# Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles

The men's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1952 Summer Olympics took place July 20–21, 1952 at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. There were 40 competitors from 24 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by American Charles Moore. It was the nation's third consecutive and eighth overall victory in the event. The Soviet Union, in its debut, and New Zealand each earned their first medal in the men's 400 metres hurdles, with Yuriy Lituyev's silver and John Holland's bronze, respectively.

## Background

This was the 10th 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.
One of the six finalists from the 1948 Games returned: bronze medalist Rune Larsson of Sweden. The favorite was Charles Moore of the United States, the four-time AAU champion and the second man to run the race under 51 seconds. His biggest competition was expected to be Yuriy Lituyev of the Soviet Union.
Iceland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Puerto Rico, the Soviet Union, and Venezuela each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 10th appearance, the only nation to have competed at every edition of the event to that point.

## Competition format

The competition expanded to a four-round format from the three-round format used since 1908: heats, 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 8 first-round heats of between 4 and 6 athletes each, with the top 3 hurdlers in each heat advancing to the quarterfinals. There were 4 quarterfinal heats with 6 athletes each. The top 3 men in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals. The 12 semifinalists were divided into 2 semifinals of 6 athletes each, with the top 3 in each semifinal advancing to the 6-man final.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Glenn Hardin (USA) | 50.6 | Stockholm, Sweden | 26 July 1934 |
| Olympic record | Roy Cochran (USA) | 51.1 | London, United Kingdom | 31 July 1948 |
Charles Moore bettered the Olympic record with a time of 50.8 seconds in the first quarterfinal, then matched his own new record in the final.

## Schedule

All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Sunday, 20 July 1952 | 16:10 19:25 | Heats Quarterfinals |
| Monday, 21 July 1952 | 15:00 17:40 | Semifinals Final |

## Results
### Heats

The first round was held on July 20. The three fastest runners from each heat qualified for the quarterfinals.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Charles Moore | United States | 51.8 | Q |
| 2 | Lars Ylander | Sweden | 53.7 | Q |
| 3 | Eitaro Okano | Japan | 54.2 | Q |
| 4 | Rudolf Haidegger | Austria | 54.8 | |
| 5 | Johny Fonck | Luxembourg | 57.8 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Timofey Lunev | Soviet Union | 54.3 | Q |
| 2 | Dewey Lee Yoder Jr | United States | 55.2 | Q |
| 3 | Ken Doubleday | Australia | 55.4 | Q |
| 4 | Muhammad Shafi | Pakistan | 56.1 | |
| 5 | Ingi Þorsteinsson | Iceland | 56.5 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Anatoly Yulin | Soviet Union | 53.6 | Q |
| 2 | Fotios Kosmas | Greece | 53.9 | Q |
| 3 | Roland Blackman | United States | 54.8 | Q |
| 4 | Ragnar Graeffe | Finland | 55.0 | |
| 5 | Jörn Gevert | Chile | 56.1 | |
| 6 | Emin Doybak | Turkey | 56.6 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Yuriy Lituyev | Soviet Union | 53.5 | Q |
| 2 | Rainer Pelkonen | Finland | 54.2 | Q |
| 3 | Robert Bart | France | 54.5 | Q |
| 4 | Pedro Yoma | Chile | 56.8 | |
| 5 | Paulino Ferrer | Venezuela | 1:02.1 | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ron Wilke | South Africa | 54.5 | Q |
| 2 | Arvo Hilli | Finland | 54.6 | Q |
| 3 | Rune Larsson | Sweden | 55.9 | Q |
| 4 | Mirza Khan | Pakistan | 56.3 | |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | John Holland | New Zealand | 53.3 | Q |
| 2 | Sven-Olov Eriksson | Sweden | 54.3 | Q |
| 3 | Angus Scott | Great Britain | 54.9 | Q |
| 4 | Kemal Horulu | Turkey | 55.2 | |
| 5 | Karl Schmid | Switzerland | 57.5 | |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | David Gracie | Great Britain | 54.2 | Q |
| 2 | Wilson Carneiro | Brazil | 56.0 | Q |
| 3 | Hans Schwarz | Switzerland | 56.3 | Q |
| 4 | Fernando Fernandes | Portugal | 56.8 | |
| 5 | Doğan Acarbay | Turkey | 1:02.8 | |

#### Heat 8

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Armando Filiput | Italy | 53.8 | Q |
| 2 | Harry Whittle | Great Britain | 53.9 | Q |
| 3 | Antal Lippay | Hungary | 54.0 | Q |
| 4 | Amadeo Francis | Puerto Rico | 54.0 | |
| 5 | Jean Thureau | France | 56.7 | |

### Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals were held on July 20. The three fastest runners from each heat qualified for the semifinals.

