Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

Men's 400 metres at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Venue	Olympic Stadium, Munich, West Germany
Date	3 September 1972 & 7 September 1972
Medalists
Vince Matthews  United States Wayne Collett  United States Julius Sang  Kenya

Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m		men		women
200 m		men		women
400 m		men		women
800 m		men		women
1500 m		men		women
5000 m		men
10,000 m		men
100 m hurdles				women
110 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men
3000 m steeplechase		men
4×100 m relay		men		women
4×400 m relay		men		women
Road events
Marathon		men
20 km walk		men
50 km walk		men
Field events
Long jump		men		women
Triple jump		men
High jump		men		women
Pole vault		men
Shot put		men		women
Discus throw		men		women
Javelin throw		men		women
Hammer throw		men
Combined events
Pentathlon				women
Decathlon		men

These are the official results of the Men's 400 metres event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The competition was held on 3 & 7 of September. On the victory podium Collett and Matthews staged a protest in which they stood with their sweatsuits open, and during the national anthem, looked around, did not stand at attention or look at the United States flag, they also talked openly with each other. The IOC banned them from further competition, this prevented the United States from having a 4 x 400 relay team.
Julius Sang became the first black African to win a sprint Olympic medal.

Heats

The top four runners in each of the nine heats (blue) and the next four fastest (green), advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Heat one

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time
1	Andrzej Badeński	Poland	46.21
2	Charles Joseph	Trinidad and Tobago	46.38
3	Mulugetta Tadesse	23x15px Ethiopia	46.38
4	Wickremasinghe Wimaladasa	Ceylon	46.62
5	Bjarni Sefánsson	Iceland	46.76
6	Jozo Alebić	Yugoslavia	47.01
7	Silver Ayoo	Uganda	47.04
8	Nusrat Iqbal Sahi	Pakistan	49.57

Heat two

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time
1	David Jenkins	Great Britain	46.15
2	Anders Faager	Sweden	46.29
3	Munyoro Nyamau	Kenya	46.33
4	Omar Ghizlat	Morocco	46.37
5	Bruce Ijirighwo	Nigeria	46.59
6	Samuela Yavala	Fiji	47.76
7	Théophile Nkounkou	Republic of the Congo	47.86
8	Francisco Menocal	Nicaragua	50.96

Heat three

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time
1	Georg Nückles	West Germany	46.64
2	Yoshiharu Tomonaga	Japan	47.01
3	Francis Kerbiriou	France	47.01
4	Sam Bugri	Ghana	47.83
5	Thomas N’Ma	Liberia	49.73
6	Jean-Max Faustin	23x15px Haiti	52.33
-	Marcello Fiasconaro	Italy	DNS
-	Michael Frederiksson	Sweden	DNS

Heat four

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time
1	Alberto Juantorena	Cuba	45.94
2	Wayne Collett	United States	46.00
3	Claver Kamanya	Tanzania	46.18
4	Gilles Bertould	France	46.36
5	Eric Phillips	23x15px Venezuela	46.74
6	Pedro Ferrer	Puerto Rico	47.90
7	Nicodemus Maipampe	Zambia	48.84

Heat five

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time
1	Tegegne Bezabeh	23x15px Ethiopia	45.88
2	Vince Matthews	United States	45.94
3	Angelo Hussein	Sudan	47.01
4	Robert Ojo	Nigeria	47.03
5	Fanahan McSweeney	Ireland	47.07
6	Fernando Silva	Portugal	47.67
7	Kassem Hamzé	Lebanon	49.20

Heat six

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time
1	Charles Asati	Kenya	45.16
2	Leighton Priestley	Jamaica	45.75
3	Fernando Acevedo	Peru	45.80
4	Jan Werner	Poland	45.93
5	Gary Armstrong	Great Britain	46.48
6	Francisco Rojas	Paraguay	47.46
7	Brian MacLaren	Canada	47.65
-	Caspar Springer	Barbados	DNF

Heat seven

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time
1	Julius Sang	Kenya	45.24
2	Martin Reynolds	Great Britain	46.46
3	Daniel Velasques	France	46.70
4	Karl Honz	West Germany	46.77
5	Franklin Rahming	23x15px Bahamas	48.30
6	Ibrahima Idrissou	23x15px Benin	48.50
7	William Msiska	Malawi	48.81

