Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

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Men's 400 metres
at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
Alonzo Babers finish.JPEG
Alonzo Babers winning the gold medal
VenueLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Dates4 to 8 August
Competitors80 from 56 nations
Winning time44.27
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Alonzo Babers
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Gabriel Tiacoh
 Ivory Coast
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Antonio McKay
 United States
← 1980
1988 →
Athletics at the
1984 Summer Olympics
Olympic Athletics.png
Track events
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mmenwomen
1500 mmenwomen
3000 mwomen
5000 mmen
10,000 mmen
100 m hurdleswomen
110 m hurdlesmen
400 m hurdlesmenwomen
3000 m
steeplechase		men
4×100 m relaymenwomen
4×400 m relaymenwomen
Road events
Marathonmenwomen
20 km walkmen
50 km walkmen
Field events
Long jumpmenwomen
Triple jumpmen
High jumpmenwomen
Pole vaultmen
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Discus throwmenwomen
Javelin throwmenwomen
Hammer throwmen
Combined events
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Decathlonmen
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The men's 400 metres was an event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. It was held from August 4 to August 8. Eighty athletes from 56 nations competed.[1][2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Alonzo Babers, returning the United States to the top of the podium for the first time since 1972 (and the 13th time overall). Gabriel Tiacoh won the Ivory Coast's first Olympic medal in any event, with a silver.

Background[]

This was the twentieth appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the finalists from 1980 returned. The favorites were Bert Cameron of Jamaica (winner of the first world championship in 1983) and Americans Antonio McKay and Alonzo Babers.[2]

The British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, the Gambia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nepal, Oman, Rwanda, Somalia, Suriname, Togo, the United Arab Emirates, and Zimbabwe appeared in this event for the first time. The United States made its 19th 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 10 first-round heats, each with 8 runners. The top three runners in each heat advanced, along with the next two 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.[2][3]

Records[]

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1976 Summer Olympics.

World record  Lee Evans (USA) 43.86 Mexico City, Mexico 18 October 1968
Olympic record  Lee Evans (USA) 43.8 Mexico City, Mexico 18 October 1968

No world or Olympic records were set during this event. National records set were:

Nation Athlete Round Time
 Barbados Elvis Forde Semifinal 2 45.32
 Somalia Ibrahim Okash Heat 1 47.91

Schedule[]

For the first time, the event was held on four separate days, with each round being on a different day.

All times are Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)

Date Time Round
Saturday, 4 August 1984 10:30 Round 1
Sunday, 5 August 1984 17:00 Quarterfinals
Monday, 6 August 1984 16:55 Semifinals
Wednesday, 8 August 1984 16:45 Final

Results[]

Round 1[]

Alonzo Babers wins heat of the 400 meters.

Heat 1[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 5 Davison Lishebo  Zambia 46.20 Q
2 1 David Peltier  Barbados 46.57 Q
3 7 Allan Ingraham  Bahamas 46.72 Q
4 6 Boubacar Diallo  Senegal 46.73
5 2 Dean Greenaway  British Virgin Islands 47.33
6 3 Evaldo da Silva  Brazil 47.55
7 4 Ibrahim Okash  Somalia 47.91 NR
8 8 Issaka Hassane  Chad 49.64

Heat 2[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 3 Gabriel Tiacoh  Ivory Coast 45.96 Q
2 6 David Kitur  Kenya 46.25 Q
3 5 Marcel Arnold  Switzerland 46.46 Q
4 2 Gary Minihan  Australia 46.93
5 1 Nordin Jadi  Malaysia 47.12
6 7 Tommy Johansson  Sweden 47.77
7 8 Daniel Andre  Mauritius 49.09
8 4 Faustin Butéra  Rwanda 51.41

