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Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games:
Men's 400 metres Hurdles
Athletics at the 1948 Summer Games: Previous Summer Games ▪ Next Summer Games
Host City: London, Great Britain
Venue(s): Empire Stadium, Wembley, London
Date Started: July 30, 1948
Date Finished: July 31, 1948
| Gold: |  Roy Cochran |
| Silver: |  Duncan White |
| Bronze: |  Rune Larsson |
Summary
In 1942 Roy Cochran (USA) had set a world record for the 440 yard hurdles, running 52.2 at the Drake Relays. He had won the 1939 AAU title and would have been favored at the 1940 Olympics, but had to wait eight years for his Olympic chance. Once he got it he did not disappoint, winning the final comfortably by six metres clear on Ceylon's Duncan White, the first Olympic medal won from that island nation. He would win the 1950 British Empire Games 440 yards hurdles gold medal.
Final Standings
| Rank | Athlete | Age | Team | NOC | Medal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Roy Cochran | 29 | United States | USA | Gold | OR |
| 2 | Duncan White | 30 | Sri Lanka | SRI | Silver | |
| 3 | Rune Larsson | 24 | Sweden | SWE | Bronze | |
| 4 | Dick Ault | 22 | United States | USA | ||
| 5 | Yves Cros | 24 | France | FRA | ||
| 6 | Ottavio Missoni | 27 | Italy | ITA | ||
| 4 h1 r2/3 | Jean-Claude Arifon | 21 | France | FRA | ||
| 4 h2 r2/3 | Harry Whittle | 26 | Great Britain | GBR | ||
| 5 h1 r2/3 | Jeff Kirk | 24 | United States | USA | ||
| 5 h2 r2/3 | Bebbe Storskrubb | 31 | Finland | FIN | ||
| 6 h1 r2/3 | Jacques André | 29 | France | FRA | ||
| 6 h2 r2/3 | John Holland | 21 | New Zealand | NZL | ||
| 3 h1 r1/3 | Hermenegildo Alberti | 23 | Argentina | ARG | ||
| 3 h2 r1/3 | Lazaros Petropoulakis | 23 | Greece | GRE | ||
| 3 h3 r1/3 | Kemal Horulu | Turkey | TUR | |||
| 3 h4 r1/3 | Ron Unsworth | 24 | Great Britain | GBR | ||
| 3 h5 r1/3 | Werner Christen | 34 | Switzerland | SUI | ||
| 3 h6 r1/3 | Alf Westman | 27 | Sweden | SWE | ||
| 4 h1 r1/3 | Jaime Aparicio | 18 | Colombia | COL | ||
| 4 h2 r1/3 | Mohsin Nazar Khan | Pakistan | PAK | |||
| 4 h3 r1/3 | Michael Pope | 21 | Great Britain | GBR | ||
| 4 h4 r1/3 | Sergio Guzmán | 24 | Chile | CHI | ||
| 4 h5 r1/3 | Huang Liangzheng | 26 | China | CHN | ||
| 4 h6 r1/3 | Bill LaRochelle | 22 | Canada | CAN | ||
| 5 h4 r1/3 | Mario Rosas | Colombia | COL |
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