adriaan Paulen | Netherlands | 49.0 | Q |
| 2 | Eric Liddell | Great Britain | 49.3 | Q |
| 3 | Ray Robertson | United States | 49.5 | |
| 4 | Luigi Facelli | Italy | 50.5 | |
| 5 | Raymond Fritz | France | 50.5 | |

#### Quarterfinal 5

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Clarence Oldfield | South Africa | 49.0 | Q |
| 2 | David Johnson | Canada | 49.3 | Q |
| 3 | Erik Wilén | Finland | 49.6 | |
| 4 | Roy Norman | Australia | 50.2 | |
| 5 | Alfredo Gargiullo | Italy | Unknown | |
| 6 | George Renwick | Great Britain | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 6

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Josef Imbach | Switzerland | 48.0 | Q, OR |
| 2 | Nils Engdahl | Sweden | 48.4 | Q |
| 3 | Eric Wilson | United States | 48.8 | |
| 4 | Sean Lavan | Ireland | 49.8 | |
| 5 | Tokushige Noto | Japan | 50.7 | |
| 6 | Horace Aylwin | Canada | Unknown | |

### Semifinals

All semi-finals were held on Friday, July 11, 1924, and started at 2:45 p.m.
The best three finishers of each heat qualified for the final.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Horatio Fitch | United States | 47.8 | Q, OR |
| 2 | Guy Butler | Great Britain | 47.9 | Q |
| 3 | David Johnson | Canada | 48.0 | Q |
| 4 | Adriaan Paulen | Netherlands | 48.2 | |
| 5 | Toby Betts | South Africa | 48.4 | |
| 6 | Nils Engdahl | Sweden | 48.6 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Eric Liddell | Great Britain | 48.2 | Q |
| 2 | Josef Imbach | Switzerland | 48.3 | Q |
| 3 | John Coard Taylor | United States | 48.7 | Q |
| 4 | Charles Hoff | Norway | 48.8 | |
| 5 | Clarence Oldfield | South Africa | 49.0 | |
| 6 | Artur Svensson | Sweden | 49.1 | |

### Final

The final was held on Friday, July 11, 1924, and started at 5:30 p.m. Taylor's ankle gave out just before the finish line in a career-ending injury; he crawled across the line. Imbach tripped over the lane-dividing ropes, fell, and was unable to finish.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | Eric Liddell | Great Britain | 47.6 | OR |
| | Horatio Fitch | United States | 48.4 | |
| | Guy Butler | Great Britain | 48.6 | |
| 4 | David Johnson | Canada | 48.8 | |
| 5 | John Coard Taylor | United States | 1:07.0 | |
| — | Josef Imbach | Switzerland | DNF | |