The first world record in the men's 400 metres hurdles was recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1912. That inaugural record was the performance by Charles Bacon at the 1908 Olympics.

Three athletes, all from the United States, have had long-standing records. Glenn Hardin broke the world record three times and was the record holder for over 21 years, between 1932 and 1953. Edwin Moses set his first record in 1976 and improved his own world record three times. He held the record from 1976 until 1992, when it was beaten by Kevin Young with a time of 46.78 seconds at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Young's record stood for nearly 29 years, until Karsten Warholm broke it during the Diamond League event at his homefield of Bislett during the 2021 Bislett Games. The new world record was 46.70 seconds. On August 3, 2021, Warholm improved his record again in the Tokyo Olympics 400 meter hurdles final. On August 27, 2026, the record was broken at the Diamond League event in Zurich by Alison dos Santos and stands at 45.80.

As of June 21, 2009, 21 world records have been ratified by the IAAF in the event.

Progression 1912–76

TimeAutoAthleteDateLocation55.0 July 22, 1908 London54.0 August 16, 1920 Antwerp53.8 October 4, 1925 Paris52.6y July 2, 1927 Lincoln52.0 July 4, 1928 Philadelphia52.0 51.85 August 1, 1932 Los Angeles51.8 June 30, 1934 Milwaukee50.6 July 26, 1934 Stockholm50.4 September 20, 1953 Budapest49.5 June 29, 1956 Los Angeles49.2 August 6, 1958 Budapest49.2 September 14, 1962 Belgrade49.1 September 13, 1964 Los Angeles48.8 48.94 September 11, 1968 Echo Summit48.1 48.12 October 15, 1968 Mexico City47.8 47.82 September 2, 1972 Munich

"y" denotes time for 440 yards (402.34 m) which was ratified as a world record in this event.

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.

Progression post-1975 Ratified Not ratified Ratified but later rescinded Pending ratification

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.

John Akii-Bua's 1972 Olympic gold medal run was the fastest recorded fully electronic 400 metre race to that time, at 47.82. TimeAthleteDateLocation47.64 July 25, 1976 Montreal47.45 June 11, 1977 Westwood, Los Angeles47.13 July 3, 1980 Milan47.02 August 31, 1983 Koblenz46.78 August 6, 1992 Barcelona46.70 July 1, 2021 Oslo45.94 August 3, 2021 Tokyo45.80 August 27, 2026 Zurich

See also Women's 400 metres hurdles world record progression Hurdling

References

External links 400 Metres Hurdles All Time List from the IAAF