Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles
# Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles

The men's 400 metres hurdles at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California had an entry list of 45 competitors from 30 nations, with six qualifying heats (45 runners) and two semifinals (16) before the final (8) took place on Sunday August 5, 1984. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. American Edwin Moses won his second Olympic gold medal after 1976, while his 18-year-old teammate Danny Harris took the silver medal. Moses' gold was the United States' 13th victory in the event. Moses was the sixth man to win multiple medals in the event, and the second to win multiple golds. Harald Schmid of West Germany took bronze, giving that nation its first medal in the 400 metres hurdles since 1968.

## Background

This was the 18th time the event was held. It had been introduced along with the men's 200 metres hurdles in 1900, with the 200 being dropped after 1904 and the 400 being held through 1908 before being left off the 1912 programme. However, when the Olympics returned in 1920 after World War I, the men's 400 metres hurdles was back and would continue to be contested at every Games thereafter.

One of the eight finalists from the 1980 Games returned: seventh-place finisher Franz Meier of Switzerland. Also returning was 1976 gold medalist Edwin Moses of the United States, who had not competed in 1980 due to the American-led boycott. Moses had not lost a 400 metres hurdles race since 26 August, 1977; he had won 89 consecutive finals since then, including the inaugural 1983 World Championship. There was little expectation that anyone would challenge Moses, but if anyone could it was thought to be Harald Schmid of West Germany—the winner in Moses's last loss seven years earlier, the runner-up at the World Championship, and the 1978 and 1982 European champion. Moses' teenage teammate Danny Harris was also an up-and-coming contender.

The Bahamas, Bahrain, Cameroon, Egypt, the Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Mozambique, Paraguay, Rwanda, the Seychelles, and the United Arab Emirates each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 17th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

## Competition format

The competition used the three-round format used every Games since 1908 (except the four-round competition in 1952): quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. Ten sets of hurdles were set on the course. The hurdles were 3 feet (91.5 centimetres) tall and were placed 35 metres apart beginning 45 metres from the starting line, resulting in a 40 metres home stretch after the last hurdle. The 400 metres track was standard.

There were 6 quarterfinal heats with between 6 and 8 athletes each. The top 2 men in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals along with the next fastest 4 overall. The 16 semifinalists were divided into 2 semifinals of 8 athletes each, with the top 4 in each semifinal advancing to the 8-man final.

## Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1984 Summer Olympics.

| World record | Edwin Moses (USA) | 47.02 | Koblenz, West Germany | 31 August 1983 |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Olympic record | Edwin Moses (USA) | 47.64 | Montreal, Canada | 25 July 1976 |

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

## Schedule

All times are Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)

| Date | Time | Round |
| - | - | - |
| Friday, 3 August 1984 | 11:20 | Quarterfinals |
| Saturday, 4 August 1984 | 18:25 | Semifinals |
| Sunday, 5 August 1984 | 18:55 | Final |

## Results

### Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals were held on Friday August 3, 1984.

**Quarterfinal 1**

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Edwin Moses | United States | 49.33 | Q |
| 2 | Antônio Dias Ferreira | Brazil | 49.85 | Q |
| 3 | Michel Zimmermann | Belgium | 49.90 | q |
| 4 | Thomas Futterknecht | Austria | 50.25 | |
| 5 | Thomas Nyberg | Sweden | 50.47 | |
| 6 | Gérard Brunel | France | 50.99 | |
| 7 | Ahmed Ghanem | Egypt | 51.08 | |
| 8 | Phil Beattie | Great Britain | 51.27 | |

**Quarterfinal 2**

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Harald Schmid | West Germany | 49.34 | Q |
| 2 | Karl Smith | Jamaica | 49.66 | Q |
| 3 | Franz Meier | Switzerland | 49.81 | q |
| 4 | Rik Tommelein | Belgium | 50.05 | q |
| 5 | Shigenori Omori | Japan | 50.14 | |
| 6 | Yeoryiós Vamvakas | Greece | 50.39 | |
| 7 | Oswaldo Zea | Venezuela | 51.44 | |

**Quarterfinal 3**

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sven Nylander | Sweden | 49.88 | Q |
| 2 | Ryoichi Yoshida | Japan | 50.24 | Q |
| 3 | René Djédjémél | Ivory Coast | 50.27 | |
| 4 | Peter Rwamuhanda | Uganda | 50.55 | |
| 5 | Franck Jonot | France | 51.39 | |
| 6 | Martin Gillingham | Great Britain | 52.15 | |
| 7 | Vincent Confait | Seychelles | 53.62 | |
| 8 | Nicolás Chaparro | Paraguay | 56.98 | |

**Quarterfinal 4**

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Tranel Hawkins | United States | 49.51 | Q |
| 2 | Simon Kitur | Kenya | 49.70 | Q |
| 3 | Uwe Schmitt | West Germany | 49.77 | q |
| 4 | Ahmed Hamada Jassim | Bahrain | 50.62 | |
| 5 | Ian Newhouse | Canada | 51.14 | |
| 6 | Christer Gullstrand | Sweden | 51.27 | |
| 7 | Jean-Pierre Abossolo-Ze | Cameroon | 52.85 | |
| 8 | Domingos Mendes | Mozambique | 54.52 | |

**Quarterfinal 5**

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Amadou Dia Bâ | Senegal | 49.94 | Q |
| 2 | Henry Amike | Nigeria | 50.11 | Q |
| 3 | Ken Gray | Jamaica | 50.46 | |
| 4 | Martin Briggs | Great Britain | 50.80 | |
| 5 | Pierre Leveille | Canada | 51.47 | |
| 6 | Meshak Munyoro | Kenya | 51.99 | |
| 7 | Faustin Butéra | Rwanda | 54.36 | |
| 8 | Ibrahim Khamis | United Arab Emirates | 55.50 | |

**Quarterfinal 6**

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Danny Harris | United States | 49.81 | Q |
| 2 | Greg Rolle | Bahamas | 50.41 | Q |
| 3 | Lloyd Guss | Canada | 51.02 | |
| 4 | Athanasios Kalogiannis | Greece | 50.62 | |
| 5 | Jasem Al-Dowaila | Kuwait | 51.45 | |
| — | José Alonso | Spain | DNF | |

### Semifinals

The semifinals were held on Saturday August 4, 1984.

