The women's 400 metres at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships took place over three rounds at the Commonwealth Arena in Glasgow, United Kingdom, on 1 and 2 March 2024. This was the nineteenth time that the women's 400 metres was contested at the World Athletics Indoor Championships. Twenty-four athletes from nineteen different nations competed in the event.

The four heats of round 1 were held in the morning of 1 March, where twelve athletes qualified for the next round. Susanne Gogl-Walli of Austria set a national record of 51.43 seconds. The two heats of the semi-finals were held in the evening of 1 March, where six athletes qualified for the final round. Sharlene Mawdsley of Ireland was disqualified for obstruction.

The final was held in the evening of 2 March. Femke Bol of the Netherlands won the gold medal finishing in a new short track world record of 49.17 seconds, followed by Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands in 50.16 seconds and Alexis Holmes of the United States in 50.24 seconds. Gogl-Walli set another Austrian record of 51.37 seconds.

Background

The women's 400 metres had been contested at every edition of the World Athletics Indoor Championships, meaning the event had taken place eighteen times before."A Look at the World Athletics Indoor Championships", World Athletics. Retrieved 21 January 2025. The 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the indoor 200-metres track of the Commonwealth Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.Lori Ewing, "Bol crushes world record, Kerr thrills home crowd at world indoors", Reuters, 3 March 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.

On 18 February 2024, Femke Bol of the Netherlands had broken the 400 metres short track world record with a time of 49.24 s at the Dutch Indoor Athletics Championships."Bol breaks world indoor 400m record with 49.24 in Apeldoorn", World Athletics, 18 February 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024. The championship record of 50.04 s had been set by Olesya Forsheva of Russia in 2006.

+Records before the 2024 World Athletics Indoor ChampionshipsRecordAthlete (Nation)LocationDateWorld record49.24Apeldoorn, Netherlands18 February 2024World leadingChampionship record50.04Moscow, Russia12 March 2006

Qualification For this event, the qualification period was from 1 January 2023 until 18 February 2024."World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 – Qualification System and Entry Standards", World Athletics. Retrieved 20 July 2024. Athletes could qualify by running the entry standards (or faster) of 51.60 s on 200-metre indoor tracks or 50.50 s on 400-metre outdoor tracks, by receiving a wild card for winning the event at the World Athletics Indoor Tour in 2023 or 2024, or by their position on the World Athletics Ranking for the event up to the target of 30 athletes. A final entry list containing twenty-five athletes from nineteen nations was issued on 24 February 2024."Athletes by Event and Season Best", World Athletics. Retrieved 21 January 2025.

Results Round 1 The four heats of round 1 were held on 1 March, starting at 10:22 (UTC) in the morning. Of the 24 competing athletes, the first two in each heat () and the next four fastest () qualified for the semi-finals. In the second heat, Susanne Gogl-Walli set an Austrian record () of 51.43 seconds. In the third heat, three athletes finished second in 52.229 seconds and all were advanced to the next round (), leaving only two instead of four time-fastest spots () for the semi-finals.

+Results of round 1RankHeatLaneNameNationNotes 1 2 6 51.31 2 2 4 51.43 , 3 1 5 51.82 4 2 5 51.94 5 4 6 52.00 6 2 3 52.16 7 3 5 52.17 (52.167) 8 1 6 52.17 (52.168) 9 3 3 52.23 (52.229) 3 6 52.23 (52.229) 3 4 52.23 (52.229) 12 1 3 52.31 13 4 5 52.53 14 1 4 52.92 15 4 4 53.04 16 1 2 53.07 17 2 1 53.09 18 4 1 53.15 19 4 3 53.48 20 4 2 54.62 21 3 2 54.66 22 2 2 Turks and Caicos Islands 54.98 23 1 1 55.82 24 3 1 57.73

Semi-finals

The two semi-final heats were held on 1 March, starting at 20:50 (UTC) in the evening. Of the twelve competing athletes, the first three in each heat qualified () for the final. In the first heat, Lieke Klaver received a yellow card for disturbing the start, and Sharlene Mawdsley was disqualified () for obstruction during the race."400 Metres Women – Semi-Final – Results – Revised", World Athletics, 1 March 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2025. In an interview, Klaver said about the warning: "I immediately felt that my left leg was trembling a bit, so I knew that if they are giving something like a card, then it will be yellow for me. Yeah, I wasn't worried.""Bol en Klaver naar finale en klaar voor duel om goud op 400 meter bij WK indoor" (in Dutch), NOS, 1 March 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2025.

+Results of the semi-finalsRankHeatLaneNameNationNotes 1 2 5 50.66 2 2 2 50.99 3 1 5 51.18 4 1 6 51.28 5 2 6 51.44 6 2 3 51.48 7 2 4 51.83 8 1 3 52.47 9 2 1 52.48 10 1 1 52.72 11 1 2 53.26 1 4 TR17.1.2[O]

Final

The final was held on 2 March, starting at 21:02 (UTC) in the evening. Femke Bol of the Netherlands led early in the race and had the fastest intermediate times at 100 metres of 11.89 s, at 200 metres of 23.61 s, and at 300 metres of 36.06 s. Bol won the race in 49.17 seconds, improving her own 400 metres short track world record () by 0.07 seconds and the championship record by Olesya Forsheva by 0.87 seconds. She was followed 0.99 seconds later by Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands, who finished in second place in 50.16 seconds. Alexis Holmes of the United States finished third in 50.24 seconds in a new personal best (). Laviai Nielsen also ran a personal best of 50.89 seconds, and Susanne Gogl-Walli set another Austrian record () of 51.37 seconds.

For Reuters, Lori Ewing wrote that Bol "made it look effortless". For Athletics Weekly, Jason Henderson described Bol's performance as one "that oozed controlled power".Jason Henderson, "Femke Bol takes down world indoor 400m record again", Athletics Weekly, 3 March 2024 (updated 29 January 2025). Retrieved 11 May 2025. For Olympics.com, Rory Jiwani reported that Bol "enhanced her status as one of the stars of track and field with a stunning triumph".Rory Jiwani, "World Athletics Indoor Championships 2024: Femke Bol breaks own world record to clinch 400m title", Olympics.com, 2 March 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2025. Bol herself said in an interview: "I knew I needed a really good race to win this gold. I knew I had to open fast, and once you open fast you have to keep going because you'll die anyway! It's amazing to also run a world record again. I was hoping to be in the 49... my coaches thought I could do it but I really wanted the gold."

+Results of the finalRank LaneNameNationNotes 5 49.17 6 50.16 3 50.24 4 2 50.89 5 4 51.23 ="Talitha Diggs", World Athletics. Retrieved 11 May 2025. 6 1 51.37

Notes

References

External links