The men's 400 metres hurdles was the longer of two hurdling events at the 1908 Summer Olympics

1908 Summer Olympics

The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the IV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in 1908 in London, England, United Kingdom. These games were originally scheduled to be held in Rome. At the time they were the fifth modern Olympic games...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. It was the third time the event had been featured at the Olympics. The Olympic record was beat three times in the course of the Games.

Ten sets of hurdles were set on the course. The hurdles were 3 feet (= 91.5 centimetre) tall and were placed 35 metres apart beginning 45 metres from the starting line.

The competition was held from Monday, July 20, 1908 to Wednesday, July 22, 1908.

15 runners from six nations competed.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1908 Summer Olympics.

World Record	55.8(*)	Charles Bacon Charles Bacon Charles Joseph Bacon, Jr. was an American athlete and a member of the Irish American Athletic Club and the New York City Police Department...	Philadelphia (USA United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... )	July 6, 1908
Olympic Record	57.6(**)	Walter Tewksbury	Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...  (FRA France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... )	July 15, 1900

(*) unofficial

(**) This track was 500 metres in circumference.

Harry Hillman

Harry Hillman

Harry Livingston Hillman Jr. was an American athlete and winner of three gold medals at the 1904 Summer Olympics....

 ran 53.0 but he knocked over a hurdle and the hurdles were only 30 inches (76 cm) high.

In the first round Charles Bacon

Charles Bacon

Charles Joseph Bacon, Jr. was an American athlete and a member of the Irish American Athletic Club and the New York City Police Department...

 set a new Olympic record with 57.0 seconds. In the second round Harry Hillman

Harry Hillman

Harry Livingston Hillman Jr. was an American athlete and winner of three gold medals at the 1904 Summer Olympics....

 set a new record with 56.4 seconds. In the final Charles Bacon

Charles Bacon

Charles Joseph Bacon, Jr. was an American athlete and a member of the Irish American Athletic Club and the New York City Police Department...

 set a new world record with 55.0 seconds. This record became the first official world record for the 400 metre hurdles.

First round

First round, heat 1

There was no competition for Koops in the first heat.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Evert Koops Evert Koops Evert "Eddy" Koops was a Dutch athlete. He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.He was born and died in Arnhem....		walkover

First round, heat 2

A tight race from start to finish, Coe won by about a metre.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Harry Coe Harry Coe Harry Lee "Spider" Coe was an American athlete. He competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. He competed in intercollegiate track for the University of Michigan.He died in Seattle, Washington....		58.8 seconds
2	John Densham		(59.0 seconds)

First round, heat 3

Bacon won easily, breaking Godfrey Shaw's 440 yards world record.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Charles Bacon Charles Bacon Charles Joseph Bacon, Jr. was an American athlete and a member of the Irish American Athletic Club and the New York City Police Department...		57.0 seconds OR
2	Henry Murray		(59.8 seconds)

First round, heat 4

There was no competition for Harmer in the fourth heat.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Frederick Harmer Frederick Harmer Frederick William Harmer was a British track and field athlete who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics.In 1908 he was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 400 metre hurdles competition.-External links:*...		walkover

First round, heat 5

There was no competition for Burton in the fifth heat.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	G. Burton		walkover

First round, heat 6

Dubois pulled up lame three-quarters of the way through the race, leaving Hillman with the win.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Harry Hillman Harry Hillman Harry Livingston Hillman Jr. was an American athlete and winner of three gold medals at the 1904 Summer Olympics....		59.2 seconds
—	Georges Dubois		DNF

First round, heat 7

There was no competition for Groenings in the seventh heat.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Oswald Groenings Oswald Groenings Oswald Jacob Groenings was a British track and field athlete who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics.He was born in Middlesbrough and died in London....		walkover

First round, heat 8

There was no competition for Gould in the eighth heat.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Wyatt Gould Wyatt Gould Edward Wyatt Gould was a Welsh rugby union player who also represented Britain at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Gould captained his club side, Newport RFC, for a single season, and is best known as the younger brother of Welsh rugby superstar Arthur "Monkey" Gould-Rugby:Gould came from a notable...		walkover

First round, heat 9

There was no competition for Kovacs in the ninth heat.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Nándor Kovács Nándor Kovács Nándor Kováts was a Hungarian track and field athlete and gymnast who competed in the 1906 Summer Olympics and in the 1908 Summer Olympics.He was born in Budapest....		walkover

First round, heat 10

There was no competition for Tremeer in the tenth heat.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Jimmy Tremeer		walkover

First round, heat 11

The eleventh heat was cancelled as there were no starters.

