| | Event type
400 metres Hurdles, Men
| Date | 29 – 30 July 1928 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam |
| Participants | 25 from 13 countries |
Defending champion Morgan Taylor was back and was favored, having won the 1924-26 AAU titles, and the 1928 US Olympic Trials in a world record 52.0. But in the Olympic final, he was outrun by his teammate, silver medalist Frank Cuhel, and the gold medalist, David George Brownlow Cecil, Lord Burghley, the 6th Marquess of Exeter. Burghley was a very colorful character. In the movie Chariots of Fire, he is depicted but by the name Lord Lindsay, as he refused to allow his name to be used, apparently upset by some of the historical inaccuracies in the film. Burghley later became an IOC Member, President of the IAAF, and ran for IOC President in 1952, losing to Avery Brundage.
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 444 | David, Lord Burghley |  GBR | 57.0 (1 h1) | 53.9 (3 h1) | 53.4 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 512 | Frank Cuhel |  USA | 54.6 (1 h6) | 53.6 (2 h1) | 53.6 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 874 | Morgan Taylor | USA | 55.2 (1 h4) | 53.4 (1 h1) | 53.6 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 860 | Sten Pettersson |  SWE | 55.8 (1 h5) | 54.3 (3 h2) | 53.8 (4) | |||
| 5 | 468 | Thomas Livingston-Learmonth | GBR | 56.4 (2 h3) | 54.0 (1 h2) | 54.2 (5) | |||
| 6 | 229 | Luigi Facelli |  ITA | 55.1 (2 h6) | 54.2 (2 h2) | 55.8 (6) | |||
| 4 h1 r2/3 | 109 | Roger Viel |  FRA | 56.2 (1 h3) | 57.6 (4 h1) | – | |||
| 4 h2 r2/3 | 528 | Johnny Gibson | USA | 57.0 (1 h2) | 54.4 (4 h2) | – | |||
| 5 h1 r2/3 | 421 | Stefan Kostrzewski |  POL | 56.0 (2 h5) | 58.0 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 5 h2 r2/3 | 810 | Erkka Wilén |  FIN | 56.5 (2 h4) | 54.5 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 6 h1 r2/3 | 447 | Frederick Chauncy | GBR | – (2 h2) | – (6 h1) | – | |||
| 6 h2 r2/3 | 548 | Robert Maxwell | USA | 57.2 (2 h1) | – (6 h2) | – | |||
| 3 h1 r1/3 | 137 | Vangelis Moiropoulos |  GRE | 58.4 (3 h1) | – | – | |||
| 3 h2 r1/3 | 625 | Marcel Swinnen |  BEL | – (3 h2) | – | – | |||
| 3 h3 r1/3 | 795 | Jukka Matilainen | FIN | 56.7 (3 h3) | – | – | |||
| 3 h4 r1/3 | 850 | Erik Kjellström | SWE | 56.6 (3 h4) | – | – | |||
| 3 h5 r1/3 | 479 | Lance Percival | GBR | – (3 h5) | – | – | |||
| 3 h6 r1/3 | 692 | Louis Lundgren |  DEN | 55.9 (3 h6) | – | – | |||
| 4 h1 r1/3 | 48 | André Adelheim | FRA | 59.2 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 4 h3 r1/3 | 601 | Alf Watson |  AUS | 57.8 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 4 h6 r1/3 | 663 | Warren Montabone |  CAN | 56.5 (4 h6) | – | – | |||
| 5 h1 r1/3 | 695 | Herman Larsen | DEN | 1:00.0 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 5 h6 r1/3 | 101 | Édouard Max-Robert | FRA | – (5 h6) | – | – | |||
| 6 h6 r1/3 | 207 | S. Abdul Hamid |  IND | – (6 h6) | – | – | |||
| AC h2 r1/3 | – | Pierre Arnaudin | FRA | – (DNF h2) | – | – | |||
| 380 | Ladislav Dostál |  TCH | – (DNS h1) | – | – | ||||
| 134 | Emmanuel Gneftos | GRE | – (DNS h2) | – | – | ||||
| 283 | Aubrey Burton-Durham |  RSA | – (DNS h2) | – | – | ||||
| 359 | Virgil Ioan |  ROU | – (DNS h3) | – | – | ||||
| 608 | Émile Binet | BEL | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| 70 | Pierre Dinard | FRA | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| 253 | Yoshio Miki |  JPN | – (DNS h5) | – | – | ||||
