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 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, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. 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.
Nataliya Pyhyda is a Ukrainian track and field sprinter who specializes in the 200 and 400 metres. Her personal best times are 22.82 seconds (2008) and 50.62 seconds (2015), respectively.
Justyna Święty-Ersetic is a Polish sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. She was the 2018 European champion and a two-time European Indoor Championship medallist in this event. Święty-Ersetic won many medals at major championships as part of Polish 4 × 400 m relays, including a gold in the mixed relay and a silver in the women's relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Carline Muir is a Canadian sprinter, who specialized in the 400 metres. She won the bronze medal for the 400 metres, and ultimately, led her national team to claim the sprint relay title at the 2009 Summer Universiade in Belgrade, Serbia. She is also a three-time junior national champion, a two-time silver medalist at the Canadian Track and Field Championships.
Lisanne de Witte is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in sprinting. She specialises in the 400 metres, where she held the Dutch record with her personal best time of 50.77 seconds from 2018 to 2021.
Victoria Ohuruogu is an English track athlete who competes in the 400 metres. She won a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics as part of the British women's 4x400m relay team. She won the silver medal in the event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She is the younger sister of Christine Ohuruogu, and has seven other siblings.
Vernon Larnard Norwood is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters.
Cynthia Maduengele Bolingo Mbongo, known as Cynthia Bolingo, is a Belgian sprinter. In a career beset with injuries, she won the silver medal in the 400 metres at the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships and the bronze medal in the 4 x 400 metres at the 2024 European Athletics Championships.
Laviai Nielsen is a British sprinter specialising in the 400 metres.
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.
Natalia Kaczmarek is a Polish sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. She is the 2024 European champion as well as the European silver medalist from 2022. She also won the bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Kaczmarek earned several global medals as part of 4 x 400 m relays, including gold in the mixed event and silver in the women's event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Imke Vervaet is a Belgian athlete. She competed at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics as a 200 metres runner and as a member of the Belgian women's 4x400 metres and mixed 4x400 metres relay teams. She also participated at multiple World and European Athletics championships, indoor and outdoor, individually and as a member of the 4x400 metres relay teams. She was national champion in the women's 200 metres in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2024.
Lieke Klaver is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in sprinting. She specializes in the 200 metres and in the 400 metres. In the 4 × 400 metres relay, she is the 2023 World Champion and the 2024 World Indoor Champion with the Dutch women's team. She won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the mixed 4 x 400 metres relay.
Alice Mangione is an Italian sprinter, specialising in the 400 metres. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in the 4 × 400 m relay and 4 × 400 m mixed relay.
Sharlene Mawdsley is an Irish athlete who specialises in the 400 meters and other sprint events.
Nicole Yeargin is a British-American athlete representing Great Britain who specialises in the 400 metres. She won major medals as part of British women's and mixed 4 x 400 m relays, including bronzes at the 2022 World Athletics Championships and 2023 World Athletics Championships. She won two bronze medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics as part of both the British mixed and women's 4 x 400 metres relay teams.
Helena Ponette is a Belgian sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. She competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics as a 400 metres runner and as a member of the Belgian women's 4x400 metres and mixed 4x400 metres relay teams. She also participated at multiple World and European Athletics championships, indoor and outdoor, individually and as a member of the 4x400 metres relay teams. She was national champion in the women's 400 metres in 2023.
Alexis Holmes is an American track and field athlete who competes over 400 metres.
Na'Asha Robinson is an American tracks and field athlete who competes as a sprinter.
