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| Event type

400 metres Hurdles, Men

Date23 – 24 November 1956
StatusOlympic
LocationMelbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria
Participants28 from 18 countries

Coming in to 1956, the top American was Josh Culbreath, AAU Champion in 1953-55 and Pan-American Champion in 1955. The world record holder at the beginning of the year was Soviet Yury Lituyev with 50.4 set in 1953. Lituyev had been second at the European Championships in 1950 and 1954 and was the top European in 1956. But two young Americans took up the intermediate hurdles in 1956. Glenn Davis was a top 200/400 runner at Ohio State and won the US Olympic Trials in a world record 49.5, narrowly defeating Eddie Southern, still only a junior, who ran 49.7. In Melbourne again established his superiority, winning the final by 7/10ths over Southern, with Culbreath completing a US medal sweep, Lituyev trailing in fourth. South Africa’s Gert Potgieter had been in the medal hunt until he fell on the last barrier, finishing last.

PosNrAthleteNOCR1SFFinal
1278Glenn DavisUSA51.3 (1 h1)50.7 (2 h1)50.1 (1)Gold
2279Eddie SouthernUSA51.3 (1 h2)50.1 (1 h1)50.8 (2)Silver
3277Josh CulbreathUSA50.9 (1 h3)50.9 (1 h2)51.6 (3)Bronze
4282Yury LituyevURS51.6 (1 h5)51.8 (3 h2)51.7 (4)
5257David LeanAUS51.4 (2 h1)51.4 (2 h2)51.8 (5)
6274Gert PotgieterRSA52.0 (2 h5)51.3 (3 h1)56.0 (6)
4 h1 r2/3263Guy CuryFRA51.6 (2 h3)51.5 (4 h1)
4 h2 r2/3113Ilie SavelROU52.2 (2 h6)52.0 (4 h2)
5 h1 r2/3280Anatoly YulinURS52.1 (1 h6)51.7 (5 h1)
5 h2 r2/3268Harry KaneGBR51.8 (2 h2)52.7 (5 h2)
6 h1 r2/3258Ross ParkerAUS53.5 (1 h4)52.6 (6 h1)
6 h2 r2/3240Ioannis KampadelisGRE53.7 (2 h4)53.8 (6 h2)
3 h1 r1/3270Keiji OgushiJPN53.2 (3 h1)
3 h2 r1/3256Geoff GoodacreAUS52.5 (3 h2)
3 h3 r1/3675Jaime AparicioCOL52.0 (3 h3)
3 h4 r1/3247Amadeo FrancisPUR54.3 (3 h4)
3 h5 r1/3262Ossi MildhFIN52.1 (3 h5)
3 h6 r1/3267Bob ShawGBR52.5 (3 h6)
4 h1 r1/3273Ovidio de JesúsPUR54.0 (4 h1)
4 h2 r1/3246Kalim Khawaja GhaniPAK55.1 (4 h2)
4 h3 r1/3266Tom FarrellGBR52.7 (4 h3)
4 h5 r1/3264Alexandre YankoffFRA53.1 (4 h5)
4 h6 r1/3260Ulisses dos SantosBRA53.8 (4 h6)
5 h1 r1/3271Pablo SomblingoPHI54.5 (5 h1)
5 h2 r1/3269Jagdev SinghIND55.2 (5 h2)
5 h3 r1/3372Muhammad YaqubPAK53.1 (5 h3)
5 h5 r1/3259Marcel LambrechtsBEL54.0 (5 h5)
6 h3 r1/3261Tsai Cheng-FuTPE54.6 (6 h3)
DNS281Igor IlyinURS– (DNS h4)
DNS249Josef KostSUI– (DNS h6)
DNS265Helmut JanzGER– (DNS h4)
DNS275Christian WägliSUI– (DNS h4)

Round One (23 November 1956 — 14:30)

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

Heat One

PosLaneAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
12Glenn DavisUSA51.351.33Q
25David LeanAUS51.451.55Q
31Keiji OgushiJPN53.253.22
44Ovidio de JesúsPUR54.054.08
53Pablo SomblingoPHI54.554.66

Heat Two

PosLaneAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
13Eddie SouthernUSA51.351.41Q
24Harry KaneGBR51.851.85Q
32Geoff GoodacreAUS52.552.85
45Kalim Khawaja GhaniPAK55.155.36
51Jagdev SinghIND55.255.36

Heat Three

PosLaneAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
11Josh CulbreathUSA50.951.06Q
22Guy CuryFRA51.651.76Q
33Jaime AparicioCOL52.052.14
45Tom FarrellGBR52.752.88
54Muhammad YaqubPAK53.153.18
66Tsai Cheng-FuTPE54.654.84

Heat Four

PosLaneAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
11Ross ParkerAUS53.553.51Q
23Ioannis KampadelisGRE53.753.66Q
34Amadeo FrancisPUR54.354.38
DNS5Igor IlyinURS
DNS2Helmut JanzGER
DNS6Christian WägliSUI

Heat Five

PosLaneAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
13Yury LituyevURS51.651.69Q
25Gert PotgieterRSA52.052.05Q
34Ossi MildhFIN52.152.19
42Alexandre YankoffFRA53.153.30
51Marcel LambrechtsBEL54.054.24

Heat Six

PosLaneAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
14Anatoly YulinURS52.152.22Q
25Ilie SavelROU52.252.31Q
31Bob ShawGBR52.552.62
43Ulisses dos SantosBRA53.853.99
DNS2Josef KostSUI

Semi-Finals (23 November 1956 — 17:40)

Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

PosLaneAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
15Eddie SouthernUSA50.150.26QOR
24Glenn DavisUSA50.750.78Q
32Gert PotgieterRSA51.351.30Q
46Guy CuryFRA51.551.66
51Anatoly YulinURS51.751.79
63Ross ParkerAUS52.652.72

Heat Two

PosLaneAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
15Josh CulbreathUSA50.950.97Q
23David LeanAUS51.451.45Q
31Yury LituyevURS51.851.78Q
46Ilie SavelROU52.052.06
52Harry KaneGBR52.752.95
64Ioannis KampadelisGRE53.853.93

Final (24 November 1956 — 17:10)

PosLaneAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
14Glenn DavisUSA50.150.29=OR
22Eddie SouthernUSA50.850.94
31Josh CulbreathUSA51.651.74
45Yury LituyevURS51.751.91
56David LeanAUS51.851.93
63Gert PotgieterRSA56.0