400 metres

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400 metres

400 m is a common track running event. It is the longest common sprint

Sprint (race)

Sprints are short running races in athletics . They are roughly classified as events in which top runners will not have to "pace themselves", but can run as fast as possible for the entire distance....
distance. On a standard outdoor running track, it is exactly one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and race in separate lanes for the entire course. In the United States, athletes previously competed in the 440 yard dash (402.336 m) instead of the 400 metres, though this distance is now obsolete.

The current men's world record is held by Michael Johnson

Michael Johnson (athlete)

Michael Duane Johnson is a retired United States Sprint . He won four Olympic Games gold medals and was crowned IAAF World Championships in Athletics nine times....
, with a time of 43.18 seconds.

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400 m is a common track running event. It is the longest common sprint

Sprint (race)

Michael Johnson (athlete)

Kerron Clement

Kerron Clement is an United States sprinter who holds the indoor world record for the 400m sprint.Clement's family moved to the United States in 1998, where he became a successful high school athlete at La Porte, Texas winning both 110 and 400 metres hurdles at the USATF Youth Athletics Championships....
, in 44.57 seconds. The current women's world record is held by Marita Koch

Marita Koch

Marita Koch is a former Sprint Athletics ....
, with a time of 47.60 seconds (set before the advent of out-of-competition testing). The reigning World Champions are Jeremy Wariner

Jeremy Wariner

Jeremy Mathew Wariner is an United States Athletics specializing in the 400 meters. He has won four Olympic games medals and four IAAF World Championships in Athletics medals....
and Christine Ohuruogu

Christine Ohuruogu

Christine Ijeoma Ohuruogu Order of the British Empire is an England Sprint who specialises in the 400 metres - the event for which she is the current Commonwealth Games, IAAF World Championships in Athletics and Summer Olympic Games Champion....
. The reigning Olympic champions are LaShawn Merritt

LaShawn Merritt

LaShawn Merritt is an American sprinter who specializes in the 400 meters. LaShawn is a native of where he graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School ....
and Christine Ohuruogu. The Paralympic world record of 46.56 seconds is held by Oscar Pistorius

Oscar Pistorius

Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius is a South African Paralympic Games runner. Known as the "Blade Runner" and "the fastest man on no legs", Pistorius is the Amputation world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 400 metres events and runs with the aid of Cheetah Flex-Foot carbon fibre transtibial prosthesis artificial limbs by Ossur....
.

Famous 400 m runners

Top all-time athletes - men

(Updated 3 October 2008.)

Rank	Time	Athlete	Date	Location
1.	43.18	Michael Johnson Michael Johnson (athlete) Michael Duane Johnson is a retired United States Sprint . He won four Olympic Games gold medals and was crowned IAAF World Championships in Athletics nine times....	26 August 1999	Seville Seville \|\|-\|\|}Seville is the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of Andalusia and of the province of Seville ....
2.	43.29	Harry 'Butch' Reynolds Butch Reynolds Harry Reynolds is a former 400 metres sprinter, representing the United States. On August 17, 1988 he set a 400 metres world record with 43.29 seconds, smashing Lee Evans 20 year old World record progression 400 metres men by an amazing 0.57 seconds....	17 August 1988	Zürich Zürich Z?rich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Z?rich. The city is Switzerland's main commercial and cultural centre and sometimes called the Cultural Capital of Switzerland, the political capital of Switzerland being Berne....
3.	43.45	Jeremy Wariner Jeremy Wariner Jeremy Mathew Wariner is an United States Athletics specializing in the 400 meters. He has won four Olympic games medals and four IAAF World Championships in Athletics medals....	31 August 2007	Osaka Osaka is a Cities of Japan in Japan, located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, in the Kansai region of the main island of Honshu.Osaka is a City designated by government ordinance under the Local Autonomy Law and the capital city of Osaka Prefecture....
4.	43.50	Quincy Watts Quincy Watts Quincy D. Watts is a former United States of America Athletics , winner of two gold medals at the 1992 Summer Olympics.Born in Detroit, Michigan, Quincy Watts attended the University of Southern California where he excelled not only as an athlete but also as a wide receiver on the college American Football team....	5 August 1992	Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous communities of Spain of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,615,908 in 2008, while the population of the Metropolitan Area was 3,161,081....
5.	43.75	LaShawn Merritt LaShawn Merritt LaShawn Merritt is an American sprinter who specializes in the 400 meters. LaShawn is a native of where he graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School ....	21 August 2008	Beijing Beijing is a metropolis in northern China and the Capital of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the four municipality of China, which are equivalent to province in China's Political divisions of China....
6.	43.81	Danny Everett Danny Everett Danny Everett is a 400 metre runner from the United States. As a 21-year-old he participated in the 1988 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal in the individual event and a gold medal with the United States 4x400 m relay....	26 June 1992	New Orleans
7.	43.86	Lee Evans Lee Evans (athlete) Lee Edward Evans is a former United States of America Athletics , winner of two gold medals at the 1968 Summer Olympics.While running for Overfelt High School in San Jose, California, Evans was undefeated in his high school career, improving his 440-yard time from 48.2 in 1964 to 46.9 in 1965....	18 October 1968	Mexico City Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the most important economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country; the most populous city with over 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008....
8.	43.87	Steve Lewis Steve Lewis (athlete) For the British Pole Vaulter see Steven LewisSteven Earl Lewis, born , is a former United States of America track and field Athletics , winner of three gold medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics and 1992 Summer Olympics....	28 September 1988	Seoul Seoul Seoul is the Capital and largest city of South Korea. With a population of over 10 million, It is one of the world's List of cities proper by population.The Seoul National Capital Area - which includes the major port city of Incheon and satellite towns in Gyeonggi-do, has 24.5 million inhabitants and is the world's second largest List of me...
9.	43.97	Larry James Larry James George Lawrence "Larry" James was an United States Athletics ....	18 October 1968	Mexico City Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the most important economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country; the most populous city with over 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008....
10.	44.05	Angelo Taylor Angelo Taylor Angelo F. Taylor is an American Athletics , winner of 400 m hurdles at the 2000 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics.Born in Albany, Georgia, Angelo Taylor studied at the Georgia Institute of Technology and won the National Collegiate Athletic Association title in 1998 and placed second in 1997....	23 June 2007	Indianapolis

Top all-time athletes - women

(Updated 3 October 2008.)

