Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles
| Men's 400 metres hurdles at the Games of the II Olympiad | |||||||
| Venue | Bois de Boulogne | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | July 14 (semifinals) July 15 (final) | ||||||
| Competitors | 5 from 4 nations | ||||||
| Medalists | |||||||
| |||||||
| Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics  | ||
|---|---|---|
| Track events | ||
| 60 m | men | |
| 100 m | men | |
| 200 m | men | |
| 400 m | men | |
| 800 m | men | |
| 1500 m | men | |
| 110 m hurdles | men | |
| 200 m hurdles | men | |
| 400 m hurdles | men | |
| 2500 m steeplechase | men | |
| 4000 m steeplechase | men | |
| 5000 m team race | men | |
| Road events | ||
| Marathon | men | |
| Field events | ||
| Long jump | men | |
| Triple jump | men | |
| High jump | men | |
| Pole vault | men | |
| Standing long jump | men | |
| Standing triple jump | men | |
| Standing high jump | men | |
| Shot put | men | |
| Discus throw | men | |
| Hammer throw | men | |
The men's 400 metres hurdles was a track & field athletics event at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. This event was held for the first time at the Olympics. The competition took part on July 14 and July 15, 1900. The race was held on a track of 500 metres in circumference. Five athletes from four nations competed in the longest of the three hurdling events.
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1900 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 56.4(*) |  Jerome Buck |
New York (USA) | September 19, 1896 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Record | none |
(*) unofficial 440 yards (= 402.34 m)
The times set in the two heats are uncertain. In the final Walter Tewksbury set the new Olympic record with 57.6 seconds.
Results
First round
In the first round, there were two heats run on July 14. The top two runners in each advanced to the final, meaning that only one athlete was eliminated in the heats.
First round, heat 1
| Place | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Walter Tewksbury (USA) | 1:01.0 |
| 2 | William Lewis (USA) | (1:02.4) |
| 3 |  Karel Nedvěd (BOH) | Unknown |
Tewksbury won from Lewis by ten yards (9 m). This meant that Nedvěd, placing third, was the only athlete eliminated in the round.
First round, heat 2
| Place | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Henri Tauzin (FRA) | 1:00.2 |
| 2 |  George Orton (CAN) | (1:00.2) |
With only two athletes in the heat and both to qualify, neither hurdler ran anywhere near full speed. Tauzin beat Orton by three inches (8 cm).
Final
| Place | Athlete | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walter Tewksbury (USA) | 57.6 |
| 2 | Henri Tauzin (FRA) | (58.3) |
| 3 | George Orton (CAN) | (58.8) |
| — | William Lewis (USA) | DNS |
Lewis withdrew as the final was held on a Sunday. For the three who did start, it was the first race of the event that posed any sort of challenge, with hurdles fashioned out of 30-foot (9 m) long telegraph poles and a 16-foot (5 m) water jump on the final straight; Tewksbury still did not have much difficulty, leading from the start to win by about five yards (4.5 m), with Orton a further four yards (3.5 m) back.
Sources
- International Olympic Committee.
- De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Athletics 1900". Accessed 18 March 2006. Available electronically at .
- Mallon, Bill (1998). The 1900 Olympic Games, Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 0-7864-0378-0.