| Final 15:45 | time adj | | official | 400 | | 1. Thomas Hampson |  Great Britain | 1:49.70 | WR | 1.49.8 | 54.8s | | 2. Alexander Wilson |  Canada | 1:49.8 | | 1:49.9 | 54.9s | | 3. Philip Edwards | Canada | 1:50.6 | | 1:51.5 | 52.4s | | 4. Edwin Genung |  United States | 1:50.8 | | 1:51.7 | 54.6s | | 5. Edwin Turner | United States | 1:51.6 | | 1:52.5 | 55.4s | | 6. Charles "Chuck" Hornbostel | United States | 1:51.8 | | 1:52.7 | 55.2s | | 7. Jack Powell | Great Britain | 1:52.2 | | 1:53.0 | 55.0s | | 8. Martin Séra |  France | 1:53.6 | | 1:53.6 | 55.1s | | 9. Otto Peltzer |  Germany | 1:55.0 | | 1:55.0 |
Time have been adjusted after reviering a newlydiscovered film!
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| | | Venue: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Capp.: 100,000. | | 21 competitors from 11 nations. |
| Round | H | Ath | date | | Heats | 3 | 21 | 01.08 16:30 |
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| World record: | Martin Séra |  France | 1:50.6 | Paris, France 14 July 1928 | | Olympic record: | Douglas Lowe |  Great Britain | 1:51.8 | Amsterdam, Netherlands 31 July 1928 |
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Heats - Monday 01.08 16:30 | | First 3 from each Heat advanced to Final. |
| Heat 1 | time | | | 1. Edwin Genung | United States | 1:54.8 | Q | | 2. Phillip Edwards | Canada | 1:55.1 | Q | | 3. Jack Powell | Great Britain | 1:55.6 | Q | | 4. Cyril Evans |  New Zealand | 1:56.6 | | | 5. Paul Martin |  Switzerland | 1:58.4 | | | 6. Nestor Gomes |  Brazil | 2:00.5 | | | —. Paul Jean Keller | France | DNF | |
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| Heat 2 | time | | | 1. Charles "Chuck" Hornbostel | United States | 1:52.4 | Q | | 2. Alexander Wilson | Canada | 1:52.5 | Q | | 3. Otto Peltzer | Germany | 1:53.6 | Q | | 4. Hjallmar Johannesen |  Norway | 1:54.3 | | | 5. Hermenegildo del Rosso |  Argentina | 1:54.9 | | | 6. René Morel | France | 1:55.2 | | | 7. José Lucílo Iturbe |  Mexico | 1:55.6 | |
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| Heat 3 | time | | | 1. Thomas Hampson | Great Britain | 1:53.0 | Q | | 2. Martin Séra | France | 1:53.2 | Q | | 3. Edwin Turner | United States | 1:54.0 | Q | | 4. Edward King | Canada | 1:54.4 | | | 5. Max Danz | Germany | 1:58.9 | | | 6. Domingos Puglisi | Brazil | 1:59.4 | | | 7. Miguel Vasconcelos | Mexico | 2:00.0 | |
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