#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Charles Moore | United States | 50.8 | Q, OR |
| 2 | Anatoly Yulin | Soviet Union | 52.4 | Q |
| 3 | Armando Filiput | Italy | 53.0 | Q |
| 4 | Robert Bart | France | 53.0 | |
| 5 | Sven-Olov Eriksson | Sweden | 53.8 | |
| 6 | Hans Schwarz | Switzerland | 54.0 | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | John Holland | New Zealand | 52.2 | Q |
| 2 | Dewey Lee Yoder Jr | United States | 53.3 | Q |
| 3 | David Gracie | Great Britain | 53.9 | Q |
| 4 | Arvo Hilli | Finland | 54.0 | |
| 5 | Fotios Kosmas | Greece | 55.3 | |
| 6 | Wilson Carneiro | Brazil | 59.4 | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Yuriy Lituyev | Soviet Union | 52.2 | Q |
| 2 | Antal Lippay | Hungary | 52.7 | Q |
| 3 | Harry Whittle | Great Britain | 52.8 | Q |
| 4 | Lars Ylander | Sweden | 53.1 | |
| 5 | Ron Wilke | South Africa | 54.5 | |
| 6 | Ken Doubleday | Australia | 1:00.2 | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Timofey Lunev | Soviet Union | 52.7 | Q |
| 2 | Roland Blackman | United States | 52.7 | Q |
| 3 | Rune Larsson | Sweden | 53.3 | Q |
| 4 | Angus Scott | Great Britain | 53.4 | |
| 5 | Rainer Pelkonen | Finland | 53.9 | |
| 6 | Eitaro Okano | Japan | 54.4 | |

### Semifinals

The semifinals were held on July 21. The three fastest runners from each heat qualified for the final.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Yuriy Lituyev | Soviet Union | 51.8 | Q |
| 2 | John Holland | New Zealand | 52.0 | Q |
| 3 | Anatoly Yulin | Soviet Union | 52.1 | Q |
| 4 | David Gracie | Great Britain | 52.4 | |
| 5 | Roland Blackman | United States | 52.7 | |
| 6 | Rune Larsson | Sweden | 53.9 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Charles Moore | United States | 52.0 | Q |
| 2 | Harri Whittle | Great Britain | 52.9 | Q |
| 3 | Armando Filiput | Italy | 53.0 | Q |
| 4 | Dewey Lee Yoder Jr | United States | 53.0 | |
| 5 | Antal Lippay | Hungary | 53.0 | |
| 6 | Timofey Lunev | Soviet Union | 53.1 | |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Notes |
| | Charles Moore | United States | 50.8 | =OR |
| | Yuriy Lituyev | Soviet Union | 51.3 | |
| | John Holland | New Zealand | 52.2 | |
| 4 | Anatoliy Yulin | Soviet Union | 52.8 | |
| 5 | Harry Whittle | Great Britain | 53.1 | |
| 6 | Armando Filiput | Italy | 54.4 | |

## Results summary

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Heats | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | Notes |
| | Charles Moore | United States | 51.8 | 50.8 | 52.0 | 50.8 | OR |
| | Yuriy Lituyev | Soviet Union | 53.5 | 52.2 | 51.8 | 51.3 | |
| | John Holland | New Zealand | 53.3 | 52.2 | 52.0 | 52.2 | |
| 4 | Anatoliy Yulin | Soviet Union | 53.6 | 52.4 | 52.1 | 52.8 | |
| 5 | Harry Whittle | Great Britain | 53.9 | 52.8 | 52.9 | 53.1 | |
| 6 | Armando Filiput | Italy | 53.8 | 53.0 | 53.0 | 54.4 | |
| 7 | David Gracie | Great Britain | 54.2 | 53.9 | 52.4 | Did not advance | |
| 8 | Roland Blackman | United States | 54.8 | 52.7 | 52.7 | Did not advance | |
| 9 | Dewey Lee Yoder Jr | United States | 55.2 | 53.3 | 53.0 | Did not advance | |
| 10 | Antal Lippay | Hungary | 54.0 | 52.7 | 53.0 | Did not advance | |
| 11 | Timofey Lunev | Soviet Union | 54.3 | 52.7 | 53.1 | Did not advance | |
| 12 | Rune Larsson | Sweden | 55.9 | 53.3 | 53.9 | Did not advance | |
| 13 | Robert Bart | France | 54.5 | 53.0 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 14 | Lars Ylander | Sweden | 53.7 | 53.1 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 15 | Angus Scott | Great Britain | 54.9 | 53.4 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 16 | Sven-Olov Eriksson | Sweden | 54.3 | 53.8 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 17 | Rainer Pelkonen | Finland | 54.2 | 53.9 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 18 | Arvo Hilli | Finland | 54.6 | 54.0 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 18 | Hans Schwarz | Switzerland | 56.3 | 54.0 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 20 | Eitaro Okano | Japan | 54.2 | 54.4 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 21 | Ron Wilke | South Africa | 54.5 | 54.5 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 22 | Fotios Kosmas | Greece | 53.9 | 55.3 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 23 | Wilson Carneiro | Brazil | 56.0 | 59.4 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 24 | Ken Doubleday | Australia | 55.4 | 1:00.2 | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 25 | Amadeo Francis | Puerto Rico | 54.0 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 26 | Rudolf Haidegger | Austria | 54.8 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 27 | Ragnar Graeffe | Finland | 55.0 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 28 | Kemal Horulu | Turkey | 55.2 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 29 | Jörn Gevert | Chile | 56.1 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 29 | Muhammad Shafi | Pakistan | 56.1 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 31 | Mirza Khan | Pakistan | 56.3 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 32 | Ingi Þorsteinsson | Iceland | 56.5 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 33 | Emin Doybak | Turkey | 56.6 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 34 | Jean Thureau | France | 56.7 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 35 | Fernando Fernandes | Portugal | 56.8 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 35 | Pedro Yoma | Chile | 56.8 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 37 | Karl Schmid | Switzerland | 57.5 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 38 | Johny Fonck | Luxembourg | 57.8 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 39 | Paulino Ferrer | Venezuela | 1:02.1 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | |
| 40 | Doğan Acarbay | Turkey | 1:02.8 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | |