Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle, landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, the dominant step patterns are the 3-step for high hurdles, 7-step for low hurdles, and 15-step for intermediate hurdles. Hurdling is a highly specialized form of obstacle racing, and is part of the sport of athletics. In hurdling events, barriers known as hurdles are set at precisely measured heights and distances. Each athlete must pass over the hurdles; passing under or intentionally knocking over hurdles will result in disqualification.
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.
LeRoy Braxton Cochran was an American sprinter and hurdler, winner of two gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics.
André Lamar Phillips is a retired American track and field athlete who is best known for winning the 400 metres hurdles gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games.
Kevin C. Young is a former American athlete. He was the winner of the 400 metres hurdles at the 1992 Summer Olympics. In the final of this event he set a world record and Olympic record of 46.78 seconds, the first time 47 seconds was broken, and a world record that stood for nearly 29 years until it was broken by Karsten Warholm on July 1, 2021.
Angelo F. Taylor is an American track and field athlete, coach, and winner of 400-meter hurdles at the 2000 and 2008 Summer Olympics, who has been suspended by the United States Center for SafeSport for sexual misconduct since 2019. His personal record for the 400 m hurdles is 47.25 seconds, tied with Félix Sánchez for #14 all time. Taylor also has a 400-meter dash best of 44.05 seconds, which is #25 all time. He won the bronze medal in the 400 m at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics. He is a three-time world champion in the 4×400 m relay with the United States, and was a relay gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and silver medalist at the 2012 London Olympics.
Kerron Stephon Clement is a Trinidadian-born American track and field athlete who competes in the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter sprint. He held the indoor world record in the 400-meter sprint, having broken Michael Johnson's mark in 2005.
Bershawn D. Jackson is an American athlete, who mainly competes in the 400 m hurdles, but also is a 400 m runner.
Stéphane Diagana is a retired, French track and field sprinter and hurdler. His specialities were the 400 metres hurdles and the 4 x 400 metres relay.
Lashinda Demus is an American hurdler who specializes in the 400 meter hurdles, an event in which she was the 2011 world champion and 2012 Olympic silver medalist.
Peirresha Alexandra Shakes-Drayton is a British retired track and field athlete. After specialising in the 400 metres hurdles in the early part of her career, a knee injury at the 2013 World Championships forced Shakes-Drayton to concentrate on the 400 metres on her return to athletics. She is the 2013 European Indoor Champion in the 400 metres and won a 2012 World Indoor Championship gold medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay. She has also won silver and bronze medals in the 4 × 400 m relay at the World Championships.
David "Dai" Greene is a British hurdler who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles, competing internationally for both Wales and Great Britain. In a 'golden' sixteen-month period between 2010 and 2011, Greene dominated the event at international level, winning the World, European, Diamond League and Commonwealth titles in quick succession, in addition to winning the event as part of both the European Team Championships and the IAAF Continental Cup. Hindered by a knee injury, Greene finished in 4th at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and the same injury prevented him from being competitive at global level thereafter.
Queen Quedith Claye née Harrison is an American hurdler and sprinter who competed in the 400 metres hurdles at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She was a six-time collegiate All-American at Virginia Tech where she was elected to its sports hall of fame. Queen is a meet director for Virginia's Best Track and Field Classic - VHSL meet hosted in Richmond, Virginia started in 2017.
Brenda Taylor is an American track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 meter hurdles. She reached the final of the event at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She also competed at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics and won a medal at the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the 4×400-meter relay.
Muizat Ajoke Odumosu Alademerin is a Nigerian track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres and the 400 metres hurdles. She represented Nigeria at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics and competed at the World Championships in Athletics in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. She was the bronze medallist at the 2007 All-Africa Games and went on to become the continental champion with a win at the 2008 and 2012 African Championships.
T'erea Brown is an American track and field athlete, specializing in hurdling events. She was the 2010 American champion in the 400-meter hurdles and the 2011 NCAA Outdoor champion in the event.
Michael Tinsley is an American track and field athlete specializing in the 400 metres hurdles.
Lauren Boden is an Australian athletics competitor. Her events are the 400 metre hurdles, 400 metres and long jump. She was the youngest woman to win the 400 metres hurdle event at the Australian national championships. She has competed in the long jump event and the 400 metres hurdle event at the World University Games. She has competed at the 2006 and 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics in the 400 metre hurdles event.
Georganne Rochelle Moline is an American hurdler who specializes in the 400 metres hurdles and 400 metres. She won a spot in the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 400 meter hurdles.
Janieve Russell is a Jamaican track and field athlete who competes mainly in the 400 metres hurdles and the 400 metres sprint. She won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4×400m relay in Tokyo 2021, where she also finished fourth in the 400m hurdles final in a personal best of 53.08 secs. She is a four-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, winning the 400m hurdles title in 2018 and 2022, and the 4×400m relay in 2014 and 2018. She has also won two relay silvers at the World Championships and a relay gold at the World Indoor Championships.
