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.
Sunday Bada was a Nigerian sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres event. He won three medals at the World Indoor Championships, including a gold medal in 1997. His personal best time was 44.63 seconds, and with 45.51 seconds indoor he holds the African indoor record. He set a national record in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2000 Olympics, where the Nigerian team also won gold medals after the disqualification of the US team who had finished first.
Andrew Owusu is a Ghanaian athlete who competed in the triple jump and long jump.
Anthony Idiata is a Nigerian high jumper.
Joseph Taiwo is a retired Nigerian athlete who competed in the triple jump.
Yusuf Alli is a retired Nigerian long jumper, and three-time Olympian. He is best known for his gold medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.
Ndiss Kaba Badji is a Senegalese athlete who competes in the long jump and triple jump. He is the Senegalese record holder for triple jump, with 17.07 metres, which he achieved when he won the 2008 African Championships. He has a personal best long jump of 8.32 metres, achieved in October 2009 in Beirut, which won him the silver medal at the 2009 Jeux de la Francophonie.
Oluwatosin Bamidele “Tosin” Oke is a Nigerian track and field athlete, who competes in the triple jump. Born a dual national, he initially competed for Great Britain. He set the current UK junior indoor record and was 1 cm shy of the outdoor junior record. He was the 1999 European Athletics Junior Championships Champion, and came 5th at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. After multiple indoor and outdoor UK titles, he later switched to compete for Nigeria. Since competing for Nigeria he has won back-to-back African Championships in Athletics titles and the Commonwealth Games championship and is the current All-Africa Games Champion. At the 2012 Summer Olympics Oke finished seventh in the triple jump final, the best Nigerian result of the Games.
Ngonidzashe Makusha is a Zimbabwean sprinter and long jumper. He is the national record holder over 100 m and long jump for Zimbabwe with 9.89 s (+1.3 m/s) and 8.40 m (0.0 m/s), respectively. Both performances were achieved during the 2011 NCAA Division I Championships in Des Moines, Iowa where he completed the 100 m - long jump double gold. Makusha was one of the only four, now five, athletes to win the 100 m - long jump double gold at the NCAA championships. The four others are DeHart Hubbard (1925), Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis (1981), and Jarrion Lawson (2016).
Chika Yagazie Chukwumerije is a male taekwondo practitioner from Nigeria. The son of Nigerian politician Uche Chukwumerije, Chika first drew attention in 2003 during the qualifiers for the 2003 All-Africa Games, where he eventually won a bronze medal in the Heavyweight Male category. He qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, but lost his first bout to Pascal Gentil, the eventual bronze medal winner. Nevertheless, after a period of intensive training that was funded by his father, he became one of Nigeria's best chances for a medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He won a gold medal at the 2007 All-Africa Games in the +80 kg class and qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games soon after. Although he lost to eventual silver-medal winner Alexandros Nikolaidis in the semifinals of the +80kg event, he was entered into the repechage round of the tournament. Here, after defeating Akmal Irgashev of Uzbekistan he claimed a bronze medal in the event, Nigeria's third medal of the tournament. Four years later he competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics, but did not make it past his first bout.
Fabrizio Donato is an Italian former athlete who competed in the triple jump and occasionally in the long jump. He is known for winning gold medals at the 2001 Mediterranean Games and the 2009 European Indoor Championships, the latter in a new championship record of 17.59 metres. He is the Italian record holder with 17.60 metres outdoor and 17.73 indoor.
Ayanleh Souleiman, also known as Hassan Ayanleh, is a Djiboutian middle distance runner who specialises in the 1500 metres. He is the Djiboutian record holder for the distance, with his best of 3:29.58 minutes, as well as being the 3000 metres holder with 7:42.22 minutes. He also holds the indoor world record for the 1000-meter which he achieved at the 2016 Globengalan event in Stockholm Sweden. He also set a new IAAF Diamond League record at the IAAF Diamond League in August 2016 in the men's 1000 meters
Cristian Amaechi Cuevas Morton is an American-born track and field 400-meter hurdler who competes for Nigeria. He was the 2012 400 m hurdles gold medallist at the NCAA Championships and the African Championships. He has a personal record of 48.79 seconds for the event.
Olukayode "Kayode" Elegbede is a retired Nigerian sprinter and long jumper.
Ejowvokoghene Divine Oduduru is a Nigerian sprinter specializing in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash. He holds personal bests of 9.86 seconds for the 100 m and 19.73 seconds for the 200 m. The latter is a Nigerian national record.
Hugues Fabrice Zango is a Burkinabé athlete who specialises in the triple jump and the long jump. He is the world indoor record holder in the triple jump with a jump of 18.07 m set in 2021 and the reigning world champion, winning the gold medal in the triple jump at the 2023 World Championships. Zango competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and won the bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, in the triple jump event, the first ever Olympic medal for Burkina Faso. He has also competed in World Championships, two African athletics championships, a Jeux de la Francophonie, two Summer Universiades and two African Games. He became Burkina Faso's first-ever Olympic medalist, earning a bronze medal in Tokyo, and set the African triple jump record at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha.
Chris Benard is an American track and field athlete who competes in the triple jump. He holds a personal record of 17.48 m, set in 2016. Bernard represented Team USA 9-times at 2 Summer Olympics, 4 World Athletics Championships, & 3 NACAC Championships.
Favour Chukwuka Ofili is a Nigerian track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4x100 meters relay races. Ofili made her Olympic debut for women’s 200m on 4th August, 2024 at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. In 200m, She remains in top 3 overall for both preliminary and semi-final rounds, finishes 6th in her Olympic-Final debut as a first-time Olympian.
