# Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres was an event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The competition was held on 3, 4 and 7 September. Sixty-four athletes from 49 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 0.14 seconds by Vince Matthews of the United States, the nation's fifth consecutive and 12th overall victory in the event (all by different men). The Americans' hopes to repeat their podium sweep of four years earlier were dashed by injury in the final. Bronze medalist Julius Sang became the first black African to win a sprint Olympic medal, earning Kenya's first medal in the event.
On the victory podium, Vince Matthews and Wayne Collett talked to each other and failed to stand at attention during the medal ceremony. On the advice of Avery Brundage, the International Olympic Committee banned them from further competition. Since the third American competitor, John Smith, had pulled a hamstring while leading 80 metres into the final and had been ruled unfit to run, the United States were left unable to field a 4 x 400 relay team, and were thus forced to scratch from the event.

## Background

This was the seventeenth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Three finalists, but no medalists, from 1968 returned: fourth-place finisher Amadou Gakou of Senegal, sixth-place Tegegne Bezabeh of Ethiopia, and seventh-place Andrzej Badeński of Poland (who had won bronze in 1964). Despite the complete turnover from their 1968 podium sweep, the United States team was again favored—this time led by John Smith, the 440-yard world record holder and AAU champion.
Dahomey, Cambodia, the Republic of the Congo, Fiji, Kuwait, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malawi, Paraguay, Peru, Saudi Arabia, and Zambia appeared in this event for the first time. The United States made its seventeenth 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 "fastest loser" system, introduced in 1964, was applied in the first round and quarterfinals. There were 9, each scheduled to have 7 or 8 athletes but some with only 6 starters. The top four runners in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals along with the next four fastest overall. The 5 quarterfinals each had 8 runners; the top three athletes in each quarterfinal heat advanced to the semifinals, with one spot for the next fastest finisher. The semifinals featured 2 heats of 8 runners each. The top four runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making an eight-man final.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Lee Evans (USA) | 43.86 | Mexico City, Mexico | 18 October 1968 |
| Olympic record | Lee Evans (USA) | 43.86 | Mexico City, Mexico | 18 October 1968 |
No world or Olympic records were set during this event.

## Schedule

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Sunday, 3 September 1972 | 16:00 | Round 1 |
| Monday, 4 September 1972 | 11:35 17:45 | Quarterfinals Semifinals |
| Thursday, 7 September 1972 | 17:30 | Final |