First round, heat 12

In only the fourth actual race of the first round, and the third in which both runners finished, Burton won in the straight.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Leslie Burton Leslie Burton Leslie Aubrey Burton was a British athlete. He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.He died in Scarborough, North Yorkshire....		1:00.4
2	Henri Meslot Henri Meslot Henri Meslot was a French athlete who competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.He was born in Paris and died in Toulon....		(1:01.0)

Second round

Second round, heat 1

Koops fell; Hillman won easily, breaking Bacon's record that was set in the first round.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Harry Hillman Harry Hillman Harry Livingston Hillman Jr. was an American athlete and winner of three gold medals at the 1904 Summer Olympics....		56.4 seconds OR
2	Harry Coe Harry Coe Harry Lee "Spider" Coe was an American athlete. He competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. He competed in intercollegiate track for the University of Michigan.He died in Seattle, Washington....		(57.0 seconds)
—	Evert Koops Evert Koops Evert "Eddy" Koops was a Dutch athlete. He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.He was born and died in Arnhem....		DNF

Second round, heat 2

Bacon started off fast, and the other two runners dropped out at 200m.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Charles Bacon Charles Bacon Charles Joseph Bacon, Jr. was an American athlete and a member of the Irish American Athletic Club and the New York City Police Department...		58.8 seconds
—	Oswald Groenings Oswald Groenings Oswald Jacob Groenings was a British track and field athlete who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics.He was born in Middlesbrough and died in London....		DNF
—	Nándor Kovács Nándor Kovács Nándor Kováts was a Hungarian track and field athlete and gymnast who competed in the 1906 Summer Olympics and in the 1908 Summer Olympics.He was born in Budapest....		DNF

Second round, heat 3

Burton led after the hurdles, and won despite losing ground in the straight.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Leslie Burton Leslie Burton Leslie Aubrey Burton was a British athlete. He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.He died in Scarborough, North Yorkshire....		59.8 seconds
2	Frederick Harmer Frederick Harmer Frederick William Harmer was a British track and field athlete who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics.In 1908 he was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 400 metre hurdles competition.-External links:*...		1:00.3
3	Wyatt Gould Wyatt Gould Edward Wyatt Gould was a Welsh rugby union player who also represented Britain at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Gould captained his club side, Newport RFC, for a single season, and is best known as the younger brother of Welsh rugby superstar Arthur "Monkey" Gould-Rugby:Gould came from a notable...		unknown

Second round, heat 4

Burton retired, allowing Tremeer to win with a jog.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Jimmy Tremeer		1:00.6
—	G. Burton		DNF

Final

The final was held on Wednesday, July 22, 1908.

Halfway into the race, it was clear that the only question was which American would win. Bacon and Hillman were even all the way until the straight, with Bacon just barely pulling ahead to win by two yards, as both of the Americans came in under the world record set by Hillman in the second round.

Place	Name	Nation	Time
1	Charles Bacon Charles Bacon Charles Joseph Bacon, Jr. was an American athlete and a member of the Irish American Athletic Club and the New York City Police Department...		55.0 seconds WR
2	Harry Hillman Harry Hillman Harry Livingston Hillman Jr. was an American athlete and winner of three gold medals at the 1904 Summer Olympics....		55.3 seconds
3	Jimmy Tremeer		57.0 seconds
4	Leslie Burton Leslie Burton Leslie Aubrey Burton was a British athlete. He competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.He died in Scarborough, North Yorkshire....		58.0 seconds