The first world record in the 400 m for men (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as World Athletics, in 1912. The IAAF ratified Charles Reidpath's 48.2 s performance set at that year's Stockholm Olympics as a world record, but it also recognized the superior mark over 440 yards (402.336 metres) run by Maxie Long in 1900 as a world record.
Up to and including 2021, World Athletics has ratified 24 world records in the event. [1]
The following tables show the world record progression in the men's 400 metres, as ratified by World Athletics.
(+) plus sign denotes en route time during longer race
"y" denotes time for 440 yards, ratified as a record for this event
"A" indicates that the time was set at altitude.
The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.
From 1975, the IAAF accepted separate automatically electronically timed records for events up to 400 metres. Starting January 1, 1977, the IAAF required fully automatic timing to the hundredth of a second for these events. [1]
Lee Evans' 1968 Olympic gold medal victory time of 43.86 was the fastest recorded result to that time.
| Time | Athlete | Nationality | Location of race | Date | Duration of record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43.86 A | Lee Evans |  United States | Mexico City, Mexico | October 18, 1968 [1] | 19 years, 9 months and 30 days |
| 43.29 | Butch Reynolds | United States | Zürich, Switzerland | August 17, 1988 [1] | 11 years and 9 days |
| 43.18 | Michael Johnson | United States | Seville, Spain | August 26, 1999 [1] | 16 years, 11 months and 19 days |
| 43.03 | Wayde van Niekerk |  South Africa | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | August 14, 2016 [5] | 8 years, 4 months and 7 days |
Excluding times run at high altitude (above 1,000 metres), the progression of automatic times is shown below.
| Time | Athlete | Nationality | Location of race | Date | Duration of record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 44.95 | Lee Evans | United States | Winnipeg, Canada | July 30, 1967 | 4 years and 2 days |
| 44.60 | John Smith | United States | Cali, Colombia | August 1, 1971 | 4 years, 11 months and 28 days |
| 44.26 | Alberto Juantorena |  Cuba | Montreal, Canada | July 29, 1976 | 10 years, 9 months and 4 days |
| 44.10 | Butch Reynolds | United States | Columbus, Ohio, USA | May 3, 1987 | 1 year, 2 months and 17 days |
| 43.93 | Butch Reynolds | United States | Indianapolis, USA | July 20, 1988 | 28 days |
| 43.29 | Butch Reynolds | United States | Zürich, Switzerland | August 17, 1988 [1] | 11 years and 9 days |
| 43.18 | Michael Johnson | United States | Seville, Spain | August 26, 1999 [1] | 16 years, 11 months and 19 days |
| 43.03 | Wayde van Niekerk | South Africa | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | August 14, 2016 [6] | 8 years, 4 months and 7 days |
The first record in the 100 metres for men (athletics) was recognised by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as World Athletics, in 1912.
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 world record in the mile run is the fastest time set by a runner in the middle-distance track and field event. World Athletics is the official body which oversees the records. Hicham El Guerrouj is the current men's record holder with his time of 3:43.13, while Faith Kipyegon has the women's record of 4:07.64. Since 1976, the mile has been the only non-metric distance recognized by the IAAF for record purposes. However, in international competitions such as the Olympics the term "mile" almost always refers to a distance of 1,500 meters, which is 109.344 meters shorter than an Imperial mile, even though four "full" laps of a 400 meter track is equal to 1,600 meters.
The first world record in the 100 metres sprint for women was recognised by the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI) in 1922. The FSFI was absorbed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 1936. The current record is 10.49 seconds set by Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988.
The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individual 400 m race. Each runner carries a relay baton. Before 2018, the baton had to be passed within a 20 m changeover box, preceded by a 10-metre acceleration zone. With a rule change effective November 1, 2017, that zone was modified to include the acceleration zone as part of the passing zone, making the entire zone 30 metres in length. The outgoing runner cannot touch the baton until it has entered the zone, and the incoming runner cannot touch it after it has left the zone. The zone is usually marked in yellow, frequently using lines, triangles or chevrons. While the rule book specifies the exact positioning of the marks, the colours and style are only "recommended". While most legacy tracks will still have the older markings, the rule change still uses existing marks. Not all governing body jurisdictions have adopted the rule change.
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.
The following table shows the world record progression in the men's and women's 800 metres, officially ratified by the IAAF.
The 1500-metre run became a standard racing distance in Europe in the late 19th century, perhaps as a metric version of the mile, a popular running distance since at least the 1850s in English-speaking countries.
The following table shows the world record progression in the men's 200 metres, as ratified by the IAAF. The current record of 19.19 seconds was set by Usain Bolt at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics.
The first World Record in the 200 m for women (athletics) was recognised by the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI) in 1922. The FSFI was absorbed by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1936. However, the IAAF did not maintain a record category for 200 m (bend) as opposed to 200 m (straight) until after 1951. The IAAF eliminated the 200 m (straight) record after 1976. "y" denotes times set at 220 yards which were ratified as world records.
The first world record in the 4 x 100 metres relay for men (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as World Athletics, in 1912.
The first world record in the 4 x 400 metres for men (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as the International Association of Athletics Federations, in 1912. The IAAF's first record in the event was for a mark set the year before the organization's formation. The men's record has been almost exclusively set by American teams, with one exception by one Jamaican team. To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 15 world records in the event.
The following table shows the world record progression in the Men's 110 metres hurdles.
The first world record in the 400 m for women (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as the World Athletics, in 1957.
The first world record in the men's 400 metres hurdles was recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1912. That inaugural record was the performance by Charles Bacon at the 1908 Olympics.
The women's 400 metres hurdles is an outdoor track event over a distance of 400 metres with ten hurdles at the height of 76.2 cm (30 inches). The world records of this women's event have been recognised by World Athletics since 1974. Every world record is fully automatically timed and undergoes a ratification process that includes doping control.
The first world record in the women's 4 x 100 metres relay was recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1922. 45 world records have been ratified by the IAAF in the event. The following table shows the world record progression in the women's 4 × 100 metre relay, as ratified by the IAAF. "y" denotes time for 4 × 110 yards (402.34 m), ratified as a record for this event.
The official world records in the 10,000 metres are held by Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei with 26:11 minutes for men and Kenyan Beatrice Chebet with 28:54.14 for women.
The 400 metres at the Summer Olympics has been contested since the first edition of the multi-sport event. The men's 400 m has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896 but nearly seventy years passed before the introduction of the women's 400 m, which has been held continuously since the 1964 Games. It is the most prestigious 400 m race at elite level. The competition format typically has two qualifying rounds leading to a final race between eight athletes.
