# Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres was an event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. There were a total number of 68 participating athletes from 52 nations, with nine qualifying heats. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Quincy Watts of the United States, the third in what would ultimately be seven consecutive American victories stretching from 1984 to 2008 and the 15th overall title in the event by the United States. Steve Lewis became the third man (and first American) to win a second medal in the event. Samson Kitur earned Kenya's first medal in the men's 400 metres since 1972.
In heat 1 of the semifinal round, Derek Redmond tore his hamstring 250 meters to the finish line and was disqualified due to outside assistance from his father Jim. Despite the results, the crowd gave him a standing ovation, and became as one of the well-remembered moments in Olympic's history.
In heat 2 of the semifinal round, Quincy Watts ran the number 2 time in history, 43.71, only surpassed by the world record held by Butch Reynolds. At those trials, Danny Everett had run the previous number time in history 43.81, while Reynolds did not qualify. In heat 2, Everett suffered a foot injury and hobbled home. In the final, Watts again improved the number 2 time in history while breaking the Olympic Record with his 43.50 win.

## Background

This was the 22nd appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Defending gold medalist Steve Lewis and bronze medalist Danny Everett of the United States, but Quincy Watts beat silver medalist Butch Reynolds at the U.S. Olympic trials to take the third spot. Roger Black of Great Britain had taken silver at the 1991 world championship.
Angola, the Central African Republic, Costa Rica, Grenada, Lesotho, Mauritania, and Qatar appeared in this event for the first time. The Unified Team, consisting of some former Soviet republics, competed in the only Summer Games the Unified Team existed. One Yugoslav athlete competed as an "Independent Olympic Participant." The United States made its 21st appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

## Competition format

The competition retained the basic four-round format from 1920. The "fastest loser" system, introduced in 1964, was used for the first round. There were 9 first-round heats, each with 7 or 8 runners. The top three runners in each heat advanced, along with the next five fastest overall. The 32 quarterfinalists were divided into 4 quarterfinals with 8 runners each; the top four athletes in each quarterfinal heat advanced to the semifinals, with no "fastest loser" spots. The semifinals featured 2 heats of 8 runners each. The top four runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making an eight-man final.

## Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1976 Summer Olympics.
| World record | Butch Reynolds (USA) | 43.29 | Zürich, Switzerland | 17 August 1988 |
| Olympic record | Lee Evans (USA) | 43.86 | Mexico City, Mexico | 18 October 1968 |
Quincy Watts set two new Olympic records. He first ran 43.71 in the semifinals and improved his mark in the final to 43.50.
The following national records were established during the competition:
| Nation | Athlete | Round | Time |
| Central African Republic | Martial Biguet | Heat 3 | 47.82 |

## Schedule

Following the 1984 schedule, the event was held on four separate days, with each round being on a different day.
All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Saturday, 1 August 1992 | 10:00 | Round 1 |
| Sunday, 2 August 1992 | 19:15 | Quarterfinals |
| Monday, 3 August 1992 | 19:15 | Semifinals |
| Wednesday, 5 August 1992 | 20:35 | Final |

