The closing stages of a men's 400 m race.

The 400 metres, or 400 metre dash, is a common sprinting event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 (1964 for women). On a standard outdoor running track, it is exactly one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and race in separate lanes for the entire course. In many countries, athletes previously competed in the 440 yard dash (402.336 m)—also referred to as the 'quarter-mile'—instead of the 400 m, though this distance is now obsolete. An athlete who competes in the 400 m may still be referred to as 'quarter-miler'.

Maximum sprint speed capability is a significant contributing factor to success in the event, but athletes also require substantial speed-endurance and the ability to cope well with high amounts of lactic acid to sustain a fast speed over a whole lap. Whilst considered to be predominantly an anaerobic event, there is some aerobic involvement and the degree of aerobic training required for 400 metre athletes is open to debate.^{[citation needed]}

The United States men have historically dominated this event. The current men's world record is held by American Michael Johnson, with a time of 43.18 seconds. The world indoor record holder is Kerron Clement, in 44.57 seconds. The current women's world record is held by Marita Koch, with a time of 47.60 seconds. Kirani James and Amantle Montsho are the reigning men's and women's world champions respectively, while LaShawn Merritt and Christine Ohuruogu hold the men's and women's Olympic titles respectively. The men's Paralympic world record of 45.07 seconds is held by Oscar Pistorius. Michael Johnson has run the fastest 4×400 metres relay split—a 42.93 in the 1993 World Championships.^[1] see the video

An Olympic double of 200 metres and 400 m was first achieved by Valerie Brisco-Hooks in 1984, and later by Michael Johnson from the United States and Marie-José Pérec of France both in 1996. Alberto Juantorena of Cuba at the 1976 Summer Olympics became the first and so far the only athlete to win both the 400 m and 800 m Olympic titles.

Fastest 400 m runners[link]

Men[link]

• Updated April 2010

Rank	Time	Athlete	Nation	Date	Location
1.	43.18	Michael Johnson	United States	26 August 1999	Seville
2.	43.29	Harry 'Butch' Reynolds	United States	17 August 1988	Zürich
3.	43.45	Jeremy Wariner	United States	31 August 2007	Osaka
4.	43.50	Quincy Watts	United States	5 August 1992	Barcelona
5.	43.75	LaShawn Merritt	United States	21 August 2008	Beijing
6.	43.81	Danny Everett	United States	26 June 1992	New Orleans
7.	43.86	Lee Evans	United States	18 October 1968	Mexico City
8.	43.87	Steve Lewis	United States	28 September 1988	Seoul
9.	43.97	Larry James	United States	18 October 1968	Mexico City
10.	44.05	Angelo Taylor	United States	23 June 2007	Indianapolis

Women[link]

• Updated April 2010

Rank	Time	Athlete	Nation	Date	Location
1.	47.60	Marita Koch	East Germany	6 October 1985	Canberra
2.	47.99	Jarmila Kratochvílová	Czechoslovakia	10 August 1983	Helsinki
3.	48.25	Marie-José Pérec	France	29 July 1996	Atlanta
4.	48.27	Olga Vladykina-Bryzgina	Soviet Union	6 October 1985	Canberra
5.	48.59	Taťána Kocembová	Czechoslovakia	10 August 1983	Helsinki
6.	48.63	Cathy Freeman	Australia	29 July 1996	Atlanta
7.	48.70	Sanya Richards	United States	16 September 2006	Athens
8.	48.83	Valerie Brisco-Hooks	United States	6 August 1984	Los Angeles
9.	48.89	Ana Guevara	Mexico	27 August 2003	Paris Saint-Denis
10.	49.05	Chandra Cheeseborough	United States	6 August 1984	Los Angeles

• Allyson Felix ran a 48 second split during a 4x400m relay in the 2007 Athletics World Championships in Osaka, Japan.

See also[link]

• World record progression 400 metres men

References[link]

External links[link]

• All-time Masters men's 400 m list
• All-time Masters women's 400 m list

Medal record
Taylor at the 2008 ISTAF Berlin
Men’s athletics
Competitor for the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold	2000 Sydney	400 m hurdles
Gold	2008 Beijing	400 m hurdles
Gold	2008 Beijing	4×400 m relay
World Championships
Gold	2007 Osaka	4×400 m relay
Gold	2009 Berlin	4×400 m relay
Gold	2011 Daegu	4×400 m relay
Bronze	2007 Osaka	400 m

Angelo F. Taylor (born December 29, 1978) is an American track and field athlete, winner of 400-meter hurdles at the 2000 and 2008 Summer Olympics. His personal record for the hurdles event is 47.25 seconds and he has a 400-meter dash best of 44.05 seconds. He won the bronze medal in the 400 m at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics.

He is a three-time world champion in the 4×400 m relay with the United States (2007, 2009 and 2011), and was also a relay gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Career[link]

Early life[link]

Born in Albany, Georgia, Angelo Taylor studied at the Georgia Institute of Technology and won the NCAA title in 1998 and placed second in 1997. In 1998, Taylor also won a silver medal at the US National Championships. He went on to win the title three times from 1999 to 2001.

