400 metres, Men

The heats of the 400 metres were held on 14 July, a Saturday, and the Americans dominated those proceedings, qualifying five runners for the six-man final. The final was held the next day, and three of the Americans – Dixon Boardman, William Moloney, and Harry Lee – declined to compete because of the problems with Sunday competition.

With only three starters, the event was robbed of some of its interest. Maxey Long had been the favorite, having won the 1898 and 1899 AAU Championship and, only the week before, the 1900 AAA title. But he had lost the 1900 IC4A title to Yale’s Boardman, so Boardman’s absence essentially handed Long the championship.

Long took the lead at the outset, followed by Bill Holland and Ernst Schultz. Coming into the final straight, as they exited the tree-bordered section of the track, Long was ahead by three yards, and he finished up five in front of Holland, with Schultz a well-spent third. In a strange set of events, Long was cheered heartily by the French spectators. He was wearing the blue-and-white colors of his school, Columbia, and the French mistook this for the colors of the Racing Club de France, and thought Long was one of theirs.

Later in 1900, Maxey Long did some outstanding record-breaking over this distance. On 29 September, he ran 440 yards in 47.8, on a one-fifth mile track. A few days later, on 4 October, he ran the same distance in 47.0, over a straightaway at Guttenberg racetrack in New Jersey.