400 metres, Men

The US was dominant in this event in 1968. They had six the fastest 10 men in the world and at the Olympic Trials, both Lee Evans and Larry James bettered the world record with hand times of 44.0. A US sweep seemed possible, as the third US runner, Ron Freeman, had recorded 44.6 in the Trials. After the tumult that followed the 200 metre victory ceremony, in which Tommie Smith and John Carlos, were expelled from the Olympics by the US Olympic Committee, Evans wanted to withdraw from the final. But Smith and Carlos convinced Evans to run – they were college teammates at San Jose State. Evans started quickly in the final and expected to have a lead coming to the homestraight. But he was worried when he saw that James was right on his shoulder. He pulled away slightly, but James then closed to only a metre back at the finish, as both lowered the world record with Evans finishing in 43.86 and James in 43.97 – the first time anyone had run under 44 seconds for 400 metres. Freeman completed the US sweep.

Evans’ time was officially 43.8, as the official times were only to the tenth of a second in 1968. His automatic time in 1968 was 43.79, but the 1968 automatic times had a built-in 0.05 second delay to allow for response time. This no longer is used, making his actual time 43.84. However, in the early 1970s when the IAAF starting using 1/100ths times for record purposes, they redefined the torso (when crossing the line) to not include the neck, which made Evans’ time 43.86 after re-reading the photo finish timer. The mark lasted as a world record until 1988 when Butch Reynolds ran 43.29 at the Weltklasse in Zürich.