| Final 17:30 | time | L | | 1. Glenn Hardin |  United States | 52.4s | 6 | | 2. John Loaring |  Canada | 52.7s | 3 | | 3. Miguel White |  Philippines | 52.8s | 5 | | 4. Joe Patterson | United States | 53.0s | 1 | | 5. Sylvio Padilha |  Brazil | 54.0s | 4 | | 6. Khristos Mantikas |  Greece | 54.2s | 2 |
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| | | Venue: Olympiastadion, Charlottenburg 100,000. 32 competitors from 20 nations. |
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| | | First 3 from each Semi advanced to Final |
| Semi 1 | time | | | 1. Glenn Hardin | United States | 53.2s | Q | | 2. Miguel White | Philippines | 53.4s | Q | | 3. Khristos Mantikas | Greece | 53.5s | Q | | 4. Dale Schofield | United States | 53.5s | | | 5. Juan Lavenás |  Argentina | 54.5s | | | 6. Willi Kürten |  Germany | 54.5s | |
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| Semi 2 | time | | | 1. Joe Patterson | United States | 52.8s | Q | | 2. Johnny Loaring | Canada | 53.1s | Q | | 3. Sylvio Padilha | Brazil | 53.3s | Q | | 4. Juul Bosmans |  Belgium | 53.4s | | | 5. József Kovács |  Hungary | 54.0s | | | 6. Fritz Nottbrock | Germany | 54.8s | |
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Hardin had improved the world record by more than a second in 1934
with a startling 50.6, and had been undefeated in 11 races since 1932.
He coasted through the heats in 53.9, and won his semi-final in 53.2
(53.15) ahead of fastest heat winner, White – 53.4 (53.42) – and
Mantikas – 53.5 (53.55), who unexpectedly beat out Dale Schofield
(51.7 in the US Trials) by 0.01. The other semi was won by Patterson
in 52.8.
The final was marred by a strong wind against the runners in the
back straight, which slowed the race by about a second. Hardin was
battled by White for the first half, with the Philippines’ athlete just
ahead at the fourth hurdle. Patterson caught the leaders at the next hur-
dle, and it was only with two hurdles to go that Hardin got clear.
Loaring finished quickly, moving from fourth to second in the last 50m.
| Heat 1 | time | | | 1. József Kovács | Hungary | 53.7s | Q | | 2. Juul Bosmans | Belgium | 53.8s | Q | | 3. Prudent Joye |  France | 54.1s | | | 4. Tokio Fukuda |  Japan | 56.8s | |
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| Heat 2 | time | | | 1. Fritz Nottbrock | Germany | 54.7s | Q | | 2. Dale Schofield | United States | 54.8s | Q | | 3. Luigi Facelli |  Italy | 55.1s | | | 4. Jim Worrall | Canada | 55.5s | | | 5. Louis Gailliard | France | 56.4s | | | 6. August Banščak |  Yugoslavia | 1:01.5 | |
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| Heat 3 | time | | | 1. Miguel White | Philippines | 53.4s | Q | | 2. Johnny Loaring | Canada | 54.3s | Q | | 3. Alf Watson |  Australia | 54.5s | | | 4. Masao Ichihara | Japan | 54.7s | | | 5. Ioannis Skiadas | Greece | 55.3s | | | 6. Emilio Mori | Italy | 55.6s | |
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| Heat 4 | time | | | 1. Joe Patterson | United States | 54.4s | Q | | 2. Juan Lavenás | Argentina | 54.5s | Q | | 3. Hans Scheele | Germany | 54.6s | | | 4. Umberto Ridi | Italy | 55.5s | | | 5. Teodoro Malasig | Philippines | 56.1s | |
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| Heat 5 | time | | | 1. Khristos Mantikas | Greece | 53.8s | Q | | 2. Sylvio Padilha | Brazil | 54.2s | Q | | 3. Vane Ivanović | Yugoslavia | 54.7s | | | 4. Frank Rushton |  South Africa | 55.2s | | | 5. Kell Areskoug |  Sweden | 55.7s | | | 6. Walter Fritsch |  Chile | 58.3s | |
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| Heat 6 | time | | | 1. Glenn Hardin | United States | 53.9s | Q | | 2. Willi Kürten | Germany | 54.6s | Q | | 3. Ernst Leitner |  Austria | 54.9s | | | 4. Ernst Berndt |  Czechoslovakia | 57.6s | | | 5. John Sheffield |  Great Britain | 58.1s | |
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