Heat 3[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 1 Innocent Egbunike  Nigeria 46.63 Q
2 5 Mark Senior  Jamaica 46.73 Q
3 8 Gérson de Souza  Brazil 47.02 Q
4 6 Manuel Ramirez-Caicedo  Colombia 47.17
5 7 Brian Saunders  Canada 47.40
6 4 Mohamed Amer Al-Malky  Oman 47.61
7 3 Meesaq Rizvi  Pakistan 49.58
— 2 Secundino Borabota  Equatorial Guinea DSQ

Heat 4[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 4 Bertland Cameron  Jamaica 46.14 Q
2 7 Oddur Sigurdsson  Iceland 46.30 Q
3 2 Doug Hinds  Canada 46.42 Q
4 1 Richard Louis  Barbados 46.70
5 5 Jean-Didiace Bémou  Republic of the Congo 47.26
6 3 Hector Llatser  France 47.30
7 8 Phillip Pipersburg  Belize 48.04
8 6 Alberto López  Guatemala 52.21

Heat 5[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 7 Alonzo Babers  United States 45.81 Q
2 3 Michael Paul  Trinidad and Tobago 46.18 Q
3 2 Philip Brown  Great Britain 46.26 Q
4 1 Moses Kyeswa  Uganda 46.78
5 8 Tim Bethune  Canada 46.98
6 6 Joseph Ramotshabi  Botswana 48.11
7 5 Dawda Jallow  The Gambia 48.36
8 4 René López  El Salvador 48.71

Heat 6[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 1 Bruce Frayne  Australia 46.08 Q
2 2 Aldo Canti  France 46.14 Q
3 8 Susumu Takano  Japan 46.26 Q
4 6 Nafi Mersal  Egypt 46.46
5 3 Alfred Browne  Antigua and Barbuda 47.29
6 7 Rashid Al-Jirbi  United Arab Emirates 48.71
7 4 Siegfried Cruden  Suriname 50.07
— 5 Hassan El-Kashief  Sudan DNF

Heat 7[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 2 Sunder Nix  United States 45.42 Q
2 6 Elvis Forde  Barbados 45.47 Q
3 7 Antonio Sánchez  Spain 46.03 Q
4 4 Anton Skerritt  Trinidad and Tobago 46.30 q
5 5 James Atuti  Kenya 47.04
6 8 Adjé Adjeoda Vignon  Togo 47.43
7 3 Lapule Tamean  Papua New Guinea 47.60
8 1 Pushpa Raj Ojha  Nepal 52.12

Heat 8[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 5 Antonio McKay  United States 45.55 Q
2 1 John Anzarah  Kenya 46.12 Q
3 7 Isidro del Prado  Philippines 46.82 Q
4 6 Leonardo Loforte  Mozambique 47.07
5 3 Joseph Rodan  Fiji 49.00
6 8 Agripa Mwausegha  Malawi 49.12
7 4 Charles Moses  Ghana 50.39
— 2 Ali St. Louis  Trinidad and Tobago DNF

Heat 9[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 2 Erwin Skamrahl  West Germany 45.94 Q
2 5 Angel Heras  Spain 46.06 Q
3 3 Todd Bennett  Great Britain 46.09 Q
4 4 Yann Quentrec  France 46.94
5 7 Wilson dos Santos  Brazil 47.55
6 8 Mark Handelsman  Israel 48.17
7 1 Chris Madzokere  Zimbabwe 48.49
8 6 Arsène Randriamahazomana  Madagascar 48.86

Heat 10[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 6 Kriss Akabusi  Great Britain 45.64 Q
2 3 Darren Clark  Australia 45.68 Q
3 5 Sunday Uti  Nigeria 45.74 Q
4 2 Devon Morris  Jamaica 45.80 q
5 1 Mike Okot  Uganda 46.68
6 8 Samuel Sarkpa  Liberia 47.65
7 7 Mama Moluh  Cameroon 48.90
— 4 Vincent Confait  Seychelles DSQ

Quarterfinals[]