## Results
### Round 1

The top four runners in each of the nine heats (darker green) and the next four fastest (lighter green), advanced to the quarterfinal round.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Andrzej Badeński | Poland | 46.21 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Charles Joseph | Trinidad and Tobago | 46.38 | Q |
| 3 | 5 | Mulugetta Tadesse | Ethiopia | 46.38 | Q |
| 4 | 7 | Wickremasinghe Wimaladasa | Ceylon | 46.62 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Bjarni Sefánsson | Iceland | 46.76 | q |
| 6 | 6 | Jozo Alebić | Yugoslavia | 47.01 | |
| 7 | 8 | Silver Ayoo | Uganda | 47.04 | |
| 8 | 1 | Nusrat Iqbal Sahi | Pakistan | 49.57 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | David Jenkins | Great Britain | 46.15 | Q |
| 2 | 7 | Anders Faager | Sweden | 46.29 | Q |
| 3 | 8 | Munyoro Nyamau | Kenya | 46.33 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | Omar Ghizlat | Morocco | 46.37 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | Bruce Ijirighwo | Nigeria | 46.59 | q |
| 6 | 6 | Samuela Yavala | Fiji | 47.76 | |
| 7 | 1 | Théophile Nkounkou | Republic of the Congo | 47.86 | |
| 8 | 4 | Francisco Menocal | Nicaragua | 50.96 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 8 | Georg Nückles | West Germany | 46.64 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Yoshiharu Tomonaga | Japan | 47.01 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Francis Kerbiriou | France | 47.01 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Sam Bugri | Ghana | 47.83 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Thomas N'Ma | Liberia | 49.73 | |
| 6 | 5 | Jean-Max Faustin | Haiti | 52.33 | |
| — | — | Marcello Fiasconaro | Italy | DNS | |
| — | — | Michael Frederiksson | Sweden | DNS | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Alberto Juantorena | Cuba | 45.94 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Wayne Collett | United States | 46.00 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Claver Kamanya | Tanzania | 46.18 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | Gilles Bertould | France | 46.36 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Eric Phillips | Venezuela | 46.74 | q |
| 6 | 7 | Pedro Ferrer | Puerto Rico | 47.90 | |
| 7 | 7 | Nicodemus Maipampe | Zambia | 48.84 | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Tegegne Bezabeh | Ethiopia | 45.88 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Vince Matthews | United States | 45.94 | Q |
| 3 | 7 | Angelo Hussein | Sudan | 47.01 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Robert Ojo | Nigeria | 47.03 | Q |
| 5 | 5 | Fanahan McSweeney | Ireland | 47.07 | |
| 6 | 6 | Fernando Silva | Portugal | 47.67 | |
| 7 | 4 | Kassem Hamzé | Lebanon | 49.20 | |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 8 | Charles Asati | Kenya | 45.16 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Leighton Priestley | Jamaica | 45.75 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Fernando Acevedo | Peru | 45.80 | Q |
| 4 | 6 | Jan Werner | Poland | 45.93 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | Gary Armstrong | Great Britain | 46.48 | q |
| 6 | 3 | Francisco Rojas | Paraguay | 47.46 | |
| 7 | 1 | Brian MacLaren | Canada | 47.65 | |
| — | — | Caspar Springer | Barbados | DNF | |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Julius Sang | Kenya | 45.24 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Martin Reynolds | Great Britain | 46.46 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Daniel Velasques | France | 46.70 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Karl Honz | West Germany | 46.77 | Q |
| 5 | 7 | Franklin Rahming | Bahamas | 48.30 | |
| 6 | 6 | Ibrahima Idrissou | Dahomey | 48.50 | |
| 7 | 4 | William Msiska | Malawi | 48.81 | |

#### Heat 8

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Horst-Rüdiger Schlöske | West Germany | 45.27 | Q |
| 2 | 7 | John Smith | United States | 46.00 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Kyriakos Onisiforou | Greece | 46.94 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | Reza Entezari | Iran | 47.89 | Q |
| 5 | 6 | Mohamed Saad | Kuwait | 49.61 | |
| 6 | 4 | Mohamed Jaman Al-Dosari | Saudi Arabia | 49.67 | |
| — | — | Lucijano Sušanj | Yugoslavia | DNS | |

#### Heat 9

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6 | Markku Kukkoaho | Finland | 46.05 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Zbigniew Jaremski | Poland | 46.20 | Q |
| 3 | 7 | Arthur Cooper | Trinidad and Tobago | 47.15 | Q |
| 4 | 8 | Amadou Gakou | Senegal | 47.68 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | Tambusamy Krishnan | Malaysia | 48.31 | |
| 6 | 1 | Frédérique Andrianaivo | Madagascar | 48.72 | |
| 7 | 5 | Savin Chem | Khmer Republic | 48.82 | |
| — | — | Jimmy Sierra | Colombia | DNS | |

### Quarterfinals

The top three runners in each of the five heats, and the next fastest, advanced to the semifinal round.