## Results
### Round 1
#### Heat 1

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Derek Redmond | Great Britain | 45.03 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Roberto Hernández | Cuba | 45.07 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Solomon Amegatcher | Ghana | 45.42 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Dennis Blake | Jamaica | 45.92 | q |
| 5 | 7 | Aktawat Sakoolchan | Thailand | 46.78 | |
| 6 | 1 | Ali Faudet | Chad | 47.10 | |
| 7 | 2 | Jaime Rodrigues | Mozambique | 48.89 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Troy Douglas | Bermuda | 46.02 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Alvin Daniel | Trinidad and Tobago | 46.09 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Thomas Schönlebe | Germany | 46.26 | Q |
| 4 | 8 | Seibert Straughn | Barbados | 46.54 | |
| 5 | 1 | Delon Felix | Grenada | 47.39 | |
| 6 | 4 | Mohamed Al-Malky | Oman | 48.00 | |
| 7 | 7 | Randolph Foster | Costa Rica | 48.80 | |
| 8 | 3 | Vanxay Sinebandith | Laos | 51.71 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Quincy Watts | United States | 45.38 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Bobang Phiri | South Africa | 45.57 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Rico Lieder | Germany | 45.86 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Francis Ogola | Uganda | 45.87 | q |
| 5 | 6 | Ediélson Tenório | Brazil | 46.31 | q |
| 6 | 7 | Kossi Akoto | Togo | 46.97 | |
| 7 | 3 | Martial Biguet | Central African Republic | 47.82 | NR |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Simon Kemboi | Kenya | 45.84 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Slobodan Branković | Independent Olympic Participants | 46.34 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Devon Morris | Jamaica | 46.45 | Q |
| 4 | 8 | Patrick Delice | Trinidad and Tobago | 46.58 | |
| 5 | 7 | Subul Babo | Papua New Guinea | 47.17 | |
| 6 | 5 | Médard Makanga | Republic of the Congo | 48.17 | |
| 7 | 3 | Kenmore Hughes | Antigua and Barbuda | 48.56 | |
| 8 | 6 | Mohamed Amir | Maldives | 50.35 | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Danny Everett | United States | 45.68 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | David Grindley | Great Britain | 45.79 | Q |
| 3 | 8 | Andrea Nuti | Italy | 46.12 | Q |
| 4 | 6 | Innocent Egbunike | Nigeria | 46.51 | |
| 5 | 1 | Dmitry Kosov | Unified Team | 47.28 | |
| 6 | 2 | Joseph Adam | Seychelles | 47.68 | |
| 7 | 7 | Baptiste Firiam | Vanuatu | 48.98 | |
| 8 | 5 | Eulogio Ngache | Equatorial Guinea | 50.83 | |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 7 | Samson Kitur | Kenya | 45.41 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Susumu Takano | Japan | 45.96 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Tamás Molnár | Hungary | 46.21 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Anthony Wallace | Jamaica | 46.88 | |
| 5 | 4 | Camera Ntereke | Botswana | 47.32 | |
| 6 | 3 | Michael Joseph | Belize | 50.90 | |
| — | 1 | Desai Wynter | Virgin Islands | DNF | |
| — | 8 | Lamin Marikong | The Gambia | DSQ |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Ian Morris | Trinidad and Tobago | 45.65 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Benyounes Lahlou | Morocco | 45.73 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | David Kitur | Kenya | 46.22 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | Mark Garner | Australia | 46.26 | q |
| 5 | 7 | Apisai Driu Baibai | Fiji | 47.81 | |
| 6 | 1 | Henry Mohoanyane | Lesotho | 48.39 | |
| 7 | 2 | Mohamed Mehdi Hasan | Bangladesh | 48.62 | |

#### Heat 8

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Steve Lewis | United States | 45.14 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Sunday Bada | Nigeria | 45.38 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Sidnei de Souza | Brazil | 45.92 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | Cayetano Cornet | Spain | 46.13 | q |
| 5 | 7 | Tim Hesse | Ghana | 46.67 | |
| 6 | 1 | Michael McLean | Canada | 47.75 | |
| 7 | 2 | Samba Fall | Mauritania | 50.91 | |

#### Heat 9

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Ibrahim Ismail Muftah | Qatar | 45.21 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Roger Black | Great Britain | 45.94 | Q |
| 3 | 5 | Cephas Lemba | Zambia | 45.94 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Marco Vaccari | Italy | 46.37 | |
| 5 | 7 | Takahiro Watanabe | Japan | 46.45 | |
| 6 | 2 | Foday Sillah | Sierra Leone | 47.00 | |
| 7 | 8 | João Francisco Capindica | Angola | 47.44 | |
| 8 | 6 | Stephen Lugor | Sudan | 48.94 | |