Taylor made his debut in a major international meet at the 1999 World Championships, where he finished third in his heat in 400 m hurdles, but ran a third leg at the gold medal winning US 4x400 m relay team.

2000 Olympic champion[link]

In 2000, Taylor ran a world-leading time at the Olympic Trials and entered the Sydney Games as a favorite. In a thrilling final, Taylor moved from fourth place to first over the final two hurdles and barely edged Saudi Arabia's Hadi Souan Somayli by 0.03 seconds in the closest finish in the history of the event. Taylor ran in the heat and semifinal of 4x400 m relay race, the finals team for which won the gold medal. On August 2, 2008, the International Olympic Committee stripped the gold medal from the U.S. men's 4x400-meter relay team, after Antonio Pettigrew admitted using a banned substance.^[1] Three of the four runners in the event final, including Pettigrew and twins Alvin and Calvin Harrison, and preliminary round runner Jerome Young, all have admitted or tested positive for performance enhancing drugs.^[1] Only Taylor and world record holder Michael Johnson were not implicated.^[1]

Taylor was eliminated in the semifinals of the 2001 World Championships in 400 m hurdles while struggling with a sinus infection and flu, but won a gold as a member of US 4x400 m relay team. He didn't make the US World Championships team in 2003 and was unsuccessful in defending his Olympic title at the 2004 Summer Olympics, finishing fourth in the semifinal.

In 2005, Taylor was arrested for having sex with a minor. He eventually pleaded guilty in 2006 to contributing to the delinquency of two underage girls and was sentenced to three years probation and fined.^[2]

Second Olympic title[link]

In 2007 Taylor set a new personal best in the 400 m and won the American title in the event. He won the 400 m bronze medal at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka and won another gold medal as part of the USA 4×400m relay team.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Taylor became a double Olympic champion, winning gold in the 400 metre hurdles and the 4×400 m relay. At the 2009 World Championships in Athletics he failed to make it out of the heats of the hurdles, but was part of the American 4×400 m relay team which successfully defended its world title.

Taylor finished second at the 2010 Rieti IAAF Grand Prix in August with a new personal record time of 20.23 seconds.^[3] He fell behind Kerron Clement and Bershawn Jackson in the hurdles rankings that year, but in the 2010 IAAF Diamond League he managed top three finishes in Lausanne, Monaco and Stockholm. He had a season's best of 47.79 seconds for the event that year. He also had two podium finishes in the 400 m, coming second at the Golden Gala and third in a season's best of 44.72 seconds at the Weltklasse Zurich.^[4]

He came third in the 400 m hurdles at the 2011 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a season's best run of 47.94 seconds, gaining a place on the national team. He won at the Herculis meeting in July, but did not peak for the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, where he finished seventh in the final.^[5] He performed well in the relay, however, taking the United States to victory in a time of 2:59.31 minutes alongside Greg Nixon, Bershawn Jackson and LaShawn Merritt.

Taylor began his 2012 season with a runner-up finish at the Mt. SAC Relays. He was third over 400 m at the Doha 2012 Diamond League meet and won the first 400 m hurdles race in Shanghai.^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• IAAF profile for Angelo Taylor
• USA Track and Field Biography

