The 400 meters final was run in a storm, accounting for the very slow winning time of 51.6 seconds; both Barbuti and Snider had won their semi-finals in 48.0. Emerson "Bud" Spencer, the one-eyed Stanford University runner who had set the world record (47.0) two months earlier, was surprisingly eliminated as he only placed fifth; Spencer and the sixth finalist, Fred Alderman, were named to the Olympic 4 × 400 meter relay team. The other two Olympic relay runners were decided by an extra race for those eliminated in the semi-finals, won by George Baird ahead of John Lewis; however, Lewis was replaced with Barbuti after the latter won an Olympic gold in the individual event.