### Quarterfinals
#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Steve Lewis | United States | 44.54 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Roberto Hernández | Cuba | 44.84 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Roger Black | Great Britain | 45.28 | Q |
| 4 | 6 | Simon Kemboi | Kenya | 45.40 | Q |
| 5 | 8 | Thomas Schönlebe | Germany | 45.46 | |
| 6 | 1 | Slobodan Branković | Independent Olympic Participants | 45.90 | |
| 7 | 7 | Andrea Nuti | Italy | 45.96 | |
| 8 | 2 | Mark Garner | Australia | 46.85 | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Derek Redmond | Great Britain | 45.02 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Susumu Takano | Japan | 45.27 | Q |
| 3 | 5 | Troy Douglas | Bermuda | 45.67 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Danny Everett | United States | 45.76 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | David Kitur | Kenya | 46.25 | |
| 6 | 2 | Ediélson Tenório | Brazil | 46.34 | |
| 7 | 7 | Alvin Daniel | Trinidad and Tobago | 46.44 | |
| 8 | 8 | Tamás Molnár | Hungary | 46.80 | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Ian Morris | Trinidad and Tobago | 44.78 | Q |
| 2 | 8 | David Grindley | Great Britain | 44.91 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Ibrahim Ismail Muftah | Qatar | 45.18 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | Sunday Bada | Nigeria | 45.34 | Q |
| 5 | 7 | Devon Morris | Jamaica | 45.67 | |
| 6 | 2 | Cayetano Cornet | Spain | 46.27 | |
| — | 6 | Solomon Amegatcher | Ghana | DNF | |
| — | 1 | Cephas Lemba | Zambia | DNF | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Samson Kitur | Kenya | 44.66 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Quincy Watts | United States | 45.06 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Bobang Phiri | South Africa | 45.27 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | Benyounes Lahlou | Morocco | 45.38 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Sidney Telles | Brazil | 45.55 | |
| 6 | 1 | Rico Lieder | Germany | 45.86 | |
| 7 | 7 | Francis Ogola | Uganda | 46.21 | |
| 8 | 8 | Dennis Blake | Jamaica | 46.49 | |

### Semifinals
#### Semifinal 1

Redmond was injured and did not finish without assistance.
| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Steve Lewis | United States | 44.50 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Roberto Hernández | Cuba | 44.72 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Ibrahim Ismail Muftah | Qatar | 45.01 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Susumu Takano | Japan | 45.09 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Sunday Bada | Nigeria | 45.36 | |
| 6 | 7 | Troy Douglas | Bermuda | 45.59 | |
| 7 | 8 | Simon Kemboi | Kenya | 45.93 | |
| — | 5 | Derek Redmond | Great Britain | DNF | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6 | Quincy Watts | United States | 43.71 | Q, OR |
| 2 | 3 | Samson Kitur | Kenya | 44.18 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Ian Morris | Trinidad and Tobago | 44.21 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | David Grindley | Great Britain | 44.47 | Q |
| 5 | 7 | Roger Black | Great Britain | 44.72 | |
| 6 | 1 | Benyounes Lahlou | Morocco | 45.49 | |
| 7 | 2 | Bobang Phiri | South Africa | 45.59 | |
| 8 | 8 | Danny Everett | United States | 56.61 | |

### Final

The final was held on August 5, 1992.
| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | Quincy Watts | United States | 43.50 | OR |
| | 7 | Steve Lewis | United States | 44.21 | |
| | 5 | Samson Kitur | Kenya | 44.24 | |
| 4 | 6 | Ian Morris | Trinidad and Tobago | 44.25 | |
| 5 | 2 | Roberto Hernández | Cuba | 44.52 | |
| 6 | 3 | David Grindley | Great Britain | 44.75 | |
| 7 | 1 | Ibrahim Ismail Muftah | Qatar | 45.10 | |
| 8 | 8 | Susumu Takano | Japan | 45.18 | |