Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles

The men's 400 metres hurdles was the longer of two hurdling events at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. It was the third time the event had been featured at the Olympics. The Olympic record was beat three times in the course of the Games. The competition was held from Monday, July 20, 1908, to Wednesday, July 22, 1908. 15 runners from six nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Charles Bacon of the United States, defeating teammate and defending champion Harry Hillman by 0.3 seconds in the final. It was the third gold medal in three Games for the American team in the event. Hillman was the first man to earn multiple medals in the 400 metres hurdles. Jimmy Tremeer of Great Britain earned bronze, the first medal for the nation in the men's 400 metres hurdles.

Background
This was the third time the event was held. Introduced along with the men's 200 metres hurdles in 1900, the men's 400 metres hurdles was still on the program while the 200 was not. The 400 metres version would be held in 1900, 1904, and 1908 before being left off for one Games in 1912; when the Olympics returned 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 four hurdlers from the 1904 Games returned: gold medalist Harry Hillman of the United States.

Australasia, Great Britain, Hungary, and the Netherlands each made their debut in the event. The United States made its third appearance, the only nation to have competed at every edition of the event to that point.

Competition format
The competition consisted of three rounds: quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. Ten sets of hurdles were set on the course. The hurdles were 3 feet (= 91.5 centimetre) tall and were placed 35 metres apart beginning 45 metres from the starting line.

There were 12 quarterfinal heats scheduled, but only 11 actually were contested as one heat had no starters. There were only one or two hurdlers in each quarterfinal heat. The winner advanced in the 4 heats that had two runners. The 11 men who advanced were divided into four semifinal heats of 2 or 3 hurdlers each; again, only the fastest man advanced. The final had 4 competitors.

Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1908 Summer Olympics.


 * unofficial


 * This track was 500 metres in circumference.

Harry Hillman had run 53.0 seconds in 1904, but he knocked over a hurdle, and the hurdles were only 30 inches (76 cm) high.

In the first round, Charles Bacon set a new Olympic record with 57.0 seconds, while Hillman set a new Olympic record in the second round with 56.4 seconds.

In the Final, Bacon set a new world record with 55.0 seconds: this became the inaugural official world record for the 400 metre hurdles.

Quarterfinal 1
There was no competition for Koops in the first heat.

Quarterfinal 2
A tight race from start to finish, Coe won by about a metre.

Quarterfinal 3
Bacon won by 20 yards, and broke Godfrey Shaw's 440 yards world record.

Quarterfinal 4
There was no competition for Harmer in the fourth heat.

Quarterfinal 5
There was no competition for Burton in the fifth heat.

Quarterfinal 6
Dubois pulled up lame at 300 meters, leaving Hillman with the win.

Quarterfinal 7
There was no competition for Groenings in the seventh heat.

Quarterfinal 8
There was no competition for Gould in the eighth heat.

Quarterfinal 9
There was no competition for Kovacs in the ninth heat.

Quarterfinal 10
There was no competition for Tremeer in the tenth heat.

Quarterfinal 11
The eleventh heat was scratched as there were no starters.

Quarterfinal 12
In only the fourth actual race of the first round, and the third in which both runners finished, Burton caught Meslot in the straight, and won by four meters.

Semifinal 1
Koops fell, leaving the Americans to race each other. Hillman defeated Coe, and broke Bacon's record from the first round.

Semifinal 2
After Bacon started off fast, his two competitors dropped out at 200m.

Semifinal 3
Burton led after the hurdles, and despite losing ground in the straight, defeated both of his countrymen.

Semifinal 4
Burton pulled up lame, allowing Tremeer to win at jogging pace.

Final
The final was held on Wednesday, July 22, 1908.

Halfway into the race, it was clear that the only question was which American would win.

Bacon and Hillman were even until the straight, when Bacon broke away to win a thrilling contest by two yards: both of the Americans also came in under the world record set by Hillman in the second round.