| – | Conrad Hauge |  NOR | – (DNS h5) | – | – |
Round One (29 July 1928 — 14:00)
Top two in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | David, Lord Burghley | GBR | 57.0 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Robert Maxwell | USA | 57.2 | |||
| 3 | 1 | Vangelis Moiropoulos | GRE | 58.4 | |||
| 4 | 3 | André Adelheim | FRA | 59.2 | |||
| 5 | 6 | Herman Larsen | DEN | 1:00.0 | |||
| 2 | Ladislav Dostál | TCH | – |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Johnny Gibson | USA | 57.0 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Frederick Chauncy | GBR | – | |||
| 3 | 3 | Marcel Swinnen | BEL | – | |||
| 6 | Pierre Arnaudin | FRA | – | ||||
| 1 | Emmanuel Gneftos | GRE | – | ||||
| 2 | Aubrey Burton-Durham | RSA | – |
Heat Three
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Roger Viel | FRA | 56.2 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Thomas Livingston-Learmonth | GBR | 56.4 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Jukka Matilainen | FIN | 56.7 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Alf Watson | AUS | 57.8 | |||
| 5 | Virgil Ioan | ROU | – |
Heat Four
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Morgan Taylor | USA | 55.2 | |||
| 2 | 1 | Erkka Wilén | FIN | 56.5 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Erik Kjellström | SWE | 56.6 | |||
| 2 | Émile Binet | BEL | – | ||||
| 3 | Pierre Dinard | FRA | – |
Heat Five
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Sten Pettersson | SWE | 55.8 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Stefan Kostrzewski | POL | 56.0 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Lance Percival | GBR | – | |||
| 1 | Yoshio Miki | JPN | – | ||||
| 4 | Conrad Hauge | NOR | – |
Heat Six
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Frank Cuhel | USA | 54.6 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Luigi Facelli | ITA | 55.1 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Louis Lundgren | DEN | 55.9 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Warren Montabone | CAN | 56.5 | |||
| 5 | 2 | Édouard Max-Robert | FRA | – | |||
| 6 | 1 | S. Abdul Hamid | IND | – |
Semi-Finals (29 July 1928 — 17:30)
Top three in each heat advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 874 | Morgan Taylor | USA | 53.4 | |||
| 2 | 512 | Frank Cuhel | USA | 53.6 | |||
| 3 | 444 | David, Lord Burghley | GBR | 53.9 | |||
| 4 | 109 | Roger Viel | FRA | 57.6 | |||
| 5 | 421 | Stefan Kostrzewski | POL | 58.0 | |||
| 6 | 447 | Frederick Chauncy | GBR | – |
Heat Two
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 468 | Thomas Livingston-Learmonth | GBR | 54.0 | |||
| 2 | 229 | Luigi Facelli | ITA | 54.2 | |||
| 3 | 860 | Sten Pettersson | SWE | 54.3 | |||
| 4 | 528 | Johnny Gibson | USA | 54.4 | |||
| 5 | 810 | Erkka Wilén | FIN | 54.5 | |||
| 6 | 548 | Robert Maxwell | USA | – |
Final (30 July 1928 — 15:10)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | David, Lord Burghley | GBR | 53.4 | |||
| 2 | 1 | Frank Cuhel | USA | 53.6 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Morgan Taylor | USA | 53.6 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Sten Pettersson | SWE | 53.8 | |||
| 5 | 6 | Thomas Livingston-Learmonth | GBR | 54.2 | |||
| 6 | 4 | Luigi Facelli | ITA | 55.8 |