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.
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.
Queen Quedith Claye née Harrison is an American hurdler and sprinter who competed in the 400 metres hurdles at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She was a six-time collegiate All-American at Virginia Tech where she was elected to its sports hall of fame. Queen is a meet director for Virginia's Best Track and Field Classic - VHSL meet hosted in Richmond, Virginia started in 2017.
Eilidh Doyle is a retired British track and field athlete. Originally running as Eilidh Child, she specialised in the 400 metres hurdles outdoors, and the 400 metres flat indoors, as well as the 4 x 400 metres relay on both surfaces. She represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, and won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. Individually, she is the 2014 European Champion and a three-time Commonwealth silver medalist in the 400 metres hurdles.
Léa Sprunger is a former Swiss track and field athlete. Originally a heptathlete like her older sister Ellen, she began concentrating on the 200 metres and 400 metres in 2011, and then on the 400 metres hurdles from 2015. Her best times in the 400m and 400m hurdles of 50.52 s (2018) and 54.06 s (2019) are the Swiss records. She finished fifth in the 400m hurdles final at the 2017 World Championships, and went on to win the gold medal in the 400m hurdles at the 2018 European Championships.
Karsten Warholm is a Norwegian sprinter who competes in the 400 metres and 400 m hurdles. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion, a two-time world champion and the world record holder in the latter event.
Jaheel Hyde is a Jamaican track and field athlete. He was the 2014 world junior champion in the 400 metres hurdles and the 2013 world youth champion in the 110 metres hurdles.
Wenda Nel is a South African athlete specialising in the 400 metres hurdles. She competed at the 2011 World Championships reaching the semifinals.
The men's 400 metres hurdles event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 15–18 August at the Olympic Stadium. There were 47 competitors from 33 nations. The event was won by Kerron Clement of the United States, the nation's 19th victory in the men's long hurdles. Clement was the ninth man to win multiple medals in the event. Both Kenya and Turkey earned their first medals in the men's 400 metres hurdles, the former with Boniface Mucheru Tumuti's silver and the latter with Yasmani Copello's bronze.
Jamaica competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, from August 5 to 21, 2016. This marked its sixteenth Summer Olympic appearance as an independent nation, although it had previously competed in four other editions as a British colony, and as part of the West Indies Federation.
Kendra "Keni" Harrison is an American hurdler. Harrison held the world record in the women's 100 metres hurdles with a time of 12.20 seconds, set on July 22, 2016 at the London Müller Anniversary Games, breaking the previous world record of 12.21 seconds achieved nearly 28 years earlier by Bulgarian athlete Yordanka Donkova.
Nicholas Kiplagat Bett was a Kenyan track and field athlete who competed in the 400 metres hurdles. His personal best for the event is 47.79 seconds. He was a world champion in the event, having won in 2015, and a two-time bronze medallist at the African Championships in Athletics. He died in a road accident in Kenya at the age of 28.
Viktoriya Viktorivna Tkachuk is a Ukrainian athlete specialising in the 400 metres hurdles. She won the silver medal in the event at the 2022 European Athletics Championships.
Annsert Sylvester Whyte is a Jamaican athlete competing in the 400 metres hurdles. He represented his country at the 2013 and 2015 World Championships reaching the semifinals on both occasions. His personal best in the event is 48.07 seconds set at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the final of the event.
Jaak-Heinrich Jagor is an Estonian hurdler. He competed in the 400 metres hurdles event at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing without qualifying for the final. His personal best in the 400 metres hurdles is 49.37 seconds set in Tallinn in 2015.
Mohamed Sghaier is a Tunisian hurdler. He competed in the 400 metres hurdles event at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing getting disqualified in the first round. His personal best in the 400 metres hurdles is 49.22 seconds set in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 2015. This is the current national record.
Yuki Matsushita is a Japanese track and field athlete. He competed in the 400 m hurdles event at the 2015 World Championships He also competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics where he ran 49.60 in the first heat of the 400 m hurdles but did not qualify further.
Aron Kipchumba Koech is a Kenyan hurdler. At the 2015 Athletics Kenya World Championship Trials he finished third in the 400 metres hurdles event. Later that year he represented Kenya in the 400 metres hurdles event at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, China. With a personal best, in a time of 49.38, he finished 22nd in the heats. He was qualified for the semi-finals where he finished 19th in a time of 49.54. Again in 2016 he finished third at the 2016 Athletics Kenya Olympic Trials behind his brother and Boniface Mucheru Tumuti. At the Olympics, Koech made the final while his brother was disqualified in the heats. Tumuti went on to capture the silver medal in National Record time, while Koech finished seventh. His 48.49 in the semi-final round is his personal record.
Ned Justeen Azemia is a Seychellois hurdler who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles. He is the current Seychellois record holder in the event. Azemia competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in the 400 metres hurdles. He has also competed in two World Junior Championships, an African athletics championships and an African Youth Games. Azemia has also raced over the flat 400 metres distance.
