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 run by Maxie Long in 1900 as a world record.

Up to and including 2021, World Athletics has ratified 24 outdoor world records in the event.

The following tables show the world record progression in the men's 400 metres, as ratified by World Athletics.

Indoor Indoor records are run on a shorter 200 metres track. "y" indicates marks were set over the imperial distance, and an asterisk indicates a record was repeated. All records since Schönlebe's 45.41 in 1986 were ratified by the IAAF.

+ Men's indoor 400 metres world record progression Time Athlete Nationality Location of race Date Manual timing 50.8y Harry Hillman New York 1907 50.4y James Rosenberger New York 17 February 1911 49.6y Thomas Halpin Buffalo 15 March 1913 49.6y Walter Koppisch Buffalo 17 March 1923 48.9y Bill Henke Iowa City 28 February 1931 48.9y* Ray Ellinwood Chicago 14 March 1936 48.2y Roy Cochran Chicago 9 March 1940 48.1y Bob Ufer Chicago 7 March 1942 47.9 Roy Cochran New York 25 March 1942 47.9y Herbert McKenley Chicago 15 March 1947 47.9y* Dave Mills Bloomington 3 February 1962 47.9y* Elzie Higginbottom Madison 10 February 1962 47.9y* Elzie Higginbottom Minneapolis 17 February 1962 47.9y* Elzie Higginbottom Madison 24 February 1962 47.8y Dave Mills East Lansing 3 March 1962 47.8y* Jean-Pierre Boccardo Stuttgart 14 February 1964 47.6y Ray Saddler Louisville 27 February 1965 46.8 Mike Larrabee Berlin 8 April 1965 46.2y Tommie Smith Louisville 18 February 1967 46.1 Marcello Fiasconaro Genova 15 March 1972 45.9 Alfons Brijdenbach Sofia 17 February 1974 45.9* Mikhail Linge Moscow 16 February 1980 Automatic timing 47.55 Jan Balachowski Madrid 10 March 1968 47.09 Andrzej Badenski Madrid 10 March 1968 46.38 Luciano Susanj Rotterdam 11 March 1973 46.21 Karel Kolar Wien 25 February 1979 45.96 Hartmut Weber Sindelfingen 7 February 1981 45.79 Antonio McKay Gainesville 11 February 1984 45.60 Thomas Schönlebe Paris-Bercy 19 January 1985 45.56 Todd Bennett Piraeus 3 March 1985 45.41 Thomas Schönlebe Wien 9 February 1986 45.05 Thomas Schönlebe Sindelfingen 5 February 1988 45.05 Danny Everett Stuttgart 4 February 1990 45.02 Danny Everett Stuttgart 2 February 1992 44.97 Michael Johnson Reno 10 February 1995 44.63 Michael Johnson Atlanta 4 March 1995 44.57 Kerron Clement Fayetteville, AR 12 March 2005 44.52 Khaleb McRae Fayetteville, AR 13 February 2026

Outdoor Records 1895–1976

Time Auto Athlete Nationality Location of race Date 48.5 Edgar Bredin London, UK June 1895 47.8 Maxie Long New York, USA 29 September 1900 48.2 Charles Reidpath Stockholm, Sweden 13 July 1912 47.4 Ted Meredith Cambridge, USA 27 May 1916"The Official Report of the Games of the 8th Olympiade" (PDF). Paris, FR. 1924. p. 107. Retrieved 21 April 2011. 47.6 Eric Liddell Paris, France 11 July 1924Eric Liddell's 1924 Olympic Games victory was initially ratified as a world record by the IAAF, despite being slower than Ted Meredith's mark from 1916. The IAAF rescinded the record on August 7, 1928. 47.0 Emerson Spencer Palo Alto, USA 12 May 1928 46.4 Ben Eastman Palo Alto, California, USA 26 March 1932 46.2 46.28 Bill Carr Los Angeles, USA 5 August 1932 46.1 Archie Williams Chicago, USA 19 June 1936 46.0 Rudolf Harbig Frankfurt am Main, Germany 12 August 1939 Grover Klemmer Philadelphia, USA 6 June 1941 46.0 Herb McKenley Berkeley, USA 5 June 1948 45.9 46.00 Herb McKenley Milwaukee, USA 2 July 1948 45.8 George Rhoden Eskilstuna, Sweden 22 August 1950 45.4 45.68 Lou Jones Mexico City, Mexico 18 March 1955 45.2 Lou Jones Los Angeles, USA 30 June 1956 44.9 45.07 Otis Davis Rome, Italy 6 September 1960 45.08 Carl Kaufmann Rome, Italy 6 September 1960 44.9 Adolph Plummer Tempe, USA 25 May 1963 44.9 Mike Larrabee Los Angeles, USA 12 September 1964 44.5 Tommie Smith San Jose, USA 20 May 1967 44.1 44.19 Larry James Echo Summit, USA 14 September 1968 43.8 43.86 Lee Evans Mexico City, Mexico 18 October 1968

(+) 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.

Records post-1976

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.

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 Lee Evans Mexico City, Mexico 18 October 1968 43.29 Butch Reynolds Zürich, Switzerland 17 August 1988 43.18 Michael Johnson Seville, Spain 26 August 1999 43.03 Wayde van Niekerk Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 14 August 2016

For the period when the record automatic time was Lee Evans' mark of 43.86, the progression excluding races run at high altitude (above 1,000 metres) was as follows:

Time Athlete Nationality Location of race Date Duration of record 44.95 Lee Evans Winnipeg, Canada 30 July 1967 44.60 John Smith Cali, Colombia 1 August 1971 44.26 Alberto Juantorena Montreal, Canada 29 July 1976 44.10 Butch Reynolds Columbus, Ohio, USA 3 May 1987 43.93 Butch Reynolds Indianapolis, USA 20 July 1988

Notes

References