The women's 400 metres at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships took place on the short track of the Kujawsko-Pomorska Arena Toruń in Toruń, Poland, on 20 and 21 March 2026. This was the 22nd time the event was contested at the World Athletics Indoor Championships. Athletes could qualify by achieving the entry standard or by their World Athletics Ranking in the event.
Background The women's 400 metres was contested 21 times before 2026, at every previous edition of the World Athletics Indoor Championships. +Records before the 2026 World Athletics Indoor ChampionshipsRecordAthlete (nation)Time (s)LocationDateWorld record 49.17 Glasgow, United Kingdom 2 March 2024Championship record2026 World Lead50.28 Fayetteville, United States 13 March 2026
Qualification For the women's 400 metres, the qualification period ran from 1 November 2025 until 8 March 2026. Athletes could qualify by achieving the entry standard of 51.75 s. Athletes could also qualify by virtue of their World Athletics Ranking for the event or by virtue of their World Athletics Indoor Tour wildcard. There is a target number of 30 athletes.
Results Round 1 Round 1 was held on 20 March, starting at 11:08 (UTC+1) in the morning. First 2 of each heat () plus 2 fastest times () qualify to Semi-Final.
Heat 1 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes15Lieke Klaver51.4823Bassant Hemida52.1334Alessandra Bonora52.2046Yemi Mary John52.28
Heat 2 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes13Sofia Lavreshina51.87, 25Myrte van der Schoot51.9736Rosey Effiong52.1344Annalies Kalma53.03
Heat 3 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes16Blanca Hervás52.1525Zoe Sherar52.16 33Lada Vondrová52.16 44Louisa Stoney52.24
Heat 4 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes16Natalia Bukowiecka51.6023Paula Sevilla51.8635Bailey Lear51.8744Veronika Drljačić52.53
Heat 5 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes16Mette Baas51.42, 25Emma Zapletalová51.7034Wadeline Venlogh51.8043Emma Cannon52.5752De Cassia Ferreira55.50
Heat 6 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes16Lurdes Gloria Manuel51.0825Mercy Oketch51.5733Justyna Święty-Ersetic52.1544Daniela Ledecká53.13
Heat 7 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes15Henriette Jæger52.2926Amandine Brossier52.3033Helena Ponette52.3442Caitlyn Bobb54.1554Julia Ribeiro54.35
Semi-finals The semi-finals were held on 20 March, starting at 19:42 (UTC+1) in the evening. First 1 of each heat () plus 4 fastest times () qualify to Final.
Heat 1 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes16Lurdes Gloria Manuel50.96, 25Mercy Oketch51.9034Bailey Lear52.073Emma Zapletalová
Heat 2 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes15Natalia Bukowiecka51.4123Zoe Sherar51.6134Myrte van der Schoot52.1546Sofia Lavreshina52.20
Heat 3 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes16Lieke Klaver51.2325Blanca Hervás51.5833Amandine Brossier52.7144Bassant Hemida53.14
Heat 4 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes15Henriette Jæger50.9523Wadeline Venlogh52.0434Paula Sevilla52.1946Mette Baas52.36
Final The final was held on 21 March, starting at 20:40 (UTC+1) in the evening.
Place Heat Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 2 5 Lurdes Gloria Manuel 50.76 1 5 Natalia Bukowiecka 50.83 1 6 Lieke Klaver 51.02 4 2 3 Wadeline Venlogh 51.07 5 2 4 Mercy Oketch 51.25 6 1 4 Blanca Hervás 51.43 7 2 6 Henriette Jæger 51.50 8 1 3 Zoe Sherar 51.74
References