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.
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.
Phyllis Chanez Francis is an American track and field athlete. She won the gold medal at the 2017 World Championships in the 400 metres and 4 × 400 metres relay events.
The women's 400 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 13–15 August at the Olympic Stadium.
The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. The nation's participation at these Games marked its seventeenth appearance as an independent nation.
Salwa Eid Naser is a Nigerian-born Bahraini sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. She was the 2019 World champion with the third fastest time in history of 48.14 seconds, becoming the youngest-ever champion in the event and also the first woman representing an Asian nation to win that event at a World Championships. The mark places her only behind contested results of Marita Koch and Jarmila Kratochvílová. Over the distance, at only 19, Naser was the 2017 World silver medallist. She has also won, as a member of Bahraini mixed-gender 4x400 m relay team, the 2019 World Championships bronze medal.
The women's 200 metres at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics was held at the London Olympic Stadium on 8 and 10−11 August.
The women's 400 metres at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics was held at the London Olympic Stadium on 6−7 and 9 August.
Sada Williams is a Barbadian sprinter competing primarily in the 200 and 400 metres. She won the bronze medal in the 400 m at the 2022 World Championships, becoming the first Barbadian woman ever to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships. Williams took a gold in the event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
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 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. American world record holder Keni Harrison finished second to clinch silver 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 women's triple jump event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 30 July and 1 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium.
The women's high jump event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 5 and 7 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Even though 32 athletes qualified through the qualification system for the Games, only 31 took part in the competition. This was the 22nd appearance of the event, having appeared at every Olympics since women's athletics was introduced in 1928.
The women's shot put event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 30 July and 1 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately 35 athletes are expected to compete; the exact number will depend on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 32 qualifying through distance or ranking.
The men's hammer throw event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 2 and 4 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium. Approximately 35 athletes were expected to compete; the exact number was dependent on how many nations used universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 32 qualifying through distance or ranking. 31 athletes from 21 nations competed. Wojciech Nowicki of Poland won the gold medal, adding to his 2016 bronze to become the 15th man to earn multiple hammer throw medals. It was Poland's second gold medal in the event, after Szymon Ziółkowski's 2000 victory. Nowicki's countryman Paweł Fajdek took bronze. Between them was Norwegian thrower Eivind Henriksen, with his silver being Norway's first-ever Olympic medal in the men's hammer.
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 at least 5 members from which 4 were selected in each round.
Marileidy Paulino is a Dominican athlete sprinter specializing in the 400 meters. She won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first woman from the Dominican Republic to earn an individual Olympic medal in athletics. Paulino took silver at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. At these competitions, she earned also silver and gold in the mixed 4×400 m relay respectively, running legs of 48.7 s in 2021 and 48.47 s in 2022. Since May 2023, Paulino is the 400 m ranked world No. 1.
The women's 400 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Championships was held at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, U.S. from 17 to 22 July 2022.