Heat eight

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time
1	Horst-Rüdiger Schlöske	West Germany	45.27
2	John Smith	United States	46.00
3	Kyriakos Onisiforou	Greece	46.94
4	Reza Entezari	Iran	47.89
5	Mohamed Mubarak	Kuwait	49.61
6	Mohamed Jaman Al-Dosari	Saudi Arabia	49.67
-	Lucijano Sušanj	Yugoslavia	DNS

Heat nine

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time
1	Markku Kukkoaho	Finland	46.05
2	Zbigniew Jaremski	Poland	46.20
3	Arthur Cooper	Trinidad and Tobago	47.15
4	Amadou Gakou	Senegal	47.68
5	Tambusamy Krishnan	Malaysia	48.31
6	Frédérique Andrianaivo	Madagascar	48.72
7	Savin Chem	Cambodia	48.82
-	Jimmy Sierra	Colombia	DNS

Quarterfinals

The top three runners in each of the five heats and the next fastest, advanced to the semifinal round.

Heat one

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time
1	Wayne Collett	United States	45.80
2	Alberto Juantorena	Cuba	45.96
3	Jan Werner	Poland	46.02
4	Martin Reynolds	Great Britain	46.11
5	Charles Joseph	Trinidad and Tobago	46.14
6	Robert Ojo	Nigeria	46.73
7	Omar Ghizlat	Morocco	46.84
8	Sam Bugri	Ghana	47.34

Heat two

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time
1	Horst-Rüdiger Schlöske	West Germany	45.41
2	Vince Matthews	United States	45.62
3	Tegegne Bezabeh	23x15px Ethiopia	45.97
4	Gilles Bertould	France	46.14
5	Wickremasinghe Wimaladasa	Ceylon	46.50
6	Leighton Priestley	Jamaica	47.76
7	Arthur Cooper	Trinidad and Tobago	48.29
8	Reza Entezari	Iran	48.69

Heat three

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time
1	David Jenkins	Great Britain	45.99
2	John Smith	United States	46.04
3	Markku Kukkoaho	Finland	46.11
4	Munyoro Nyamau	Kenya	46.80
5	Bruce Ijirighwo	Nigeria	46.81
6	Daniel Velasques	France	46.91
7	Amadou Gakou	Senegal	46.96
8	Angelo Hussein	Sudan	47.33

Heat four

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time
1	Karl Honz	West Germany	45.87
2	Julius Sang	Kenya	45.92
3	Zbigniew Jaremski	Poland	46.52
4	Anders Faager	Sweden	46.54
5	Francis Kerbiriou	France	46.63
6	Yoshiharu Tomonaga	Japan	46.92
7	Gary Armstrong	Great Britain	47.10
8	Kyriakos Onisiforou	Greece	47.22

Heat five

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time
1	Charles Asati	Kenya	46.04
2	Andrzej Badeński	Poland	46.19
3	Georg Nückles	West Germany	46.30
4	Claver Kamanya	Tanzania	46.55
5	Mulugetta Tadesse	23x15px Ethiopia	46.85
6	Bjarni Stefánsson	Iceland	46.92
7	Eric Phillips	23x15px Venezuela	46.97
-	Fernando Acevedo	Peru	DNS

Semifinals

Top four in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.

Heat one

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time
1	Vince Matthews	United States	44.94
2	Karl Honz	West Germany	45.32
3	John Smith	United States	45.46
4	Charles Asati	Kenya	45.47
5	David Jenkins	Great Britain	45.91
6	Tegegne Bezabeh	23x15px Ethiopia	45.98
7	Georg Nückles	West Germany	46.28
8	Andrzej Badeński	Poland	46.38

Heat two

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time
1	Julius Sang	Kenya	45.30
2	Horst-Rüdiger Schlöske	West Germany	45.62
3	Wayne Collett	United States	45.77
4	Markku Kukkoaho	Finland	46.02
5	Alberto Juantorena	Cuba	46.07
6	Jan Werner	Poland	46.26
7	Martin Reynolds	Great Britain	46.71
-	Zbigniew Jaremski	Poland	DNS

Final

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time
	Vince Matthews	United States	44.66
	Wayne Collett	United States	44.80
	Julius Sang	Kenya	44.92
4	Charles Asati	Kenya	45.13
5	Horst-Rüdiger Schlöske	West Germany	45.31
6	Markku Kukkoaho	Finland	45.49
7	Karl Honz	West Germany	45.68
-	John Smith	United States	DNF

References

• Sports-reference
• Official report