Loomis was fastest in the heats with 55.8, while he and Desch were the
semi-final winners in 55.4. André - the 1908 high jump silver medallist
- was second to Desch with 55.5e. André went out hard from the gun,
and led at halfway. As he began to tire, Loomis took the lead, and was
never threatened. Behind him, Norton and Desch closed on André, and
passed the Frenchman in the last 50m to give the USA a clean sweep.
Christiernsson drifted out into lane 2 in the finishing straight, but did
not impede Desch, while Daggs, sometimes credited with running
55.7e was clearly well behind fifth place. Loomis’s time, a world
record, was slightly inferior to Norton’s 54.2 over 440y, set at the
Western US Trials two months earlier.
United States
France
Sweden
