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.
Shaunae Miller-Uibo is a Bahamian track and field sprinter who competes in the 200 and 400 metres. She is a two-time Olympic champion after winning the women's 400 metres at the 2016 Rio Olympics and again at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Regina George Grause is an American-born Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres. She represented Nigeria at the 2012 Summer Olympics and was the silver medallist at the African Championships in 2012.
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.
Courtney Okolo is an American track and field sprinter who usually competes in the 400 metres. She starred at Carrollton (Texas) Newman Smith High School where she won multiple individual state 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.
Jonathan Sacoor is a Belgian sprinter specialising in the 400 metres.
Rhasidat Adeleke is an Irish sprinter.
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.
Femke Bol is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in hurdling and sprinting. She specialises in the 400 metres hurdles, where she is the 2023 World Champion, and in the 400 metres, where she is the 2024 World Indoor Champion and the short track world record holder. In the 4 × 400 metres relay, she is the 2023 World Champion and the 2024 World Indoor Champion with the Dutch women's team and the 2024 Olympic Champion with the Dutch mixed team.
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 and the 2024 Olympic Champion with the Dutch mixed team.
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.
Talitha LaNae Clark Diggs
Britton Wilson is an American track and field athlete specializing in the 400 meters hurdles and 400 meters. She finished fifth in the 400 m hurdles at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, her major championship debut. Wilson is the North American indoor record holder for the 400 m dash with a time of 49.48 seconds, set on March 11, 2023, in Albuquerque.
Yemi Mary John is a British track and field athlete. She won the gold medal in the 400 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Under-20 Championships.
Savannah Sutherland is a Canadian track and field athlete. She is the 2021 World U20 Championships bronze medalist and 2023 NCAA Outdoor champion in the 400 metres hurdles, and holds the Canadian national record in that distance, as well as the national indoor 400 metres record. Sutherland represented Canada at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Christopher Bailey is an American track and field athlete. He has won medals in the Athletics World Championships and World Athletics Indoors Championships in the 4x400 metres relay.
Jasmine Jones is an American track and field athlete. She represented the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the 400 m hurdles, finishing fourth in the final. She was runner-up in the 60 metres hurdles at the 2024 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Christopher Morales Williams is a Canadian sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres. Since 2022, he has competed for the University of Georgia Bulldogs. On February 24, 2024, as a sophomore, he set a unofficial world indoor record in the 400 m of 44.49 at the SEC Championships held in Fayetteville. He then set a new Canadian record in the 400m at the 2024 Outdoor SEC Championships on May 11 with a time of 44.05.