**Semifinal 1**

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Edwin Moses | United States | 48.51 | Q |
| 2 | Tranel Hawkins | United States | 48.94 | Q |
| 3 | Amadou Dia Bâ | Senegal | 49.44 | Q |
| 4 | Michel Zimmermann | Belgium | 49.79 | Q |
| 5 | Simon Kitur | Kenya | 49.80 | |
| 6 | Uwe Schmitt | West Germany | 50.08 | |
| 7 | Greg Rolle | Bahamas | 50.16 | |
| 8 | Antônio Dias Ferreira | Brazil | 50.70 | |

**Semifinal 2**

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Danny Harris | United States | 48.92 | Q |
| 2 | Sven Nylander | Sweden | 49.03 | Q |
| 3 | Harald Schmid | West Germany | 49.04 | Q |
| 4 | Henry Amike | Nigeria | 49.36 | Q |
| 5 | Karl Smith | Jamaica | 49.58 | |
| 6 | Franz Meier | Switzerland | 49.89 | |
| 7 | Ryoichi Yoshida | Japan | 49.92 | |
| 8 | Rik Tommelein | Belgium | 50.06 | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | 6 | Edwin Moses | United States | 47.75 |
| | 4 | Danny Harris | United States | 48.13 |
| | 5 | Harald Schmid | West Germany | 48.19 |
| 4 | 3 | Sven Nylander | Sweden | 48.97 |
| 5 | 7 | Amadou Dia Bâ | Senegal | 49.28 |
| 6 | 1 | Tranel Hawkins | United States | 49.42 |
| 7 | 8 | Michel Zimmermann | Belgium | 50.69 |
| 8 | 2 | Henry Amike | Nigeria | 53.78 |

## Results summary

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Edwin Moses | United States | 49.33 | 48.51 | 47.75 |
| | Danny Harris | United States | 49.81 | 48.92 | 48.13 |
| | Harald Schmid | West Germany | 49.34 | 49.04 | 48.19 |
| 4 | Sven Nylander | Sweden | 49.88 | 49.03 | 48.97 |
| 5 | Amadou Dia Bâ | Senegal | 49.94 | 49.44 | 49.28 |
| 6 | Tranel Hawkins | United States | 49.51 | 48.94 | 49.42 |
| 7 | Michel Zimmermann | Belgium | 49.90 | 49.79 | 50.69 |
| 8 | Henry Amike | Nigeria | 50.11 | 49.36 | 53.78 |
| 9 | Karl Smith | Jamaica | 49.66 | 49.58 | Did not advance |
| 10 | Simon Kitur | Kenya | 49.70 | 49.80 | Did not advance |
| 11 | Franz Meier | Switzerland | 49.81 | 49.89 | Did not advance |
| 12 | Ryoichi Yoshida | Japan | 50.24 | 49.92 | Did not advance |
| 13 | Rik Tommelein | Belgium | 50.05 | 50.06 | Did not advance |
| 14 | Uwe Schmitt | West Germany | 49.77 | 50.08 | Did not advance |
| 15 | Greg Rolle | Bahamas | 50.41 | 50.16 | Did not advance |
| 16 | Antônio Dias Ferreira | Brazil | 49.85 | 50.70 | Did not advance |
| 17 | Shigenori Omori | Japan | 50.14 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 18 | Thomas Futterknecht | Austria | 50.25 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 19 | René Djédjémél | Ivory Coast | 50.27 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 20 | Yeoryiós Vamvakas | Greece | 50.39 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 21 | Ken Gray | Jamaica | 50.46 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 22 | Thomas Nyberg | Sweden | 50.47 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 23 | Peter Rwamuhanda | Uganda | 50.55 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 24 | Ahmed Hamada Jassim | Bahrain | 50.62 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 24 | Athanasios Kalogiannis | Greece | 50.62 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 26 | Martin Briggs | Great Britain | 50.80 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 27 | Gérard Brunel | France | 50.99 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 28 | Lloyd Guss | Canada | 51.02 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 29 | Ahmed Ghanem | Egypt | 51.08 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 30 | Ian Newhouse | Canada | 51.14 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 31 | Phil Beattie | Great Britain | 51.27 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 31 | Christer Gullstrand | Sweden | 51.27 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 33 | Franck Jonot | France | 51.39 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 34 | Oswaldo Zea | Venezuela | 51.44 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 35 | Jasem Al-Dowaila | Kuwait | 51.45 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 36 | Pierre Leveille | Canada | 51.47 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 37 | Meshak Munyoro | Kenya | 51.99 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 38 | Martin Gillingham | Great Britain | 52.15 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 39 | Jean-Pierre Abossolo-Ze | Cameroon | 52.85 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 40 | Vincent Confait | Seychelles | 53.62 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 41 | Faustin Butéra | Rwanda | 54.36 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 42 | Domingos Mendes | Mozambique | 54.52 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 43 | Ibrahim Khamis | United Arab Emirates | 55.50 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 44 | Nicolás Chaparro | Paraguay | 56.98 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| 45 | José Alonso | Spain | DNF | Did not advance | Did not advance |
