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.
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.
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.
Tony McQuay is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters. He is a member of the 2012 and 2016 United States Olympic teams, winning a silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay in 2012 and a gold in the same event in 2016. He is also a two time World Champion in this event.
Matthew Hudson-Smith is a British track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres and is the 5th fastest athlete of all-time over the distance. As of September 2024 he is ranked as the number one 400m runner in the world and has won six British titles, two individual European titles, an individual Olympic silver medal, World Championships silver and bronze individual medals and an individual Commonwealth silver medal. He has also won a number of relay titles including an Olympic bronze medal, World Championships bronze medal, two European gold medals, one European silver medal, one European bronze medal and a Commonwealth Games gold medal.. Hudson-Smith also holds the European and British 4x400m records (2:55.83) along with the GB Team who ran in the final of the men's 4x400m event in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Dylan Borlée is a Belgian sprinter who competes in the 400 metres. He is a member of the Borlée family.
Vernon Larnard Norwood is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters.
Michael Arthur Norman Jr. is an American sprinter. He previously held the world best time in the indoor 400 meters at 44.52 seconds. Outdoors, his 43.45, set at the 2019 Mt. SAC Relays, is tied on sixth on the all time list. In 2016, he became the world junior champion in both the 200 meters and 4×100 meter relay. In 2022, he became the world champion in both the 400 meters and 4x400 meter relay.
Fredrick Lee Kerley is an American track and field sprinter. He was the Olympic silver medalist over 100 m at the 2020 Olympics and bronze medalist at the 2024 Olympics in the same event. Kerley has earned an additional six medals at the World Championships, most notably 100m gold at the 2022 edition. He has also medalled in the 400m, 4 x 100m relay, and 4 × 400 m relay and won eleven Diamond League races, including two Diamond League finals - the 400m in 2018 and the 100m in 2021.
Kendall Ellis is an American sprinter. Ellis won gold in the 4x400 m relay and bronze in the Mixed 4x400 metres at the Tokyo Olympics. She competed in the 400 meters at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships, winning gold medals as a part of prelim 4×400 m relays. As a junior, Ellis took gold in the 4×400 m relay and bronze in the 400 meters at the 2015 Pan American Junior Championships.
Christopher O'Donnell is an Irish track and field athlete competing in sprinting events. He was part of the Irish Mixed 4x400m team who won a gold medal at the 2024 European Athletics Championships. He represented Ireland at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in the Mixed 4 × 400 m relay, where he was part of the first ever Irish team to run in an Olympic final, and competed in the same event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. He was also part of the team who reached the final of the 2022 and 2023 World Championships. He is the current Irish U20 record holder in the 400m, his personal best of 45.26 seconds sits joint-2nd on the Irish all-time list and he is a 5-time National 400m champion.
Matthew Boling is an American track and field athlete specializing in the sprints and long jump. He won four gold medals at the 2019 Pan American U20 Championships in the 100 m, 200 m, 4 × 100 m relay and 4 × 400 m relay, and helped set world under-20 records in both of the relay races for the United States. He also ran in the semi-final for the American 4 × 400 m relay team at the 2018 World U20 Championships that went on to earn silver in the final. Boling would later go on to win a gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in the mixed 4 x 400 m relay, and would help set a world record for the event in the process.
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. She won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the mixed 4 x 400 metres relay.
Elija Godwin is an American athlete who specialises in the 400 metres.
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.
Amber Anning is a British sprinter. A double Olympic medalist, she holds the British record for 400 metres, 49.29 seconds, which she took finishing fifth in the women's 400 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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.
JaMeesia Ford is an American track and field athlete who competes as a sprinter. In March 2024, she became the NCAA 200 metres indoor champion. She is also the American national under-20 indoor record holder over 200 metres and is world under-20 record holder over 300 metres.
Samuel Ogazi is a Nigerian sprinter.
Lurdes Gloria Manuel is a Czech sprinter. In 2024, she became Czech national indoor champion over 200 metres and set a European U20 indoor record over 300 metres.
