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.
Luiza Gega is an Albanian middle- and long-distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase since 2016.
Laura Muir is a Scottish middle- and long-distance runner. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the 1500 metres, having previously finished seventh in the event at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Muir won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Championships, and has three other top five placings in 1500 m finals at the World Athletics Championships, finishing fifth in 2015, fourth in 2017 and fifth in 2019. She is a two-time European 1500 m champion from 2018 and 2022 as well as the 2022 Commonwealth Games 1500 m champion and 800 metres bronze medallist.
Lisanne de Witte is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in sprinting. She specialises in the 400 metres, where she held the Dutch record with her personal best time of 50.77 seconds from 2018 to 2021.
Esther Guerrero Puigdevall is a Spanish middle-distance runner competing primarily in the 800 metres. She won two medals for the mixed relay at the European Cross Country Championships.
Regula Martha Zürcher is retired Swiss athlete who competed primarily in the 400 metres and 800 metres. She represented her country at the 1992 Summer Olympics, as well as three outdoor and two indoor World Championships.
Claudia Mihaela Bobocea is a Romanian middle-distance runner competing primarily in the 1500 metres. She won the silver medal in the event at the 2023 European Indoor Championships.
Halimah Nakaayi is a Ugandan middle-distance runner who specialises in the 800 metres. She is the 2019 World Champion at the event and won the bronze medal at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. Nakaayi is the current Ugandan record holder for the 800 m both outdoors and indoors, and also for the 1000 metres.
Anita Horvat is a Slovenian sprinter and middle-distance runner. She placed seventh in the 800 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Horvat won the silver medal in the event at the 2023 European Indoor Championships.
Yasmin Giger is a Swiss athlete specialising in the 400 metres hurdles. She won a gold medal at the 2017 European U20 Championships. Currently, she is the national champion in both the 400 metres and the 400 metres hurdles.
The Swiss Indoor Athletics Championships is an annual indoor track and field competition organised by the Swiss Athletics Federation, which serves as the national championship for the sport in Switzerland. Typically held over two to three days in February during the Swiss winter, it was first added to the national calendar in 1982, supplementing the main outdoor Swiss Athletics Championships held in the summer since 1906.
Gabriela Gajanová is a Slovak middle-distance runner specialising in the 800 metres. Gajanová won a bronze medal at the 2017 European U20 Championships. She won silver in the 800 metres at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome, Italy.
Femke Bol is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in hurdling and sprinting. She specialises in the 400 metres hurdles, where she is the 2023 World Champion, and in the 400 metres, where she is the 2024 World Indoor Champion and the short track world record holder. In the 4 × 400 metres relay, she is the 2023 World Champion and the 2024 World Indoor Champion with the Dutch women's team and the 2024 Olympic Champion with the Dutch mixed team.
Keely Nicole Hodgkinson is an English middle-distance runner. She won the gold medal in the 800 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Hodgkinson was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2024.
Ricky Petrucciani is a Swiss sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. He won a gold medal at the 2021 European U23 Championships and a silver medal at the 2022 European Championships in the 400m category. He also reached the semifinals of the 2020 Olympics.
Ditaji Kambundji is a Swiss athlete specialising in the sprint hurdles. She won the bronze medal in the 100 metres hurdles at the 2022 European Championships and bronze for the 60 metres hurdles at the 2023 European Indoor Championships.
William Reais is a Swiss sprinter competing primarily in the 200 metres. He competed in the 200 metres at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He also holds the Swiss national indoor record for the same event.
Audrey Werro is a Swiss track and field athlete. She won the silver medal in the 800 metres at the 2022 World Under-20 Championships and gold medals at the 2021 European U20 Championships as well as the 2023 European U20 Championships.
Lionel Spitz is a Swiss sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. He won a silver medal at the 2023 European U23 Championships. Shortly after, he set a new personal best of 45.25 at the Swiss Championships and also finished in first place at the event, securing his second national title.
Julien Bonvin is a Swiss sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles. He has been the national champion in the 400 metres hurdles ever since 2021, earning the title consecutively three times in a row. He is also the 2023 Swiss champion for the indoor 200 metres.
