Women's 400 metres world record progression

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.

To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 27 world records in the event. Their 2009 record progression list, however, lists 26 records. ^[1]

Record progression 1957–1974

Time	Auto	Athlete	Nationality	Location of race	Date
57.0y		Marlene Mathews	Australia	Sydney, Australia	6 January 1957 [1]
57.0y		Marise Chamberlain	New Zealand	Christchurch, New Zealand	16 February 1957 [1]
56.3y		Nancy Boyle	Australia	Sydney, Australia	24 February 1957 [1]
55.2		Polina Lazareva	Soviet Union	Moscow, Soviet Union	10 May 1957 [1]
54.0		Mariya Itkina	Soviet Union	Minsk, Soviet Union	8 June 1957 [1]
53.6		Mariya Itkina	Soviet Union	Moscow, Soviet Union	6 July 1957 [1]
53.4+		Mariya Itkina	Soviet Union	Krasnodar, Soviet Union	12 September 1959 [1]
53.4		Mariya Itkina	Soviet Union	Belgrade, Yugoslavia	14 September 1962 [1]
51.9		Shin Geum-Dan	North Korea	Pyongyang, North Korea	23 October 1962 [1]
51.7	51.72	Nicole Duclos	France	Athens, Greece	18 September 1969 [1]
51.7	51.74	Colette Besson	France	Athens, Greece	18 September 1969 [1]
51.0	51.02	Marilyn Neufville	Jamaica	Edinburgh, Scotland	23 July 1970 [1]
51.0	51.08	Monika Zehrt	East Germany	Paris, France	4 July 1972 [1]
49.9		Irena Szewińska	Poland	Warsaw, Poland	22 June 1974 [1]

(y) indicates time for 440 yards (402.34 metres), ratified as a record for this event
(+) plus sign denotes en route time during longer race

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.

Record progression from 1975

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]

Riitta Salin's 50.14 from 1974 was the fastest recorded result to that time.

Time	Athlete	Nationality	Location of race	Date	Duration of record
50.14	Riitta Salin	Finland	Rome, Italy	4 September 1974 [1]	1 year, 8 months and 5 days
49.77	Christina Brehmer	East Germany	Dresden, East Germany	9 May 1976 [1]	1 month and 13 days
49.75	Irena Szewińska	Poland	Bydgoszcz, Poland	22 June 1976 [1]	1 month and 7 days
49.29	Irena Szewińska	Poland	Montreal, Canada	29 July 1976 [1]	1 year, 11 months and 3 days
49.19	Marita Koch	East Germany	Leipzig, East Germany	2 July 1978 [1]	1 month and 17 days
49.03	Marita Koch	East Germany	Potsdam, East Germany	19 August 1978 [1]	12 days
48.94	Marita Koch	East Germany	Prague, Czechoslovakia	31 August 1978 [1]	10 months and 29 days
48.89	Marita Koch	East Germany	Potsdam, East Germany	29 July 1979 [1]	6 days
48.60	Marita Koch	East Germany	Turin, Italy	4 August 1979 [1]	3 years, 1 month and 4 days
48.16	Marita Koch	East Germany	Athens, Greece	8 September 1982 [1]	11 months and 2 days
47.99	Jarmila Kratochvílová	Czechoslovakia	Helsinki, Finland	10 August 1983 [1]	2 years, 1 month and 26 days
47.60*	Marita Koch	East Germany	Canberra, Australia	6 October 1985 [1]	39 years, 11 months and 13 days

*Koch's record of 47.60 still stands as the fastest 400m ever run by a woman, although this is controversial. As Yahoo! Sports summarized in 2025, leaked documents from East Germany "specified dosages and dates for Koch’s alleged use of the steroid Oral-Turinabol. Despite that, Koch has denied using performance-enhancing drugs, telling the BBC in 2014 that she has 'a clear conscience.' ... Track and field’s governing body can’t remove Koch’s record because she never tested positive for banned substances and because the World Anti-Doping Association’s 10-year statute of limitations has long expired." ^[2] Had Koch's record previously been removed or if she were to admit to using PEDs, which would allow for the record to be retroactively revoked, the new record in the women's 400m would be held by American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, a former hurdler, who recorded a 47.78 on Sept. 18, 2025, at the World Athletics Championship in Tokyo, overcoming wet conditions. ^[3]

References

1. "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009" (PDF). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. Pages 546, 641. Archived from the original (pdf) on June 29, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
2. Eisenberg, Jeff (17 September 2025). "Can Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone break a controversial world record long thought to be unbreakable?". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
3. Ingle, Sean (18 September 2025). "McLaughlin-Levrone runs fastest women's 400m in 40 years to claim world gold". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2025.