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 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.
The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first recorded event at the ancient Olympic Games. The 200 m places more emphasis on speed endurance than shorter sprint distances as athletes predominantly rely on anaerobic energy system during the 200 m sprint. Similarly to other sprint distances, the 200 m begins from the starting blocks. When the sprinters adopt the 'set' position in the blocks they are able to adopt a more efficient starting posture and isometrically preload their muscles. This enables them to stride forwards more powerfully when the race begins and start faster.
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.
The Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays is an annual track and field competition held at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas. The University of Texas serves as host for the event, held on either the first or second weekend of April.
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.
Ejowvokoghene Divine Oduduru is a Nigerian sprinter specializing in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash. He holds personal bests of 9.86 seconds for the 100 m and 19.73 seconds for the 200 m. The latter is a Nigerian national record.
Fredrick Lee Kerley is an American professional track and field sprinter who started his career competing in the 400 meters until 2020, when he transitioned to the 100 meters and 200 meters. He has earned several medals at the World Championships in the 400 m and 4 × 400 m relay including an individual bronze and a relay gold at the 2019 edition. Kerley claimed 100 m gold in the 2022 edition.
Lamont Marcell Jacobs Jr. is an Italian track and field sprinter and former long jumper. He is the 2020 Olympic 100 metres champion, the 2022 60 metres world champion, the 2022 European 100 metres champion, the winner of the 100m in the 2020 olympics and a member of the gold medal-winning 4 × 100 m relay team at the 2020 Olympics. He currently holds the 100 metres European record, the 60 metres European record, and is the first Italian to ever qualify for and win the men's 100 metres Olympic final.
Ghana competed at the 2019 African Games held from 19 to 31 August 2019 in Rabat, Morocco. Ghana competed in 14 sports. Ghana's participation was made possible by financial support from the Ghanaian government. In total, athletes representing Ghana won two gold medals, two silver medals and nine bronze medals and the country finished in 15th place in the medal table.
Joseph Paul Amoah is a Ghanaian sprinter specializing in the 100 metres and the 200 metres. He competed at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in the 100 metres and 4 × 100 metres relay, and at the 2019 African Games, he won a gold medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay. He was also a 100 metres finalist at the 2019 African Games, finishing fourth.
The men's 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2021 World Athletics Relays has been held at the Silesian Stadium on 1 and 2 May.
Sarfo Ansah is a Ghanaian athlete specializing in sprinting. Sarfo Ansah is part of the Ghana 4 × 100 metres relay team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The following table is an overview of national records in the 100 metres.