Quarterfinal 1[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 8 Antonio McKay  United States 44.72 Q
2 6 Darren Clark  Australia 44.77 Q
3 3 Kriss Akabusi  Great Britain 45.43 Q
4 4 Dave Lishebo  Zambia 45.57 Q
5 2 John Anzarah  Kenya 45.67
6 1 Devon Morris  Jamaica 46.14
7 7 Allan Ingraham  Bahamas 46.14
8 5 David Peltier  Barbados 46.48

Quarterfinal 2[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 4 Innocent Egbunike  Nigeria 45.26 Q
2 5 Sunder Nix  United States 45.31 Q
3 2 Elvis Forde  Barbados 45.60 Q
4 7 Aldo Canti  France 45.64 Q
5 3 Angel Heras  Spain 45.88
6 6 Marcel Arnold  Switzerland 46.10
7 8 Philip Brown  Great Britain 46.63
8 1 Anton Skerritt  Trinidad and Tobago 46.93

Quarterfinal 3[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 5 Alonzo Babers  United States 44.75 Q, PB
2 1 Sunday Uti  Nigeria 45.01 Q
3 8 Bertland Cameron  Jamaica 45.16 Q
4 7 Bruce Frayne  Australia 45.35 Q
5 6 Todd Bennett  Great Britain 45.51
6 2 Antonio Sánchez  Spain 45.79
7 4 Oddur Sigurdsson  Iceland 46.07
8 3 Doug Hinds  Canada 46.19

Quarterfinal 4[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 2 Gabriel Tiacoh  Ivory Coast 45.15 Q
2 6 David Kitur  Kenya 45.78 Q
3 8 Michael Paul  Trinidad and Tobago 45.84 Q
4 4 Susumu Takano  Japan 45.91 Q
5 1 Erwin Skamrahl  West Germany 46.39
6 7 Mark Senior  Jamaica 46.50
7 3 Gerson Souza  Brazil 46.65
8 5 Isidro del Prado  Philippines 46.71

Semifinals[]

Semifinal 1[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 3 Innocent Egbunike  Nigeria 45.16 Q
2 7 Alonzo Babers  United States 45.17 Q
3 1 Darren Clark  Australia 45.26 Q
4 6 Sunder Nix  United States 45.41 Q
5 8 Aldo Canti  France 45.59
6 5 Michael Paul  Trinidad and Tobago 45.60
7 2 Kriss Akabusi  Great Britain 45.69
8 4 Susumu Takano  Japan 45.88

Semifinal 2[]

Cameron pulled up with an injury at 150 metres, hopping for about 20 metres before returning to a run. Despite the injury, he finished fourth to qualify for the final (in which he ultimately would not be able to run).[2]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 4 Gabriel Tiacoh  Ivory Coast 44.64 Q
2 8 Sunday Uti  Nigeria 44.83 Q
3 3 Antonio McKay  United States 44.92 Q
4 2 Bertland Cameron  Jamaica 45.10 Q
5 5 Bruce Frayne  Australia 45.21
6 1 Elvis Forde  Barbados 45.32 NR
7 6 David Kitur  Kenya 45.62
8 7 Dave Lishebo  Zambia 45.97

Final[]

Cameron was still injured from the semifinal race and could not start the final. Clark led early and held the lead until the final straight. Babers began his successful push from about the 250 metre mark, with Tiacoh behind him. McKay edged Clark and Nix at the finish.[2][4]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 Alonzo Babers  United States 44.27 PB
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 Gabriel Tiacoh  Ivory Coast 44.54
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1 Antonio McKay  United States 44.71
4 5 Darren Clark  Australia 44.75
5 6 Sunder Nix  United States 44.75
6 2 Sunday Uti  Nigeria 44.93
7 3 Innocent Egbunike  Nigeria 45.35
— 8 Bertland Cameron  Jamaica DNS

In popular culture[]

In the UK TV show Little Britain, character Denver Mills is credited as having won the silver medal in the 400 metres at the 1984 Olympics.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's 400 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e "400 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 2, pp. 273–74.
  4. ^ Official Report, p. 274.

External links[]

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