Host City: Melbourne, Australia |
Format: Top three in each heat advanced to the final. |
Date Started: November 23, 1956 |
Format: Top two in each heat advanced to the semi-finals. |
Date Finished: November 24, 1956 |
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(Competitors: 28; Countries: 18; Finalists: 6) |
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Venue(s): Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria
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Overview by IAAF |
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Before 1956 Southern had two races at one-lap hurdling under his belt, two more than Davis. In the US Trials Davis ran 49.5, with Southern just behind at 49.7. The US third-string – Culbreath – was fastest in the heats with 50.9 (51.07), and six others ran under 52 seconds. Southern and Davis were drawn in the same semi-final, and Southern’s pattern was 15 strides between hurdles rather than his usual 13 (to hurdle seven). It worked well, as he looked very easy in running the third fastest time ever of 50.1 (50.26). Davis struggled, and was only fourth at the eighth hurdle. He kicked hard and finished in a good 50.7 (50.78). Culbreath was a convincing winner of the other semi-final with 50.9 (50.97). Southern led in the final, passing the fifth hurdle in 22.7 with Davis two yards behind. Davis made a big effort round the curve, and was a metre up on Southern at the eighth hurdle. He built on this lead and was more than 2m up at the last hurdle, with Potgieter 3m behind just ahead of Culbreath. The South African hit the last barrier and fell, and the USA had another clean sweep. Davis’s time was equal third-fastest ever on hand timing. |
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Summary by Sports-reference.com |
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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. |
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Records
Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
World record |
Glenn Davis (USA) |
49.5 |
Los Angeles, United States |
June 29, 1956 |
Olympic record |
Charles Moore (USA) |
50.8 |
Helsinki, Finland |
July 21, 1952 |
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Results |
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400 m Hurdles |
Men |
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Final |
24 November |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
50,29 |
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Glenn Davis |
United States |
USA |
22 |
(=)OR |
50.1 h |
2 |
50,94 |
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Eddie Southern |
United States |
USA |
18 |
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50.8 h |
3 |
51,74 |
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Josh Culbreath |
United States |
USA |
24 |
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51.6 h |
4 |
51,91 |
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Yury Lituyev |
Soviet Union |
URS |
31 |
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51.7 h |
5 |
51,93 |
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David Lean |
Australia |
AUS |
21 |
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51.8 h |
6 |
56.0 |
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Gert Potgieter |
South Africa |
RSA |
19 |
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400 m Hurdles |
Men |
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Semi-Finals Heat One |
23 November |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
50,26 |
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Q |
Eddie Southern |
United States |
USA |
18 |
OR |
50.1 h |
2 |
50,78 |
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Q |
Glenn Davis |
United States |
USA |
22 |
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50.7 h |
3 |
51,30 |
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Q |
Gert Potgieter |
South Africa |
RSA |
19 |
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51.3 h |
4 |
51,66 |
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Guy Cury |
France |
FRA |
26 |
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51.5 h |
5 |
51,79 |
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Anatoly Yulin |
Soviet Union |
URS |
27 |
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51.7 h |
6 |
52,72 |
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Ross Parker |
Australia |
AUS |
21 |
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52.6 h |
400 m Hurdles |
Men |
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Semi-Finals Heat Two |
23 November |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
50,97 |
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Q |
Josh Culbreath |
United States |
USA |
24 |
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50.9 h |
2 |
51,45 |
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Q |
David Lean |
Australia |
AUS |
21 |
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51.4 h |
3 |
51,78 |
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Q |
Yury Lituyev |
Soviet Union |
URS |
31 |
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51.8 h |
4 |
52,06 |
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Ilie Savel |
Romania |
ROU |
29 |
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52.0 h |
5 |
52,95 |
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Harry Kane |
Great Britain |
GBR |
23 |
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52.7 h |
6 |
53,93 |
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Ioannis Kambadelis |
Greece |
GRE |
29 |
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53.8 h |
400 m Hurdles |
Men |
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Round One Heat One |
23 November |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
51,33 |
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Q |
Glenn Davis |
United States |
USA |
22 |
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51.3 h |
2 |
51,55 |
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Q |
David Lean |
Australia |
AUS |
21 |
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51.4 h |
3 |
53,22 |
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Keiji Ogushi |
Japan |
JPN |
22 |
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53.2 h |
4 |
54,08 |
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Ovidio de Jesús |
Puerto Rico |
PUR |
23 |
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54.0 h |
5 |
54,66 |
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Pablo Somblingo |
Philippines |
PHI |
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54.5 h |
400 m Hurdles |
Men |
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Round One Heat Two |
23 November |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
51,41 |
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Q |
Eddie Southern |
United States |
USA |
18 |
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51.3 h |
2 |
51,85 |
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Q |
Harry Kane |
Great Britain |
GBR |
23 |
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51.8 h |
3 |
52,85 |
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Geoff Goodacre |
Australia |
AUS |
29 |
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52.5 h |
4 |
55,36 |
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Kalim Khawaja Ghani |
Pakistan |
PAK |
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55.1 h |
5 |
55,36 |
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Jagdev Singh |
India |
IND |
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55.2 h |
400 m Hurdles |
Men |
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Round One Heat Three |
23 November |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
51,06 |
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Q |
Josh Culbreath |
United States |
USA |
24 |
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50.9 h |
2 |
51,76 |
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Q |
Guy Cury |
France |
FRA |
26 |
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51.6 h |
3 |
52,14 |
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Jaime Aparicio |
Colombia |
COL |
27 |
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52.0 h |
4 |
52,88 |
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Tom Farrell |
Great Britain |
GBR |
24 |
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52.7 h |
5 |
53,18 |
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Muhammad Yaqub |
Pakistan |
PAK |
30 |
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53.1 h |
6 |
54,84 |
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Tsai Cheng-Fu |
Chinese Taipei |
TPE |
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54.6 h |
400 m Hurdles |
Men |
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Round One Heat Four |
23 November |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
53,51 |
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Q |
Ross Parker |
Australia |
AUS |
21 |
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53.5 h |
2 |
53,66 |
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Q |
Ioannis Kambadelis |
Greece |
GRE |
29 |
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53.7 h |
3 |
54,38 |
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Amadeo Francis |
Puerto Rico |
PUR |
25 |
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54.3 h |
400 m Hurdles |
Men |
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Round One Heat Five |
23 November |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
51,69 |
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Q |
Yury Lituyev |
Soviet Union |
URS |
31 |
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51.6 h |
2 |
52,05 |
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Q |
Gert Potgieter |
South Africa |
RSA |
19 |
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52.0 h |
3 |
52,19 |
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Ossi Mildh |
Finland |
FIN |
26 |
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52.1 h |
4 |
53,3 |
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Alexandre Yankoff |
France |
FRA |
25 |
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53.1 h |
5 |
54,24 |
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Marcel Lambrechts |
Belgium |
BEL |
25 |
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54.0 h |
400 m Hurdles |
Men |
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Round One Heat Six |
23 November |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
52,22 |
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Q |
Anatoly Yulin |
Soviet Union |
URS |
27 |
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52.1 h |
2 |
52,31 |
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Q |
Ilie Savel |
Romania |
ROU |
29 |
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52.2 h |
3 |
52,62 |
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Bob Shaw |
Great Britain |
GBR |
23 |
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52.5 h |
4 |
53,99 |
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Ulisses dos Santos |
Brazil |
BRA |
27 |
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53.8 h |
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