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Marcus la Grange (born 12 December 1977) is a South African sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. His personal best time is 44.65 seconds, [1] achieved in April 2002 in Pretoria. He competed in the 2004 Olympic Games, coming third in the first heat of the men's 400 metres, and was a member of the South African Men's 4 x 400 metres relay race. [2]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  South Africa | |||||
| 1996 | World Junior Championships | Sydney, Australia | 15th (sf) | 100 m | 10.79 (wind: -0.5 m/s) |
| 10th (sf) | 200 m | 21.51 (wind: -2.9 m/s) | |||
| 11th (h) | 4 × 100 m relay | 40.54 | |||
| 1998 | Commonwealth Games | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 14th (sf) | 200 m | 21.05 |
| 4th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:02.21 | |||
| 1999 | World Championships | Seville, Spain | 25th (qf) | 200 m | 20.81 |
| 6th | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.74 (NR) | |||
| All-Africa Games | Johannesburg, South Africa | 6th | 200 m | 20.86 | |
| 4th | 110 m hurdles | 13.94 | |||
| 2001 | World Championships | Edmonton, Canada | 24th (qf) | 200 m | 20.83 |
| 13th (sf) | 400 m | 45.44 | |||
| 10th (h) | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:01.70 | |||
| 2002 | Commonwealth Games | Manchester, United Kingdom | 10th (sf) | 400 m | 45.51 |
| 4th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:01.83 | |||
| African Championships | Radès, Tunisia | 3rd | 400 m | 45.95 | |
| 2003 | World Championships | Paris, France | 18th (h) | 400 m | 45.68 |
| 9th (h) | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:03.05 | |||
| 2004 | African Championships | Brazzaville, Congo | 5th | 400 m | 45.74 |
| 3rd | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:03.81 | |||
| Olympic Games | Athens, Greece | 27th (h) | 400 m | 45.95 | |
| – | 4 × 400 m relay | DNF | |||
Marie-José Pérec is a retired French track and field sprinter who specialised in the 200 and 400 metres and is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. She was born in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe and moved to Paris when she was 16 years old.
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.
Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius is a South African former professional sprinter. He was the 10th athlete to compete at both the Paralympic Games and Olympic Games. Pistorius ran in both nondisabled sprint events and in sprint events for below-knee amputees. Both of his feet were amputated when he was 11 months old as a result of a congenital defect; he was born missing the outside of both feet and both fibulas. Pistorius' career ended when he was convicted of murder. He was first convicted of culpable homicide of his then-girlfriend, which was subsequently upgraded to murder upon appeal.
LaShawn Merritt is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in sprinting events, specializing in the 400 metres. He is a former Olympic champion over the distance and his personal best of 43.65 seconds makes him the eleventh fastest of all time.
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The men's 400 metres hurdles at the 2000 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics programme were held at Stadium Australia on Sunday 24 September, Monday 25 September and Wednesday 27 September 2000. There were 62 competitors from 45 nations. The event was won by 0.03 seconds by Angelo Taylor of the United States, the nation's fifth consecutive and 17th overall victory in the event. Saudi Arabia and South Africa each earned their first medals in the men's 400 metres hurdles, as Hadi Souan Somayli took silver and Llewellyn Herbert received bronze.
Chad Guy Bertrand le Clos, OIS is a South African competitive swimmer who is an Olympic, World and Commonwealth Games champion. He is the African record, Commonwealth record, and South African record holder in the short course and long course 200-metre butterfly and the short course 100-metre butterfly. He also holds African and South African records in the long course 200-metre freestyle and 100-metre butterfly, as well as the short course 100-metre freestyle. Formerly, he was a world record holder in the short course 100-metre butterfly and 200-metre butterfly.
Jereem Richards is a Trinidadian track and field sprinter who specializes in the 200 metres and 400 metres events. He won the bronze medal in the 200 m at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics and gold for the 400 m at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. Richards took 200m titles at both the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games. He was part of the Trinidad and Tobago team that won the bronze medal in the men's 4 × 400 m relay at the 2012 World Indoor Championships and a gold medal at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics.
Daiya Seto is a Japanese professional swimmer who specializes in individual medley, butterfly, breaststroke, and freestyle events. He holds the world record in the short course 400-metre individual medley and formerly held the world record in the short course 200-metre butterfly. He won the gold medal in the 400-metre individual medley at the 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021, and 2022 world short course championships, as well as at the 2013, 2015, and 2019 world long course championships.
Wayde van Niekerk is a South African track and field sprinter who competes in the 200 and 400 metres. In the 400 metres, he is the current world and Olympic record holder, having set the record when he won the event at the 2016 Olympics.
The men's 400 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 12 and 14 August at the Olympic Stadium. Fifty-three athletes from 35 nations competed. The event was won by 0.73 seconds by Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa, who broke the world record and won the nation's second gold medal in the men's 400 metres. Kirani James of Grenada and LaShawn Merritt of the United States became the sixth and seventh men to win two medals in the event, but Michael Johnson remained the only man with two gold medals.
Luiz Altamir Lopes Melo is a Brazilian swimmer.
Fernando Muhlenberg Scheffer is a Brazilian swimmer. In the 200 metre freestyle, he is the bronze medalist of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the gold medalist at the 2019 Pan American Games and the South American record holder in the event. He became the world champion and world record holder in the 4x200m freestyle relay at the 2018 World Swimming Championships in short course.
Christine Mboma is a Namibian sprinter who competes in the 100 metres and 200 m. At the age of 18, she won a silver medal in the 200 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first ever Namibian woman to win a women's Olympic medal and breaking the world under-20 and African senior record. Mboma also won the event at the 2021 World Under-20 Championships and Diamond League final, improving her record mark to 21.78 seconds.
Brendon Smith is an Australian swimmer. He won the bronze medal in the 400 metre individual medley at the 2020 Summer Olympics and has competed in the Summer Universiade and the 2021 Australian Swimming Trials. Smith and Rob Woodhouse are the only Australian men to have won an Olympic medal in an individual medley event.
Ahmed Ayoub Hafnaoui is a Tunisian swimmer. He is the African record holder in the long course 400-metre and 1500-metre freestyle, and the short course 800-metre and 1500-metre freestyle events. He competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics, where he won a gold medal in the men's 400-metre freestyle. He ranked No. 16 in the world and was the slowest qualifier for the final race but won Olympic gold with a time of 3:43.36. Hafnaoui was the only Tunisian to win Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020. Olympic and World Champion Tunisian swimmer Ahmed Hafnaoui has accepted a voluntary provisional suspension after an assertion of an anti-doping rules violation from the International Testing Agency (ITA).
Matthew Sates is a South African swimmer. He is the African record holder in the short course 200 metre freestyle, 400 metre freestyle, and 200 metre individual medley as well as the South African record holder in the 400 metre individual medley. He is the 2022 World Short Course champion in the 200 metre individual medley and bronze medalist in the 400 metre individual medley. At the 2022 NCAA Division I Championships, he won the NCAA title in the 500 yard freestyle. For the 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup, he was the overall male winner, earning a total of 18 medals, including 13 gold medals.
Muzala Samukonga is a Zambian track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. In 2022, at the age of 19, he won gold medals at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and African Championships. A flagbearer for Zambia at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Samukonga won the bronze medal in the 400 metres event.
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