The men's 400 metres at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held in four rounds at the Stade de France in Paris, France, between 4-7 August 2024. This was the 30th time that the men's 400 metres was contested at the Summer Olympics. A total of 48 athletes were able to qualify for the event by entry standard or ranking.
The 2024 men's final was the fastest 400-meter race in Olympic history, collectively: five of the eight men ran under 43.87 seconds, with these five times ranking among the top 15 fastest Olympic times.
The winning margin was 0.04 seconds which is the narrowest winning margin in the men's 400 metres at the Olympics since the introduction of fully automatic timing.
Steven Gardiner was a reigning champion in Tokyo 2021, but he did not start in the fourth heat.
Summary The entire podium from Tokyo returned, Steven Gardiner, Anthony Zambrano and Kirani James. 31-year old veteran James was the 2012 Olympic champion and had a complete set of medals. Also returning was Tokyo 5th place and 2022 World Athletics champion Michael Norman. Reigning World Athletics champion Antonio Watson did not compete due to injury. The world leader for the season was 2022 World Athletics Championship bronze medalist Matthew Hudson-Smith.
World record holder Wayde van Niekerk did not compete, instead electing to run 200 metres. Owing to injury, Tokyo gold medalist Gardiner did not start in heat 4. Silver medalist Zambrano failed to qualify in heat 2, finishing seventh. Bronze medalist James qualified for his fourth Olympic 400m final in a row with a 43.78 win in Semifinal 2, the fastest semi-final time ever at the Olympics . Also qualified were Zambian Muzala Samukonga and American Christopher Bailey. 2023 World Championship bronze medalist Quincy Hall edged out fellow qualifier Trinidadian Jereem Richards with a 43.95 time to win Semifinal 1. Future 2025 World Champion Busang Kebinatshipi came third, failing to go through to the final. In Semifinal 3, Samuel Ogazi, Norman, and Hudson-Smith all progressed.
As the final began, Richards quickly accelerated to take the lead, splitting 20.46 at the 200m mark. Hall, James, Hudson-Smith, and Samukonga formed a chasing pack, gradually catching up to Richards near the end of the turn. Coming off the turn, Hudson-Smith assumed the lead barely ahead of Richards and James, with Hall and Samukonga trailing. Further behind were Norman, Bailey, and Ogazi, whom were out of contention by this point. Hall, visibly struggling and grimacing, had edged ahead of Samukonga and began bearing down on the three leaders. Down the final stretch, with the front three in stagnant positions, Hall surged forward, followed by Samukonga. With extraordinary effort, Hall passed James and Richards in quick succession, and caught up to Hudson-Smith at the front. James and Richards both fell behind, later to be surpassed by Samukonga as he attempted match Hall's move. Hudson-Smith was unable to hold off Hall, settling with silver as the American snatched gold in an exceptional comeback. Samukonga poached bronze from fourth place Richards, while James was demoted to fifth. Bailey and Ogazi finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Norman finished last and ran a time of 45.62, slower than his marks in the semi-final and qualifying heat.
Hall ran the fourth-fastest time in the event's history, while Hudson-Smith ran the fifth-fastest, the fastest non-winning time recorded and a new European record. Samukonga and Richards also both achieved national records. The first four finishers (Hall, Hudson-Smith, Samukonga, and Richards), achieved personal bests.
Background The men's 400 metres has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since the inaugural edition in 1896. The reigning Olympic champion is Steven Gardiner from the Bahamas. +Global records before the 2024 Summer OlympicsRecordAthlete (nation)Time (s)LocationDateWorld record43.03"All time Top lists – Senior – 400 Metres men ", World Athletics, 29 June 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.Rio de Janeiro, Brazil14 August 2016Olympic recordWorld leading43.74"Season Top Lists – Senior 2024 – 400 Metres men ", World Athletics, 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.London, United Kingdom20 July 2024 +Area records before the 2024 Summer OlympicsArea recordAthlete (nation)Time (s)Africa 43.03 Asia 43.93Europe 43.74North, Central Americaand Caribbean 43.18Oceania 44.38South America 43.93
Qualification
For the men's 400 metres event, the qualification period is between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024.Sean McAlister, "How to qualify for athletics at Paris 2024. The Olympics qualification system explained ", Olympics.com, 20 December 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2024. 48 athletes are able to qualify for the event, with a maximum of three athletes per nation, by running the entry standard of 45.00 seconds or faster or by their World Athletics Ranking for this event.