Links to related articles Sporting positions Preceded by Fabrizio Mori Men's 400 m Hurdles Best Year Performance 2000 Succeeded by Félix Sánchez Preceded by Kerron Clement Men's 400 m Hurdles Best Year Performance 2008 Succeeded by [to be determined] v t e Olympic Champions in Men's 400 m Hurdles 1900: Walter Tewksbury (USA) 1904: Harry Hillman (USA) 1908: Charles Bacon (USA) 1920: Frank Loomis (USA) 1924: Morgan Taylor (USA) 1928: David Burghley (GBR) 1932: Bob Tisdall (IRL) 1936: Glenn Hardin (USA) 1948: Roy Cochran (USA) 1952: Charles Moore (USA) 1956: Glenn Davis (USA) 1960: Glenn Davis (USA) 1964: Rex Cawley (USA) 1968: David Hemery (GBR) 1972: John Akii-Bua (UGA) 1976: Edwin Moses (USA) 1980: Volker Beck (GDR) 1984: Edwin Moses (USA) 1988: André Phillips (USA) 1992: Kevin Young (USA) 1996: Derrick Adkins (USA) 2000: Angelo Taylor (USA) 2004: Félix Sánchez (DOM) 2008: Angelo Taylor (USA) v t e Olympic Champions in Men's 4×400 m relay 1908: United States (Hamilton, Cartmell, Taylor, Sheppard) 1912: United States (Sheppard, Lindberg, Meredith, Reidpath) 1920: Great Britain (Griffiths, Lindsay, Ainsworth-Davies, Butler) 1924: United States (Cochran, Helffrich, MacDonald, Stevenson) 1928: United States (Baird, Spencer, Alderman, Barbuti) 1932: United States (Fuqua, Ablowich, Warner, Carr) 1936: Great Britain (Wolff, Rampling, Roberts, Brown) 1948: United States (Harnden, Bourland, Cochran, Whitfield) 1952: Jamaica (Wint, Laing, McKenley, Rhoden) 1956: United States (Jenkins, Jones, Mashburn, Courtney) 1960: United States (Yerman, Young, G. Davis, O. Davis) 1964: United States (Cassell, Larrabee, Williams, Carr) 1968: United States (Matthews, Freeman, James, Evans) 1972: Kenya (Asati, Nyamau, Ouko, Sang) 1976: United States (Frazier, Brown, Newhouse, Parks) 1980: Soviet Union (Valiulis, Linge, Chernetskiy, Markin) 1984: United States (Nix, Armstead, Babers, McKay) 1988: United States (Everett, Lewis, Robinzine, Reynolds, McKay, Valmon) 1992: United States (Valmon, Watts, Johnson, Lewis, Hall, Jenkins) 1996: United States (Smith, Harrison, Mills, Maybank, Rouser) 2000: Vacant 2004: United States (Harris, Brew, Wariner, Williamson, Rock, Willie) 2008: United States (Merritt, Taylor, Neville, Wariner, Clement, Witherspoon) v t e World Champions in Men's 4×400 m Relay 1983: Soviet Union 1987: United States 1991: Great Britain 1993 – 1995: United States 1997: Great Britain 1999: Poland 2001: Bahamas 2003: France 2005 – 2011: United States 2007: United States (LaShawn Merritt, Angelo Taylor, Darold Williamson & Jeremy Wariner) 2009: United States (Angelo Taylor, Jeremy Wariner, Kerron Clement, LaShawn Merritt, Lionel Larry & Bershawn Jackson) 2011: United States (Greg Nixon, Bershawn Jackson, Angelo Taylor, LaShawn Merritt, Jamaal Torrance & Michael Berry) v t e US National Championship winners in Men's 400m 1876-1979 Amateur Athletic Union 1876-77: Edward Merritt 1878: Frank Brown 1879-84: Lon Myers 1885: H. Mason Raborg 1886: John Robertson 1887: Harvey Banks 1888: Walter Dohm 1888: T.J. Mahoney 1889: Walter Dohm 1890-92: Walter Downs 1893: Edward Allen 1894: Tom Keane 1895-97: Thomas Burke 1898-1900: Maxie Long 1901: Howard Hayes 1902: Fay Moulton 1903: Harry Hillman 1904: D.H. Meyer 1905-06: Frank Waller 1907: John Taylor 1908: Harry Hillman 1909: Edward Lindberg 1910: William Hayes 1911: Edward Lindberg 1912: Thomas Halpin 1913: Carroll Haff 1914-15: Ted Meredith 1916: Thomas Halpin 1917: Frank Shea 1918: Cornelius Shaughnessy 1919-20: Frank Shea 1921: William Stevenson 1922: James Driscoll 1923: Horatio Fitch 1924: James Burgess 1925: Cecil Cooke 1926: Ken Kennedy 1927: Hermon Phillips 1928: Ray Barbuti 1929: Reggie Bowen 1930-31: Vic Williams 1932: Bill Carr 1933-34: Ivan Fuqua 1935: Eddie O'Brien 1936: Harold Smallwood 1937-38: Ray Malott 1939: Erwin Miller 1940-41: Grover Klemmer 1942-43: Cliff Bourland 1944: Elmore Harris 1945: Herb McKenley 1946: Elmore Harris 1947-48: Herb McKenley 1949-51: George Rhoden 1952: Mal Whitfield 1953: Jesse Mashburn 1954: Jim Lea 1955: Charles Jenkins 1956: Tom Courtney 1957: Reggie Pearman 1958-59: Eddie Southern 1960-61: Otis Davis 1962-63: Ulis Williams 1964: Mike Larrabee 1965: Ollan Cassell 1966-69: Lee Evans 1970-71: John Smith 1972: Lee Evans 1973-74: Maurice Peoples 1975: Dave Jenkins 1976: Maxie Parks 1977: Robert Taylor 1978: Maxie Parks 1979: Willie Smith 1980-1992 The Athletics Congress 1980: Willie Smith 1981-82: Cliff Wiley 1983: Sunder Nix 1984-85: Mark Rowe 1986: Darrell Robinson 1987: Butch Reynolds 1988: Tim Simon 1989: Antonio Pettigrew 1990: Steve Lewis 1991: Antonio Pettigrew 1992: Danny Everett 1992 onwards USA Track & Field 1993: Michael Johnson 1994: Antonio Pettigrew 1995-96: Michael Johnson 1997: Antonio Pettigrew 1998-99: Jerome Young 2000: Michael Johnson 2001: Derrick Brew 2002: Angelo Taylor 2003: Tyree Washington 2004-05: Jeremy Wariner 2006: Andrew Rock 2007: Angelo Taylor 2008-09: LaShawn Merritt 2010: Greg Nixon 2011: Tony McQuay