Rank	Time	Athlete	Date	Location
1.	47.60	Marita Koch Marita Koch Marita Koch is a former Sprint Athletics ....	6 October 1985	Canberra Canberra Canberra is the List of Australian capital cities of Australia. With a population of over 340,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth largest Australian city overall....
2.	47.99	Jarmila Kratochvílová Jarmila Kratochvílová is a former late-developing Czech people 400 m runner whose career was dogged by injury and illness. Always in the shadow of Marita Koch she hit peak form in 1983 aged 32....	10 August 1983	Helsinki Helsinki Helsinki is the Capital and largest List of cities and towns in Finland of Finland. It is in the southern part of Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, by the Baltic Sea....
3.	48.25	Marie-José Pérec Marie-José Pérec Marie-Jos? P?rec is a France athletics , specialised in the 200 and 400 m, and a triple Olympic Games champion.She was born in Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe and moved to Paris when she was 16 years old....	29 July 1996	Atlanta
4.	48.27	Olga Vladykina-Bryzgina	6 October 1985	Canberra Canberra Canberra is the List of Australian capital cities of Australia. With a population of over 340,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth largest Australian city overall....
5.	48.59	Tatána Kocembová Tatána Kocembová Tat?na Kocembov? is a retired 400 metres runner who represented Czechoslovakia. Her greatest achievement was the 1983 World Championship silver medal in a personal best time of 48.59s....	10 August 1983	Helsinki Helsinki Helsinki is the Capital and largest List of cities and towns in Finland of Finland. It is in the southern part of Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, by the Baltic Sea....
6.	48.63	Cathy Freeman Cathy Freeman Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman, Order of Australia is an Australian athletics who is particularly associated with the 400 metres race. She became the Olympic champion for 400m in the 2000 Sydney games, at which she lit the Olympic Flame....	29 July 1996	Atlanta
7.	48.70	Sanya Richards Sanya Richards Sanya Richards is a track and field athlete who competes internationally for the United States. She was a gold medalist in the Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Women's 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece and at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China....	16 September 2006	Athens Athens Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
8.	48.83	Valerie Brisco-Hooks Valerie Brisco-Hooks Valerie Ann Brisco-Hooks won three gold medals as an Olympic Games track and field Athletics at the 1984 Olympics at Los Angeles, California, making her the first Olympian to win gold medals in both the 200- and 400-meter races at a single Olympics....	6 August 1984	Los Angeles Los Ángeles Los ?ngeles is the Capital of the Biob?o Province, in the municipality of the same name, in Regions of Chile VIII , in the center-south of Chile....
9.	48.89	Ana Guevara Ana Guevara Ana Gabriela Guevara Espinoza is a now-retired Mexico Athletics athlete, specialized in the 400 meters.her career began in 1996 carrying out diverse tours, participating in her first international competences....	27 August 2003	Paris Saint-Denis
10.	49.05	Chandra Cheeseborough Chandra Cheeseborough Chandra Danette Cheeseborough broke onto the international track scene at age 16 by winning two gold medals at the 1975 Pan American Games, taking the 200m in an American record time of 22.77 seconds....	6 August 1984	Los Angeles Los Ángeles Los ?ngeles is the Capital of the Biob?o Province, in the municipality of the same name, in Regions of Chile VIII , in the center-south of Chile....

Other well-known athletes

Roger Black
Roger Black

Roger Anthony Black Order of the British Empire is a retired United Kingdom Athletics who now works as a television presenter and motivational speaker....
Alberto Juantorena
Alberto Juantorena

Alberto Juantorena Danger is a Cuban former athletics . At the 1976 Summer Olympics, he became the first and so far only athlete to win both the 400 and 800 m Olympic titles....
Eric Liddell
Eric Liddell

Eric Henry Liddell was a Scottish people Athletics , rugby union international and missionary. His surname is and rhymes with fiddle.Liddell was the winner of the Sprint at the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris....
Archie Williams
Archie Williams

Archibald Franklin Williams was an African-American athletics and teacher, winner of 400 metres run at the 1936 Summer Olympics.Born in Oakland, California, Archie Williams had one great year but he did more in that one year than many athletes achieve in a lifetime....
Irena Szewinska
Irena Szewinska

Irena Szewinska is a retired Poland Sprint who dominated women's athletics for nearly two decades.Between 1964 and 1980 she participated in five Olympic Games, winning seven medals, three of them gold....
Christine Ohuruogu
Christine Ohuruogu

Christine Ijeoma Ohuruogu Order of the British Empire is an England Sprint who specialises in the 400 metres - the event for which she is the current Commonwealth Games, IAAF World Championships in Athletics and Summer Olympic Games Champion....
Eric Milazar
Eric Milazar

Eric Milazar is a Mauritius athlete competing in the 400 metres. He was born on Rodrigues .His personal best time is 44.69 seconds, achieved in July 2001 in Madrid....

400 metres

Famous 400 m runners

Top all-time athletes - men

Top all-time athletes - women

Other well-known athletes

See also