 Theile arrived in Rome as an outsider, despite being the defending champion as he had not regained his form of four years prior, with Robert Bennett and Frank McKinney of the United States posting faster times.This appeared to be the case in the heats, with Theile posting the third fastest time behind the American duo.In the semifinals, Bennett was unable to repeat his earlier performance and Theile won, while McKinney won the other semifinal, also in a time slower than Theile.