| Final | time | adj | L | | 1. Ray Barbuti |  United States | 47.8s | | 1 | | 2. James Ball |  Canada | 48.0s | 47.9e | 5 | | 3. Joachim Buchner |  Germany | 48.2s | 48.1e | 3 | | 4. John Rinkel |  Great Britain | 48.4s | | 2 | | 5. Harry Werner Storz | Germany | 48.8s | | 4 | | 6. Hermon Phillips | United States | 49.0s | | 6 |
| World Record: 47.0s Emerson Spencer, United States Palo alto, United States 12 May 1928 | | Olympic Record: Eric Liddel, Great Britain Paris, France 11 F 11 July 1924. |
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| | | Venue: Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam 31,600. 50 competitors from 20 nations. |
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| | | 2 Semis with 12 athletes. Best 3 of each Semi advanced to Final. |
| Semi 1 | time | | | 1. Jimmy Ball | Canada | 48.6s | Q | | 2. Ray Barbuti | United States | 48.8s | Q | | 3. Harry Werner Storz | Germany | 49.0s | Q | | 4. Barsi László |  Hungary | 49.2s | | | 5. Harry Broos |  Netherlands | 49.9s | | | 6. Georges Krotoff |  France | Unknown | |
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| Semi 2 | time | | | 1. Joachim Büchner | Germany | 48.6s | Q | | 2. Hermon Phillips | United States | 49.1s | Q | | 3. John Rinkel | Great Britain | 49.1s | Q | | 4. Alex Wilson | Canada | 49.2s | | | 5. René Féger | France | 49.6s | | | 6. Phil Edwards | Canada | 50.2s | |
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The three Bs - Ball, Büchner and Barbuti - were the most impressive
in qualifying, the Canadian and German winning their semi-finals in
48.6, and Barbuti, the US Trials winner, running 48.8 in both the sec-
ond round and semi-final. With a view of all the finalists at the start,
Barbuti went all out, with Phillips and Büchner attempting to stay with
him. By the start of the finishing straight, Barbuti had a lead of 5m, but
held only half a metre of that advantage by the finish. The official times
of 48.2/48.4 for second and third were clearly too conservative.
Barbuti’s win was the USA’s only individual track gold medal of 1928,
America’s worst-ever showing.
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| | | 6 Quarters with 30 athletes. Best 2 from each Quarter advanced to Semi-Finals. |
| Quarter 1 | time | | | 1. Hermon Phillips | United States | 49.6s | Q | | 2. Georges Krotoff | France | Unknown | Q | | 3. Billy Green | Great Britain | Unknown | | | 4. Reinhold Schmidt | Germany | Unknown | | | 5. James Hall |  India | Unknown | |
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| Quarter 2 | time | | | 1. Ray Barbuti | United States | 48.8s | Q | | 2. Alex Wilson | Canada | Unknown | Q | | 3. Otto Neumann | Germany | Unknown | | | 4. Georges Dupont | France | Unknown | | | 5. Jesús Moraila |  Mexico | Unknown | |
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| Quarter 3 | time | | | 1. Jimmy Ball | Canada | 49.2s | Q | | 2. René Féger | France | Unknown | Q | | 3. Euil Snider | United States | Unknown | | | 4. Andries Hoogerwerf | Netherlands | Unknown | | | 5. Hermann Geißler |  Austria | Unknown | |
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| Quarter 4 | time | | | 1. Harry Storz | Germany | 49.4s | Q | | 2. John Rinkel | Great Britain | Unknown | Q | | 3. Joseph Jackson | France | Unknown | | | 4. François Prinsen |  Belgium | Unknown | | | 5. José Lucílo Iturbe | Mexico | Unknown | |
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| Quarter 5 | time | | | 1. Phil Edwards | Canada | 49.2s | Q | | 2. Harry Broos | Netherlands | Unknown | Q | | 3. Johann Bartl |  Czechoslovakia | Unknown | | | 4. Joe Tierney | United States | Unknown | | | 5. Sean Lavan |  Ireland | Unknown | |