#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Wayne Collett | United States | 45.80 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Alberto Juantorena | Cuba | 45.96 | Q |
| 3 | 7 | Jan Werner | Poland | 46.02 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | Martin Reynolds | Great Britain | 46.11 | q |
| 5 | 1 | Charles Joseph | Trinidad and Tobago | 46.14 | |
| 6 | 8 | Robert Ojo | Nigeria | 46.73 | |
| 7 | 4 | Omar Ghizlat | Morocco | 46.84 | |
| 8 | 3 | Sam Bugri | Ghana | 47.34 | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Horst-Rüdiger Schlöske | West Germany | 45.41 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Vince Matthews | United States | 45.62 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Tegegne Bezabeh | Ethiopia | 45.97 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Gilles Bertould | France | 46.14 | |
| 5 | 5 | Wickremasinghe Wimaladasa | Ceylon | 46.50 | |
| 6 | 7 | Leighton Priestley | Jamaica | 47.76 | |
| 7 | 4 | Arthur Cooper | Trinidad and Tobago | 48.29 | |
| 8 | 8 | Reza Entezari | Iran | 48.69 | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 7 | David Jenkins | Great Britain | 45.99 | Q |
| 2 | 8 | John Smith | United States | 46.04 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Markku Kukkoaho | Finland | 46.11 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Munyoro Nyamau | Kenya | 46.80 | |
| 5 | 2 | Bruce Ijirighwo | Nigeria | 46.81 | |
| 6 | 6 | Daniel Velasques | France | 46.91 | |
| 7 | 5 | Amadou Gakou | Senegal | 46.96 | |
| 8 | 1 | Angelo Hussein | Sudan | 47.33 | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Karl Honz | West Germany | 45.87 | Q |
| 2 | 7 | Julius Sang | Kenya | 45.92 | Q |
| 3 | 5 | Zbigniew Jaremski | Poland | 46.52 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Anders Faager | Sweden | 46.54 | |
| 5 | 4 | Francis Kerbiriou | France | 46.63 | |
| 6 | 2 | Yoshiharu Tomonaga | Japan | 46.92 | |
| 7 | 6 | Gary Armstrong | Great Britain | 47.10 | |
| 8 | 8 | Kyriakos Onisiforou | Greece | 47.22 | |

#### Quarterfinal 5

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Charles Asati | Kenya | 46.04 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Andrzej Badeński | Poland | 46.19 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Georg Nückles | West Germany | 46.30 | Q |
| 4 | 8 | Claver Kamanya | Tanzania | 46.55 | |
| 5 | 6 | Mulugetta Tadesse | Ethiopia | 46.85 | |
| 6 | 7 | Bjarni Stefánsson | Iceland | 46.92 | |
| 7 | 2 | Eric Phillips | Venezuela | 46.97 | |
| — | 3 | Fernando Acevedo | Peru | DNS | |

### Semifinals

Top four in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Vince Matthews | United States | 44.94 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Karl Honz | West Germany | 45.32 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | John Smith | United States | 45.46 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Charles Asati | Kenya | 45.47 | Q |
| 5 | 8 | David Jenkins | Great Britain | 45.91 | |
| 6 | 6 | Tegegne Bezabeh | Ethiopia | 45.98 | |
| 7 | 5 | Georg Nückles | West Germany | 46.28 | |
| 8 | 7 | Andrzej Badeński | Poland | 46.38 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Julius Sang | Kenya | 45.30 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Horst-Rüdiger Schlöske | West Germany | 45.62 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Wayne Collett | United States | 45.77 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | Markku Kukkoaho | Finland | 46.02 | Q |
| 5 | 5 | Alberto Juantorena | Cuba | 46.07 | |
| 6 | 8 | Jan Werner | Poland | 46.26 | |
| 7 | 7 | Martin Reynolds | Great Britain | 46.71 | |
| — | 6 | Zbigniew Jaremski | Poland | DNS | |

### Final

Smith was leading at 80 metres when he pulled his hamstring and could not finish.
| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| | 2 | Vince Matthews | United States | 44.66 |
| | 3 | Wayne Collett | United States | 44.80 |
| | 5 | Julius Sang | Kenya | 44.92 |
| 4 | 8 | Charles Asati | Kenya | 45.13 |
| 5 | 7 | Horst-Rüdiger Schlöske | West Germany | 45.31 |
| 6 | 4 | Markku Kukkoaho | Finland | 45.49 |
| 7 | 1 | Karl Honz | West Germany | 45.68 |
| — | 6 | John Smith | United States | DNF |