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 first world record in the men's 400 metres hurdles was recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1912. That inaugural record was the performance by Charles Bacon at the 1908 Olympics.
The men's 400 metres hurdles competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom took place on 3–6 August at the Olympic Stadium. There were 49 competitors from 33 nations. The event was won by Félix Sánchez of the Dominican Republic, the second victory in the men's long hurdles for both the man and the nation. Sánchez was the eighth man to win multiple medals in the event and fourth to win two golds. Michael Tinsley of the United States earned silver. Javier Culson's bronze was Puerto Rico's first medal in the event.
Karsten Warholm is a Norwegian athlete and Olympic champion who competes in the sprints and hurdles. In July 2021, he broke the 29-year-old world record in 400 metres hurdles. The following month at the 2020 Summer Olympics, he won the gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles with a time of 45.94 seconds, breaking his own world record by over three-quarters of a second. The race has been described by many as one of the greatest in Olympic history due to the records set.
The 400 metres hurdles at the Summer Olympics is the longest hurdling event held at the multi-sport event. The men's 400 m hurdles has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900, with a sole gap at the 1912 Summer Olympics. The women's event was added to the programme over eighty years later, at the 1984 Olympics. It is the most prestigious 400 m hurdles race at elite level.
The men's 400 metres hurdles event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 15–18 August at the Olympic Stadium. There were 47 competitors from 33 nations. The event was won by Kerron Clement of the United States, the nation's 19th victory in the men's long hurdles. Clement was the ninth man to win multiple medals in the event. Both Kenya and Turkey earned their first medals in the men's 400 metres hurdles, the former with Boniface Mucheru Tumuti's silver and the latter with Yasmani Copello's bronze.
The men's 400 metres hurdles at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics was held at the London Olympic Stadium on 6–9 August.
For the athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics competitions, the following qualification systems are in place. Qualification ended on 29 June 2021, but for marathon and 50 km race walking, it already ended on 31 May 2021. Some 1900 athletes, from 196 countries, will compete. 103 countries are qualified also through Universality places.
The men's 100 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 31 July and 1 August 2021 at the Olympic Stadium. 84 athletes were expected to compete; 27 nations used universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 56 qualifying through standard time or ranking. 78 athletes from 59 nations competed. Marcell Jacobs won the gold medal, establishing twice, semifinal and final, the new European record, Italy's first medal in the men's 100 metres. The United States extended its podium streak in the event to six Games with Fred Kerley's silver, only third at the US Trials. Canadian Andre De Grasse won his second consecutive bronze medal in the 100 metres establishing his personal best. With Usain Bolt retired, Jamaica's three-Games gold medal streak ended.
The men's 200 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 3 and 4 August 2021 at the Olympic Stadium. 48 athletes from 33 nations competed, including five universality places. Canada earned its first gold medal in the event since 1928 and third overall, as Andre De Grasse added gold to his 2016 silver to become the 12th man to earn multiple medals in the 200 metres. Kenneth Bednarek and Noah Lyles, both of the United States, took silver and bronze as Americans reached the podium for the first time since 2008. Jamaica's three-Games gold medal streak in the event ended, with Usain Bolt having retired.
The women's 200 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 2 and 3 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 41 athletes from 31 nations competed. In successfully defending her title, Elaine Thompson-Herah became the first woman in history to win both the 100 and 200 metres titles at successive games. Her winning time of 21.53 secs, moved her to second on the world all-time list behind Florence Griffith-Joyner, and broke Merlene Ottey's 30-year-old Jamaican record.
The men's 400 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 1 and 5 August 2021 at the Olympic Stadium. Approximately fifty athletes were expected to compete; the exact number was dependent on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 48 qualifying through time or ranking. 48 athletes from 33 nations competed. The event was won by Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas, with Anthony Zambrano of Colombia taking silver. Those were the first medals in the men's 400 metres for each of those two nations. Kirani James of Grenada won his third consecutive medal in the event with his bronze, making him the first man to earn three medals in the 400 metres.
The men's 800 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 31 July and 4 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. In total 48 athletes were to start, but only 47 actually did. Emmanuel Korir of Kenya won the event, with his countryman Ferguson Rotich taking silver. It was the fourth consecutive victory in the men's 800 metres for Kenya. Patryk Dobek earned bronze, giving Poland its first medal in the event.
The men's 110 metres hurdles event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 3 and 5 August 2021 at the Olympic Stadium. Approximately forty athletes were expected to compete; the exact number was dependent on how many nations used universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 40 qualifying through time or ranking. 40 athletes from 29 nations competed. Hansle Parchment of Jamaica won the gold medal, the nation's second consecutive victory in the event. His countryman Ronald Levy took bronze. American Grant Holloway earned silver, placing the United States back on the podium in the event after the nation missed the medals for the first time in Rio 2016.
The women's 100 metres hurdles event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 31 July and 2 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 40 athletes from 28 nations competed. In the semifinals, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico broke the Olympic record, running 12.26 secs, to go equal fourth on the world all-time list. The following day in the final, she won the gold medal with a time of 12.37 secs. The silver medal went to American world record holder Keni Harrison and the bronze to Jamaica's Megan Tapper.
The women's 400 metres hurdles event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 31 July and 4 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. 39 athletes from 25 nations competed.
The men's shot put event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 3 and 5 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Thirty-one athletes from 22 nations competed. For the first time in Olympic history, the same three competitors received the same medals in back-to-back editions of an the same individual event. Americans Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs and New Zealander Tom Walsh repeated their gold, silver, and bronze (respectively) performances from the 2016 Summer Olympics. They became the 15th, 16th, and 17th men to earn multiple medals in the shot put; Crouser was the 4th to repeat as champion.
The men's 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 6 and 7 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. There were 16 competing relay teams, with each team having 5 members from which 4 were selected in each round.
The women's 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 5 and 7 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. There were 16 competing relay teams, with each team having 5 members from which 4 were selected in each round.
The men's 400 metres hurdles at the 2019 World Athletics Championships was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha from 27 to 30 September 2019.