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| Quarter 6 | time | | | 1. Joachim Büchner | Germany | 48.6s | Q | | 2. Barsi László |  Hungary | Unknown | Q | | 3. Roger Leigh-Wood | Great Britain | Unknown | | | 4. Adje Paulen | Netherlands | Unknown | | | 5. Fred Macbeth | Canada | Unknown | |
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|
Heats - Thursday, 2nd August | | 15 Heats with 50 athletes. Best 2 from each Heat advanced to Quarter-Finals. |
| Heat 1 | time | | | 1. Hermon Phillips | United States | 49.4s | Q | | 2. Georges Dupont | France | Unknown | Q | | 3. Zygmunt Weiss |  Poland | 50.8s | | | 4. Rinus van den Berge | Netherlands | Unknown | | | 5. Víctor Villaseñor | Mexico | Unknown | |
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| Heat 2 | time | | | 1. Emil Snider | United States | 50.4s | Q | | 2. François Prinsen | Belgium | Unknown | Q |
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| Heat 3 | time | | | 1. Phil Edwards | Canada | 49.8s | Q | | 12. Georges Krotoff | France | 50.5s | Q | | 3. Jaroslav Vykoupil | Czechoslovakia | Unknown | | | 4. Stefan Kostrzewski | Poland | 52.2s |
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| Heat 4 | time | | | 1. John Rinkel | Great Britain | 50.2s | Q | | 2. Johann Bartl | Czechoslovakia | Unknown | Q | | 3. Langenraedt Émile | Belgium | Unknown | | | 4. Feliks Żuber | Poland | 52.6s |
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| Heat 5 | time | | | 1. Jochen Büchner | Germany | 50.2s | Q | | 2. Andries Hoogerwerf | Netherlands | Unknown | Q |
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| Heat 6 | time | | | 1. Ray Barbuti | United States | 49.8s | Q | | 2. Sean Lavan | Ireland | Unknown | Q | | 3. Louis Lundgren |  Denmark | Unknown | | | 4. Jenő Szalay | Hungary | Unknown | | | 5. Rudolfo Hannig |  Chile | Unknown | |
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| Heat 7 | time | | | 1. Harry Storz | Germany | 50.6s | Q | | 2. Harry Broos | Netherlands | Unknown | Q | | 3. Joaquín Miquel |  Spain | Unknown | |
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| Heat 8 | time | | | 1. Jimmy Ball | Canada | 55.8s | Q | | 2. Roger Leigh-Wood | Great Britain | Unknown | Q |
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| Heat 9 | time | | | 1. Jesús Moraila | Mexico | 1:00.0s | Q | | 2. James Hall | India | Unknown | Q |
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| Heat 10 | time | | | 1. László Barsi | Hungary | 55.6s | Q | | 2. José Lucílo Iturbe | Mexico | Unknown | Q |
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| Heat 11 | time | | | 1. Joe Tierney | United States | 49.8s | Q | | 2. Alex Wilson | Canada | 49.9s | Q | | 3. Klemens Biniakowski | Poland | 50.8s |
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| Heat 12 | time | | | 1. René Féger | France | 51.4s | Q | | 2. Billy Green | Great Britain | Unknown | Q | | 3. José Vicente Salinas | Chile | Unknown | |
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| Heat 13 | time | | | 1. Hermann Geißler | Austria | 50.2s | Q | | 2. Adje Paulen | Netherlands | Unknown | Q | | 3. Magdics László | Hungary | Unknown | | | 4. Vasilios Stavrinos |  Greece | Unknown | | | 5. Fritz Eyschen |  Luxembourg | Unknown | |
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| Heat 14 | time | | | 1. Otto Neumann | Germany | 50.6s | Q | | 2. Fred Macbeth | Canada | Unknown | Q | | 3. Charles Stuart |  Australia | Unknown | | | 4. Gerő Mór | Hungary | Unknown | |
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| Heat 15 | time | | | 1. Reinhold Schmidt | Germany | 50.0s | Q | | 2. Joseph Jackson | France | 50.6s | Q | | 3. John Hanlon | Great Britain | Unknown | | | 4. Alfonso García | Mexico | Unknown | |
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