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The men's 400 metres hurdles was the longer of two hurdling events at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. It was the third time the event had been featured at the Olympics. The Olympic record was beat three times in the course of the Games.

Ten sets of hurdles were set on the course. The hurdles were 3 feet tall and were placed 35 metres apart beginning 45 metres from the starting line.

Contents 1 Medallists 2 Results 2.1 First round 2.1.1 First round, heat 1 2.1.2 First round, heat 2 2.1.3 First round, heat 3 2.1.4 First round, heat 4 2.1.5 First round, heat 5 2.1.6 First round, heat 6 2.1.7 First round, heat 7 2.1.8 First round, heat 8 2.1.9 First round, heat 9 2.1.10 First round, heat 10 2.1.11 First round, heat 11 2.1.12 First round, heat 12 2.2 Second round 2.2.1 Second round, heat 1 2.2.2 Second round, heat 2 2.2.3 Second round, heat 3 2.2.4 Second round, heat 4 2.3 Final

Gold:	Silver:	Bronze:
Charles Bacon, United States	Harry Hillman, United States	Leonard Tremeer, Great Britain and Ireland

There was no competition for Koops in the first heat.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time
1	E. Koops	Holland	walkover

A tight race from start to finish, Coe won by about a metre.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time
1	H. L. Coe	United States	58.8 seconds
2	J. B. Densham	Great Britain and Ireland

Bacon won easily, setting a new Olympic record.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time
1	Charles Bacon	United States	57.0 seconds (OR)
2	H. St. A. Murray	Australasia

There was no competition for Harmer in the fourth heat.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time
1	F. W. Harmer	Great Britain and Ireland	walkover

There was no competition for Burton in the fifth heat.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time
1	G. Burton	Great Britain and Ireland	walkover

Dubois stopped three-quarters of the way through the race, leaving Hillman an easy win.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time
1	Harry Hillman	United States	59.2
DNF	G. Dubois	France

There was no competition for Groenings in the seventh heat.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time
1	O. Groenings	Great Britain and Ireland	walkover

There was no competition for Gould in the eighth heat.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time
1	E. W. Gould	Great Britain and Ireland	walkover

There was no competition for Kovacs in the ninth heat.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time
1	N. Kovacs	Hungary	walkover

There was no competition for Tremeer in the tenth heat.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time
1	Leonard Tremeer	Great Britain and Ireland	walkover

There were no starters in the eleventh heat.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time

In only the fourth actual race of the first round, and the third in which both runners finished, Burton won in the straight.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time
1	Leslie Burton	Great Britain and Ireland	1:00.4
2	H. Meslot	France

Hillman won easily, becoming the second American to set a new Olympic record at the event. Koops fell on a hurdle and did not finish.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time
1	Harry Hillman	United States	56.4 seconds (OR)
2	H. L. Coe	United States
DNF	E. Koops	Holland

Bacon started off fast, and the other two runners gave up halfway through the race.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time
1	Charles Bacon	United States	58.8 seconds
DNF	O. Groenings	Great Britain and Ireland
DNF	N. Kovacs	Hungary

Burton led after the hurdles, and finished first despite losing ground in the straight.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time
1	Leslie Burton	Great Britain and Ireland
2	F. W. Harmer	Great Britain and Ireland
3	E. W. Gould	Great Britain and Ireland

Burton did not finish the race, allowing Tremeer to win with a jog.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time
1	Leonard Tremeer	Great Britain and Ireland	60.6
DNF	G. Burton	Great Britain and Ireland

Halfway into the race, it was clear that the only question was which American would win. Bacon and Hillman were even all the way until the straight, with Bacon just barely pulling ahead. He won by less than two metres, as both of the Americans came in under the Olympic record set by Hillman in the second round.

Rank	Name	Nation	Time
1	Charles Bacon	United States	55.0 seconds (OR)
2	Harry Hillman	United States	55.3 seconds
3	Leonard Tremeer	Great Britain and Ireland	57.0 seconds
4	Leslie Burton	Great Britain and Ireland	58.0 seconds

The 1908 Summer Olympics in London

Athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics

100 m | 200 m | 400 m | 800 m | 1500 m | 110 m hurdles | 400 m hurdles | 3200 m steeplechase | medley relay | 3 mile team race | 5 miles | marathon | 3500 m walk | 10 mile walk high jump | long jump | triple jump | pole vault | standing high jump | standing long jump shot put | discus | hammer | javelin | Greek discus | freestyle javelin