| | Event type

400 metres Hurdles, Men

Date	29 July – 1 August 1996
Status	Olympic
Location	Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Participants	55 from 35 countries

The last two World Championships had been won by Americans – 1995 by Derrick Adkins and 1993 by the 1992 Olympic champion, Kevin Young. Both years the runner-up had been Zambia’s Samuel Matete. Matete had been the 1991 World Champion and was favored at the 1992 Olympics, but a hamstring problem kept him from the final. He was favored in Atlanta, having run the best times earlier in the year, and having beaten Adkins in four of five races in 1996. Adkins and Matete moved into the lead in the final at the seventh hurdle, but Adkins took the lead going in to the straight and held on for the gold medal, Matete getting silver.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	2327	Derrick Adkins	USA	48.46 (1 h7)	47.76 (1 h1)	47.54 (1)	Gold
2	2448	Samuel Matete	ZAM	48.21 (1 h3)	48.28 (3 h2)	47.78 (2)	Silver
3	2346	Calvin Davis	USA	48.94 (1 h6)	47.91 (1 h2)	47.96 (3)	Bronze
4	2254	Sven Nylander	SWE	49.54 (2 h6)	48.21 (2 h1)	47.98 (4)
5	1059	Rohan Robinson	AUS	48.89 (2 h3)	48.28 (4 h2)	48.30 (5)
6	1715	Fabrizio Mori	ITA	48.90 (2 h1)	48.43 (3 h1)	48.41 (6)
7	1178	Éverson Teixeira	BRA	48.52 (2 h7)	48.28 (2 h2)	48.57 (7)
8	1157	Eronildes Araújo	BRA	48.52 (1 h2)	48.45 (4 h1)	48.78 (8)
5 h1 r2/3	1652	Dusán Kovács	HUN	49.23 (2 h4)	48.57 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	1740	Neil Gardner	JAM	48.59 (4 h7)	48.30 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r2/3	2453	Ken Harnden	ZIM	48.54 (3 h7)	48.61 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	1717	Laurent Ottoz	ITA	48.92 (2 h2)	48.52 (6 h2)	–
7 h1 r2/3	1506	Jon Ridgeon	GBR	49.31 (1 h5)	49.43 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r2/3	2179	Ibou Faye	SEN	48.84 (1 h1)	48.84 (7 h2)	–
8 h1 r2/3	2334	Bryan Bronson	USA	49.06 (1 h4)	50.32 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r2/3	1106	Marc Dollendorf	BEL	49.49 (2 h5)	48.91 (8 h2)	–
3 h1 r1/3	1775	Kazuhiko Yamazaki	JPN	49.07 (3 h1)	–	–
3 h2 r1/3	2079	Carlos Silva	POR	49.09 (3 h2)	–	–
3 h3 r1/3	1798	Erick Keter	KEN	49.03 (3 h3)	–	–
3 h4 r1/3	2048	Paweł Januszewski	POL	49.63 (3 h4)	–	–
3 h5 r1/3	2146	Ruslan Mashchenko	RUS	49.94 (3 h5)	–	–
3 h6 r1/3	1722	Ashraf Saber	ITA	49.71 (3 h6)	–	–
4 h1 r1/3	1748	Dinsdale Morgan	JAM	49.16 (4 h1)	–	–
4 h2 r1/3	2093	Mubarak Sultan Al-Nubi Faraj	QAT	49.27 (4 h2)	–	–
4 h3 r1/3	1923	Vadim Zadoinov	MDA	49.73 (4 h3)	–	–
4 h4 r1/3	1762	Hideaki Kawamura	JPN	49.88 (4 h4)	–	–
4 h5 r1/3	1867	Egīls Tēbelis	LAT	50.73 (4 h5)	–	–
4 h6 r1/3	1791	Gideon Biwott	KEN	49.74 (4 h6)	–	–
5 h1 r1/3	1981	Kenny Aladefa	NGR	49.60 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r1/3	2202	Miro Kocuvan	SLO	49.66 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r1/3	1851	Hadi Soua'an Al-Somaily	KSA	49.94 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r1/3	2454	Julius Masvanhise	ZIM	50.16 (5 h4)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	2084	Domingo Cordero	PUR	51.20 (5 h5)	–	–
5 h6 r1/3	1676	Tom McGuirk	IRL	50.76 (5 h6)	–	–
5 h7 r1/3	1761	Shunji Karube	JPN	48.96 (5 h7)	–	–
6 h1 r1/3	1478	Peter Crampton	GBR	49.78 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r1/3	1105	Jean-Paul Bruwier	BEL	49.69 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r1/3	2182	Hamidou M'Baye	SEN	50.30 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r1/3	2238	Jozef Kucej	SVK	50.31 (6 h4)	–	–
6 h5 r1/3	2230	Marcel Schelbert	SUI	51.20 (6 h5)	–	–
6 h6 r1/3	1176	Cléverson da Silva	BRA	51.23 (6 h6)	–	–
6 h7 r1/3	1491	Gary Jennings	GBR	50.41 (6 h7)	–	–
7 h1 r1/3	1948	Gilbert Hashan	MRI	49.94 (7 h1)	–	–
7 h2 r1/3	1801	Barnabas Kinyor	KEN	49.82 (7 h2)	–	–
7 h3 r1/3	2112	Llewellyn Herbert	RSA	51.13 (7 h3)	–	–
7 h4 r1/3	1628	Amadou Sy Savané	GUI	50.90 (7 h4)	–	–
7 h5 r1/3	2028	Curt Young	PAN	55.20 (7 h5)	–	–
7 h6 r1/3	1370	Óscar Pitillas	ESP	51.35 (7 h6)	–	–
7 h7 r1/3	1361	Íñigo Monreal	ESP	52.23 (7 h7)	–	–
8 h1 r1/3	1376	Salvador Vila	ESP	50.55 (8 h1)	–	–
8 h2 r1/3	2480	Mugur Mateescu	ROU	49.97 (8 h2)	–	–
8 h4 r1/3	1048	Simon Hollingsworth	AUS	52.16 (8 h4)	–	–
8 h6 r1/3	1631	Lancelot Gittens	GUY	54.79 (8 h6)	–	–
8 h7 r1/3	2043	Ivan Wakit	PNG	53.42 (8 h7)	–	–
AC h5 r1/3	1742	Winthrop Graham	JAM	– (DNF h5)	–	–

