The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women.
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.
Allyson Michelle Felix is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters. She specialized in the 200 meters from 2003 to 2013, then gradually shifted to the 400 meters later in her career. At 200 meters, Felix is the 2012 Olympic champion, a three-time world champion (2005–2009), a two-time Olympic silver medalist, and the 2011 world bronze medalist. At 400 meters, she is the 2015 world champion, 2011 world silver medalist, 2016 Olympic silver medalist, 2017 world bronze medalist, and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist. Across the short distances, Felix is a ten-time U.S. national champion.
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.
60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the middle of the 'field', as is the hurdles event over the same distance, thus avoiding some of the effects of the banked track encircling the venue, upon which other track events in indoor events are run. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior athletes. The format of the event is similar to other sprint distances. The sprinters follow three initial instructions: 'on your marks', instructing them to take up position in the starting blocks; 'set', instructing them to adopt a more efficient starting posture, which also isometrically preloads their muscles. This will enable them to start faster. The final instruction is the firing of the starter's pistol. Upon hearing this the sprinters stride forwards from the blocks.
The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women. For the race, ten hurdles of a height of 33 inches (83.8 cm) are placed along a straight course of 100 metres (109.36 yd). The first hurdle is placed after a run-up of 13 metres from the starting line. The next 9 hurdles are set at a distance of 8.5 metres from each other, and the home stretch from the last hurdle to the finish line is 10.5 metres long. The hurdles are set up so that they will fall over if bumped into by the runner, but weighted so this is disadvantageous. Fallen hurdles do not count against runners provided that they do not run into them on purpose. Like the 100 metres sprint, the 100 m hurdles begins with athletes in starting blocks.
Usain St. Leo Bolt is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay.
The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less important since the late 1990s, as an increasing number of runners have surpassed the ten seconds mark. The current men's world record holder is Usain Bolt, who ran a 9.58 at the 2009 IAAF World Championship competition.
Qatar competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation at London marked its eighth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its début at the 1984 Summer Olympics. The delegation sent by the Qatar Olympic Committee consisted of twelve athletes in athletics, shooting, swimming and table tennis. The 2012 Games marked the first time Qatar sent female athletes to the Olympic Games; following the 2008 Summer Olympics, it had been one of only three countries, along with Saudi Arabia and Brunei, to never have done so.
The British Virgin Islands sent a delegation to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, which took place between 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation in London marked its eighth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in the 1984 Summer Olympics. The British Virgin Islands delegation included two track and field athletes, 100 meter sprinters J'maal Alexander and Tahesia Harrigan-Scott. Alexander failed to progress through the heats whilst Harrigan-Scott was eliminated in her event's quarterfinals.
Kanika Alana Beckles is a Trinidadian-born Grenadian sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres. She represented Grenada at the 2012 Summer Olympics but did not start. She reached the semifinals of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, after missing large parts of the 2012 and 2013 seasons with a torn hamstring and ACL surgery. At the 2016 Summer Olympics she represented Grenada but placed fifth in her heat with a time 52.41 Seconds and with an overall ranking of 32nd. She did not advance to the semifinals.
Davide Manenti is an Italian sprinter. He competed in the 4 × 100 m relay event at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 200 m event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He has competed with the Italian national relay team and was a gold medallist in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2011 European Athletics U23 Championships, the 2013 Mediterranean Games, the 2018 Mediterranean Games and the 2021 World Athletics Relays. He holds a personal best of 10.48 seconds for the 100 metres and 20.44 seconds for the 200 metres.
Karsten Warholm is a Norwegian sprinter who competes in the 400 metres and 400 m hurdles. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion, silver medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, three-time world champion and world record holder in the latter event.
Stephenie Ann McPherson is a Jamaican track and field athlete, who specializes in the 400 metres. She has won a bronze medal in the event at the 2013 World Championships, and then placed in the finals of both the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and all four following World Championships between 2015 and 2022, consecutively. McPherson earned also a bronze at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. She added medals in the 4 x 400 metres relays, taking a silver at the 2016 Olympics, a gold in 2015 in Beijing, and a bronze in 2019.
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 when he won the event at the 2016 Olympics.
Elaine Sandra-Lee Thompson-Herah is a Jamaican sprinter who competes in the 60 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres. Regarded as one of the greatest sprinters of all time, she is a five-time Olympic champion, the fastest woman alive in the 100 m, and the third fastest ever in the 200 m.
Nicholas Kiplagat Bett was a Kenyan track and field athlete who competed in the 400 metres hurdles. His personal best for the event is 47.79 seconds. He was a world champion in the event, having won in 2015, and a two-time bronze medallist at the African Championships in Athletics. He died in a road accident in Kenya at the age of 28.
Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei is a Ugandan long-distance runner. He is the current world record holder for the 5000 metres and the 10,000 metres, and held the world best time over the 15 kilometres distance.
Eseosa Fostine "Fausto" Desalu is an Italian sprinter who specialises in the 200 metres winning a silver medal in that event at the 2018 Mediterranean Games and a gold medal in the 4×100 m relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
The Refugee Olympic Team competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016, as independent Olympic participants.
