The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and race in separate lanes for the entire course. In many countries, athletes previously competed in the 440-yard dash (402.336 m)—which is a quarter of a mile and was referred to as the "quarter-mile"—instead of the 400 m (437.445 yards), though this distance is now obsolete.
The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the 100-meter (109.36 yd) dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1928 for women. The inaugural World Championships were in 1983.
The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first recorded event at the ancient Olympic Games. The 200 m places more emphasis on speed endurance than shorter sprint distances as athletes predominantly rely on anaerobic energy system during the 200 m sprint. Similarly to other sprint distances, the 200 m begins from the starting blocks. When the sprinters adopt the 'set' position in the blocks they are able to adopt a more efficient starting posture and isometrically preload their muscles. This enables them to stride forwards more powerfully when the race begins and start faster.
The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, the first leg and the first bend of the second leg are run in lanes. Start lines are thus staggered over a greater distance than in an individual 400 metres race; the runners then typically move to the inside of the track. The slightly longer 4 × 440 yards relay, on an Imperial distance, was a formerly run British Commonwealth and American event, until metrication was completed in the 1970s.
Wayde van Niekerk is a South African track and field sprinter who competes in the 200 and 400 metres. In the 400 metres, he is the current world and Olympic record holder, having set the record in the Olympic finals.
Salwa Eid Naser is a Nigerian-born Bahraini sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. She was the 2019 World champion with the third fastest time in history of 48.14 seconds, becoming the youngest-ever champion in the event and also the first woman representing an Asian nation to win that event at a World Championships. The mark places her only behind contested results of Marita Koch and Jarmila Kratochvílová. Over the distance, at only 19, Naser was the 2017 World silver medallist. She has also won, as a member of Bahraini mixed-gender 4x400 m relay team, the 2019 World Championships bronze medal.
Baboloki Tirelo Thebe is a Botswana track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. He was a silver medallist in the 200 metres at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics. He reached the semi-finals at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics. He made a breakthrough in the 400 m in May 2016 with a run of 44.22 seconds, placing him third on the global seasonal lists and moving him into the all-time top 30 for the event. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics. His personal best in 400 meters is 44.02, which he ran in July 2017
Zoey Clark is a British sprinter. She competed in the women's 400 metres and was part of the British 4 × 400 relay team that won the silver medal at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. Since then she has won two international bronzes in the relay and most recently a silver in the same event at the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships. She was selected as part of the 4x400m relay team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Kendall Ellis is an American sprinter. Ellis won gold in the 4x400 m relay and bronze in the Mixed 4x400 metres at the Tokyo Olympics. She competed in the 400 meters at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships, winning gold medals as a part of prelim 4×400 m relays. As a junior, Ellis took gold in the 4×400 m relay and bronze in the 400 meters at the 2015 Pan American Junior Championships.
Beatrice Masilingi is a Namibian sprinter. At the age of 18, she placed sixth in the 200 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, having made the final along with fellow Namibian sprinter and eventual silver medallist Christine Mboma. Masilingi won silver medals in both the 100 metres and 200 m at the 2021 World Under-20 Championships.
The following table is an overview of national records in the 400 metres.
Zoe Sherar is a Canadian sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres. As part of the Canadian women's 4 × 400 metres relay team, she finished fourth at the 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships.
Grace Konrad is a Canadian sprinter who competes in the 400 metres. She is the 2023 Canadian 400 m champion and represented Canada at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, finishing fourth as part of Canada's 4 × 400 m relay team.