Results
Heats The heats were held on 4 August, starting at 19:05 (UTC+2) in the evening."Paris 2024 - Olympic Schedule - Athletics ", Olympics.com. Retrieved 29 June 2024. Qualification rule: First 3 in each heat (Q) advance to semi-finals, all others advance to Repechage round (except DNS, DNF, DQ).
Heat 1 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes16Matthew Hudson-Smith44.7823Christopher Bailey44.8934Håvard Bentdal Ingvaldsen45.4647Chidi Okezie45.5252Kentaro Sato45.6068Oleksandr Pohorilko45.7175Deandre Watkin45.97
Heat 2 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes16Michael Norman44.10, 29Jereem Richards44.3132Busang Kebinatshipi44.45, 48Ammar Ibrahim44.6655Sean Bailey44.6864Attila Molnár45.2477Anthony Zambrano45.4983Michael Joseph45.69
Heat 3 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes13Muzala Samukonga44.5622Bayapo Ndori44.8738Luca Sito44.9945Jean Paul Bredau45.0757Dylan Borlée45.3669Yuki Joseph Nakajima45.3776Lythe Pillay45.6084Matěj Krsek45.71
Heat 4 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes17Quincy Hall44.2825Samuel Ogazi44.50, 36Reece Holder44.53, 48Jonathan Sacoor45.0852Alexander Ogando45.1163Elián Larregina47.804Steven Gardiner
Heat 5 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes16Kirani James44.7828Christopher Morales Williams44.9639Aruna Darshana44.99, 44Zakithi Nene45.0157Leungo Scotch45.2863Lionel Spitz45.8175Lucas Carvalho45.8582Davide Re46.74
Heat 6 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes15Charlie Dobson44.9627Alexander Doom45.0133Jevaughn Powell45.1249João Coelho45.3552Cheikh Tidiane Diouf45.5968Fuga Sato46.1374Gilles Biron46.196Zablon Ekwam
Repechage round The repechage round was held on 5 August, starting at 11:20 (UTC+2) in the morning. Qualification rule: First in each Repechage heat (Q) and next 2 fastest (q) advance to semi-finals.
Heat 1 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes14Elián Larregina45.3628Gilles Biron45.8733Lucas Carvalho46.247Davide Re2Jonathan Sacoor6Fuga Sato5Deandre Watkin
Heat 2 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes15Lythe Pillay45.4027Matěj Krsek45.5333Oleksandr Pohorilko45.5946Michael Joseph45.6454Chidi Okezie45.922Yuki Joseph Nakajima8Alexander Ogando
Heat 3 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes14Zakithi Nene44.8126Leungo Scotch45.3333Attila Molnár45.4545Lionel Spitz45.518Kentaro Sato7Anthony Zambrano
Heat 4 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes13Ammar Ibrahim44.7728Cheikh Tidiane Diouf45.03, =36Jean Paul Bredau45.4047Dylan Borlée45.5154João Coelho45.645Sean Bailey
Semi-finals The semi-finals were held on 6 August, starting at 19:35 (UTC+2) in the evening. Qualification rule: First 2 in each heat (Q) and next 2 fastest (q) advance to final.
Semifinal 1 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes15Quincy Hall43.9527Jereem Richards44.3334Busang Kebinatshipi44.4348Charlie Dobson44.4853Ammar Ibrahim44.6362Cheikh Tidiane Diouf44.9479Håvard Bentdal Ingvaldsen45.6086Alexander Doom1:55.10
Semifinal 2 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes18Kirani James43.78, 25Muzala Samukonga43.81, 36Christopher Bailey44.31, 47Bayapo Ndori44.4359Luca Sito45.0162Elián Larregina45.0273Lythe Pillay45.244Aruna Darshana
Semifinal 3 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes17Matthew Hudson-Smith44.0726Michael Norman44.2635Samuel Ogazi44.41, 49Jevaughn Powell44.9154Reece Holder44.9463Zakithi Nene45.0672Leungo Scotch45.1688Christopher Morales Williams45.25
Final The final was held on 7 August, starting at 21:20 (UTC+2) in the evening.
Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes8Quincy Hall43.40, 6Matthew Hudson-Smith43.44, 7Muzala Samukonga43.7449Jereem Richards43.7855Kirani James43.8762Christopher Bailey44.5873Samuel Ogazi44.7384Michael Norman45.62
References