Athletics at the 1979 Pan American Games – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres sprint competition of the athletics events at the 1979 Pan American Games took place at the Estadio Sixto Escobar.^[1][2] The defending Pan American Games champion was Ronnie Ray of the United States.

Men's 400 metres at the 1979 Pan American Games
Venue	Estadio Sixto Escobar
Dates	11 & 12 July
Winning time	45.11
Medalists
Tony Darden   United States   Alberto Juantorena   Cuba   Willie Smith   United States
«1975 1983»

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Pan American Games records were as follows:

World record	Lee Evans (USA)	43.86	Mexico City, Mexico	October 18, 1968
Pan American Games record	Ronnie Ray (USA)	44.45	Mexico City, Mexico	October 18, 1975

Results

All times shown are in seconds.

KEY:

WR

World Record

GR

Pan American Record

Heats

Held on 11 July

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	1	Willie Smith	United States	46.68	Q
2	3	Tony Darden	United States	46.91	Q
3	2	Delmo da Silva	Brazil	47.27	Q
4	1	Bert Cameron	Jamaica	47.29	Q
5	1	Joseph Coombs	Trinidad and Tobago	47.29	Q
6	2	Glenn Bogue	Canada	47.52	Q
6	3	Clyde Edwards	Barbados	47.52	Q
8	3	Colin Bradford	Jamaica	47.56	Q
9	2	Alberto Juantorena	Cuba	47.59	Q
10	1	Carlos Álvarez	Cuba	47.80	Q
11	3	Antônio Dias Ferreira	Brazil	47.81	Q
12	2	Michael Solomon	Trinidad and Tobago	47.95	Q
13	2	Fred Sowerby	Antigua and Barbuda	48.15	Q
14	3	Gregory Simons	Bermuda	48.24	Q
15	1	Brian Saunders	Canada	48.61	Q
16	3	Anatolio Ramírez	Dominican Republic	48.66	q
17	2	Gerold Pawirodikromo	Suriname	48.78
18	2	Randolph Wheatley	Virgin Islands	48.89
19	1	Francisco Solis	Dominican Republic	49.64
20	3	Rigoberto Meléndez	Honduras	52.59
21	1	Miguel Banegas	Honduras	52.97

Semifinals

Held on 11 July^[3]

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	2	Tony Darden	United States	45.89	Q
2	1	Willie Smith	United States	46.10	Q
3	2	Alberto Juantorena	Cuba	46.19	Q
4	2	Clyde Edwards	Barbados	46.32	Q
5	2	Brian Saunders	Canada	46.34	q
6	2	Bert Cameron	Jamaica	46.36	q
7	1	Joseph Coombs	Trinidad and Tobago	46.49	Q
8	1	Colin Bradford	Jamaica	46.51	Q
9	1	Glenn Bogue	Canada	46.63
10	1	Delmo da Silva	Brazil	46.81
11	2	Michael Solomon	Trinidad and Tobago	46.91
12	1	Carlos Álvarez	Cuba	47.26
13	1	Fred Sowerby	Antigua and Barbuda	47.29
14	2	Antônio Dias Ferreira	Brazil	47.32
15	1	Gregory Simons	Bermuda	47.66
16	2	Anatolio Ramírez	Dominican Republic	49.12

Final

Held on 12 July

Rank	Name	Nationality	Time[4]	Notes
	Tony Darden	United States	45.11
	Alberto Juantorena	Cuba	45.24
	Willie Smith	United States	45.30
4	Bert Cameron	Jamaica	45.97
5	Brian Saunders	Canada	46.16
6	Colin Bradford	Jamaica	46.36
7	Clyde Edwards	Barbados	46.66
8	Joseph Coombs	Trinidad and Tobago	46.98

References

1. Memoria VIII Juegos Deportivos Panamericanos San Juan, Puerto Rico 1979 (PDF) (in Spanish). 1979 Pan American Games Organising Committee (COPAN 79). 1981. p. 197. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-08-11. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
2. Full results
3. "Semifinals results". The Times-News. 12 July 1979. p. 20. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
4. Memoria VIII Juegos Deportivos Panamericanos San Juan, Puerto Rico 1979 (PDF) (in Spanish). 1979 Pan American Games Organising Committee (COPAN 79). 1981. p. 248. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-08-11. Retrieved 2019-08-15.