Merlene Joyce Ottey is a Jamaican-Slovenian former track and field sprinter. She began her career representing Jamaica in 1978 and continued to do so for 24 years before representing Slovenia from 2002 to 2012. She is ranked fourth on the all-time list over 60 metres (indoor), eighth on the all-time list over 100 metres and sixth on the all-time list over 200 metres. She is the current world indoor record holder for 200 metres with 21.87 seconds, set in 1993. She was named Jamaican Sportswoman of the Year 13 times between 1979 and 1995.
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.
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.
Natalya Nikolayevna Antyukh is a Russian sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres and 400 metres hurdles. She won the bronze medal in the 400 metres and a silver for the 4 × 400 m relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha is an Indian sports administrator and retired track and field athlete. Usha was born in Koothali near Perambra in Kozhikode district, Kerala. She grew up in Payyoli. Usha has been associated with Indian athletics since 1979. She has won 4 gold medals and 7 silver medals in the Asian Games. She is often associated as the "Queen of Indian track and field".
Zuzana Hejnová is a retired Czech athlete who specialised in the 400 metres hurdles. She won the silver medal in the event at the 2012 London Olympics. Hejnová is a two-time World Champion, having claimed titles at the 2013 and 2015 World Championships in Athletics. She won bronze at the 2012 European Championships and silver for the 400 metres at the 2017 European Indoor Championships.
Natasha Monique Hastings is an American 400 meter track and field sprinter.
Elīna Ringa is the first official female pole-vaulter in Latvia and also the first Latvian female national record holder in this event. She won the Latvian National Championship competition outdoors and indoors more than ten times.
Equatorial Guinea competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation at London marked its eighth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its début at the 1984 Summer Olympics. The delegation included two track and field athletes, Benjamín Enzema and Bibiana Olama who both qualified for the Games via wildcard places because their fastest times did not meet the required qualification standards. Olama was selected as the flag bearer for both the opening and closing ceremonies. Both athletes did not advance beyond the first round of their respective events.
Dominica participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation in London marked its fifth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut in the 1996 Summer Olympics. The delegation included two athletes: Erison Hurtault and Luan Gabriel, the former qualified for the Games by meeting qualification standards while the latter entered the quadrennial event through a wildcard place. Hurtault was selected as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony while Gabriel carried the flag at the closing ceremony. Neither athlete progressed farther than the first round of their respective events.
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.
Dalilah Muhammad is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters hurdles. She is the 2016 Rio Olympics champion and 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medalist, becoming at the latter the then-second-fastest woman of all time in the event with her personal best of 51.58 seconds. Muhammad was second at both the 2013 and 2017 World Championships to take her first gold in 2019, setting the former world record of 52.16 s. She was the second female 400 m hurdler in history, after Sally Gunnell, to have won the Olympic, World titles and broken the world record. At both the 2019 World Championships and Tokyo Games, she also took gold as part of women's 4 × 400 metres relay team.
Oluwakemi "Kemi" Adekoya is a Nigerian-born track and field athlete who competes for Bahrain. She specialises in the 400 metres hurdles and has a personal best of 53.39 seconds – a Bahraini and Asian record.
Jenna Elizabeth Prandini is an American track and field athlete who has competed in both sprinting and long jump. She is a two-time national champion at 200 meters, and a two-time Olympian in 2016 and 2020. She won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics as part of the United States 4x100 m relay team, and won a gold medal with the US 4x100 m relay at the 2022 World Athletics Championships.
The Refugee Olympic Team competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016, as independent Olympic participants.
Sydney Michelle McLaughlin-Levrone is an American hurdler and sprinter who competes in the 400 meters hurdles and is the world record holder in that event. She has won gold in the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, as well as the 2022 World Athletics Championships. She set a world record time of 50.37 seconds at the 2024 Summer Olympics on August 8, 2024, breaking her own old world record of 50.65 seconds. She is the first track athlete to break four world records in the same event; setting four world records during 13 months, she was the first woman to break the 52-second and 51-second barriers in the 400 m hurdles. She won the silver medal at the 2019 World Championships. At all four competitions, she also took gold as part of a women's 4 × 400 m relay team.
Glory Onome Nathaniel is a Nigerian athlete specialising in the 400 metres hurdles. She represented her country at the 2017 World Championships reaching the semifinals. Additionally, she won three silver medals at the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games.
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.
Elina Tzengko is a Greek javelin thrower. She won the gold medal at the 2022 European Athletics Championships, becoming the youngest ever javelin and Greek European champion. Tzengko took a silver and a gold at the 2021 World and European Under-20 Championships respectively.
The women's 400 metres hurdles at the 2022 European Athletics Championships took place in three rounds at the Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany, from 17 to 19 August 2022.