Round One (29 July 1996)

Top two in each heat and next two fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One (11:45)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	7	Ibou Faye	SEN	48.84	0.370	Q
2	8	Fabrizio Mori	ITA	48.90	0.356	Q
3	5	Kazuhiko Yamazaki	JPN	49.07	0.307
4	6	Dinsdale Morgan	JAM	49.16	0.256
5	4	Kenny Aladefa	NGR	49.60	0.282
6	3	Peter Crampton	GBR	49.78	0.230
7	1	Gilbert Hashan	MRI	49.94	0.221
8	2	Salvador Vila	ESP	50.55	0.243

Heat Two (11:50)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	2	Eronildes Araújo	BRA	48.52	0.195	Q
2	1	Laurent Ottoz	ITA	48.92	0.179	Q
3	7	Carlos Silva	POR	49.09	0.318
4	3	Mubarak Sultan Al-Nubi Faraj	QAT	49.27	0.246
5	4	Miro Kocuvan	SLO	49.66	0.268
6	8	Jean-Paul Bruwier	BEL	49.69	0.415
7	5	Barnabas Kinyor	KEN	49.82	0.340
8	6	Mugur Mateescu	ROU	49.97	0.298

Heat Three (11:55)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	5	Samuel Matete	ZAM	48.21	0.291	Q
2	2	Rohan Robinson	AUS	48.89	0.203	Q
3	3	Erick Keter	KEN	49.03	0.222
4	6	Vadim Zadoinov	MDA	49.73	0.197
5	7	Hadi Soua'an Al-Somaily	KSA	49.94	0.601
6	8	Hamidou M'Baye	SEN	50.30	0.258
7	4	Llewellyn Herbert	RSA	51.13	0.269

