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 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.
Nataliya Pyhyda is a Ukrainian track and field sprinter who specializes in the 200 and 400 metres. Her personal best times are 22.82 seconds (2008) and 50.62 seconds (2015), respectively.
Anna Kiełbasińska is a Polish sprinter who competed occasionally also in hurdling events. She won the bronze medal in the 400 metres as well as silver medals in the 4 x 100 m and 4 x 400 m relays at the 2022 European Championships. Kiełbasińska earned bronze for the 400 m at the 2023 European Indoor Championships. She won several major medals as part of Polish 4 x 400 m relay teams and also individual medals at European Under-20 and U23 Championships.
Justyna Święty-Ersetic is a Polish sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. She was the 2018 European champion and a two-time European Indoor Championship medallist in this event. Święty-Ersetic won many medals at major championships as part of Polish 4 × 400 m relays, including a gold in the mixed relay and a silver in the women's relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Vernon Larnard Norwood is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters.
Phil Healy is an Irish athlete competing in sprinting events. From Ballineen in County Cork, her sister Joan Healy is also a sprinter.
Sarah Healy is an Irish middle-distance runner. She won gold for the 1500m and 3000m at the 2018 European Athletics U18 Championships in Győr, Hungary. Healy also won silver in the 1500m the following year. She won the Irish National Cross Country Championships in November 2022.
Rhasidat Adeleke is an Irish sprinter.
Imke Vervaet is a Belgian athlete. She competed at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics as a 200 metres runner and as a member of the Belgian women's 4x400 metres and mixed 4x400 metres relay teams. She also participated at multiple World and European Athletics championships, indoor and outdoor, individually and as a member of the 4x400 metres relay teams. She was national champion in the women's 200 metres in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2024.
Sharlene Mawdsley is an Irish athlete who specialises in the 400 meters and other sprint events.
Nicole Yeargin is a British-American athlete representing Great Britain who specialises in the 400 metres. She won major medals as part of British women's and mixed 4 x 400 m relays, including bronzes at the 2022 World Athletics Championships and 2023 World Athletics Championships. She won two bronze medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics as part of both the British mixed and women's 4 x 400 metres relay teams.
Revée Walcott-Nolan is a British athlete, known for being the 1500m British Champion in 2021, and competing for Britain in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Zakithi Nene is a South African sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres.
Helena Ponette is a Belgian sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. She competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics as a 400 metres runner and as a member of the Belgian women's 4x400 metres and mixed 4x400 metres relay teams. She also participated at multiple World and European Athletics championships, indoor and outdoor, individually and as a member of the 4x400 metres relay teams. She was national champion in the women's 400 metres in 2023.
Alexis Holmes is an American track and field athlete who competes over 400 metres.
Luke McCann is an Irish track and field athlete.
Róisín Harrison is an Irish track and field athlete.
Lauren Cadden is an Irish sprinter.
Rachel McCann is an Irish sprinter, specialising in the 400 metres.