Heat Four (12:00)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	5	Bryan Bronson	USA	49.06	0.301	Q
2	6	Dusán Kovács	HUN	49.23	0.340	Q
3	3	Paweł Januszewski	POL	49.63	0.253
4	4	Hideaki Kawamura	JPN	49.88	0.282
5	8	Julius Masvanhise	ZIM	50.16	0.360
6	2	Jozef Kucej	SVK	50.31	0.211
7	1	Amadou Sy Savané	GUI	50.90	0.198
8	7	Simon Hollingsworth	AUS	52.16	0.399

Heat Five (12:05)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	1	Jon Ridgeon	GBR	49.31	0.163	Q
2	8	Marc Dollendorf	BEL	49.49	0.285	Q
3	3	Ruslan Mashchenko	RUS	49.94	0.266
4	5	Egīls Tēbelis	LAT	50.73	0.344
5	6	Domingo Cordero	PUR	51.20	0.322
6	4	Marcel Schelbert	SUI	51.20	0.263
7	2	Curt Young	PAN	55.20	0.192
DNF	7	Winthrop Graham	JAM	–	0.306

Heat Six (12:10)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	2	Calvin Davis	USA	48.94	0.186	Q
2	8	Sven Nylander	SWE	49.54	0.263	Q
3	6	Ashraf Saber	ITA	49.71	0.396
4	5	Gideon Biwott	KEN	49.74	0.347
5	1	Tom McGuirk	IRL	50.76	0.204
6	7	Cléverson da Silva	BRA	51.23	0.342
7	4	Óscar Pitillas	ESP	51.35	0.263
8	3	Lancelot Gittens	GUY	54.79	0.280

Heat Seven (12:15)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	6	Derrick Adkins	USA	48.46	0.305	Q
2	8	Éverson Teixeira	BRA	48.52	0.325	Q
3	3	Ken Harnden	ZIM	48.54	0.294	q
4	7	Neil Gardner	JAM	48.59	0.311	q
5	1	Shunji Karube	JPN	48.96	0.238
6	4	Gary Jennings	GBR	50.41	0.262
7	2	Íñigo Monreal	ESP	52.23	0.257
8	5	Ivan Wakit	PNG	53.42	0.280

Semi-Finals (31 July 1996)

Top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One (19:15)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	3	Derrick Adkins	USA	47.76	0.195	Q
2	1	Sven Nylander	SWE	48.21	0.184	Q
3	2	Fabrizio Mori	ITA	48.43	0.187	Q
4	6	Eronildes Araújo	BRA	48.45	0.288	Q
5	8	Dusán Kovács	HUN	48.57	0.300
6	7	Ken Harnden	ZIM	48.61	0.331
7	4	Jon Ridgeon	GBR	49.43	0.225
8	5	Bryan Bronson	USA	50.32	0.287

Heat Two (19:20)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	3	Calvin Davis	USA	47.91	0.224	Q
2	4	Éverson Teixeira	BRA	48.28	0.209	Q
3	6	Samuel Matete	ZAM	48.28	0.276	Q
4	7	Rohan Robinson	AUS	48.28	0.285	Q
5	1	Neil Gardner	JAM	48.30	0.180
6	2	Laurent Ottoz	ITA	48.52	0.172
7	5	Ibou Faye	SEN	48.84	0.345
8	8	Marc Dollendorf	BEL	48.91	0.281

Final (1 August 1996 — 20:25)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	6	Derrick Adkins	USA	47.54	0.294
2	1	Samuel Matete	ZAM	47.78	0.184
3	5	Calvin Davis	USA	47.96	0.267
4	4	Sven Nylander	SWE	47.98	0.225
5	8	Rohan Robinson	AUS	48.30	0.283
6	7	Fabrizio Mori	ITA	48.41	0.192
7	3	Éverson Teixeira	BRA	48.57	0.201
8	2	Eronildes Araújo	BRA	48.78	0.199