Men · World record

400 Metres

The current record and its documented progression: 31 ratified records from 1900 to 2016.

Current record

43.03

Wayde van NiekerkRSARio de Janeiro · 14 Aug 2016

10 years standing0.15 s improvementAll-time top 50 →

Record progression

Each step is a documented record; red marks the fully automatic timing era

1900 · 47.8 Maxie Long1912 · 48.2 Charles Reidpath1916 · 47.4 Ted Meredith1924 · 47.6 Eric Liddell1928 · 47.0 Emerson Spencer1932 · 46.4 Ben Eastman1932 · 46.2 Bill Carr1936 · 46.1 Archie Williams1939 · 46.0 Rudolf Harbig1941 · 46.0 Grover Klemmer1948 · 46.0 Herb McKenley1948 · 45.9 Herb McKenley1950 · 45.8 George Rhoden1955 · 45.4 Lou Jones1956 · 45.2 Lou Jones1960 · 44.9 Otis Davis1960 · 44.9 Carl Kaufmann1963 · 44.9 Adolph Plummer1964 · 44.9 Mike Larrabee1967 · 44.5 Tommie Smith1968 · 44.1 Larry James1968 · 43.8 Lee Evans1968 · 43.86 Lee Evans1988 · 43.29 Butch Reynolds1999 · 43.18 Michael Johnson2016 · 43.03 Wayde van Niekerk1967 · 44.95 Lee Evans1971 · 44.60 John Smith1976 · 44.26 Alberto Juantorena1987 · 44.10 Butch Reynolds1988 · 43.93 Butch Reynolds 43.0348.20

19001936 · Williams 46.11960 · Davis 44.91988 · Reynolds 43.291988 · Reynolds 43.93

Documented records

31 ratified · 4 at altitude · most recent first · Wikipedia (EN) revision 1341834243, imported 2 Sep 2026

MarkAthleteNationVenueDateStood
43.03 Wayde van Niekerk RSA Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 14 Aug 2016 10 yrs
43.18 Michael Johnson USA Seville, Spain 26 Aug 1999 16 yrs
43.29 Butch Reynolds USA Zürich, Switzerland 17 Aug 1988 11 yrs
43.93 Butch Reynolds USA Indianapolis, USA 20 Jul 1988 28 d
44.10 Butch Reynolds USA Columbus, Ohio, USA 3 May 1987 1 yr
44.26 Alberto Juantorena CUB Montreal, Canada 29 Jul 1976 10 yrs
44.60 John Smith USA Cali, Colombia 1 Aug 1971 4 yrs
43.86A Lee Evans USA Mexico City, Mexico 18 Oct 1968 2 yrs
43.8A Lee Evans USA Mexico City, Mexico 18 Oct 1968 0 d
44.1A Larry James USA Echo Summit, USA 14 Sep 1968 34 d
44.95 Lee Evans USA Winnipeg, Canada 30 Jul 1967 1 yr
44.5 Tommie Smith USA San Jose, USA 20 May 1967 71 d
44.9 Mike Larrabee USA Los Angeles, USA 12 Sep 1964 2 yrs
44.9 Adolph Plummer USA Tempe, USA 25 May 1963 1 yr
44.9 Carl Kaufmann GER Rome, Italy 6 Sep 1960 2 yrs
44.9 Otis Davis USA Rome, Italy 6 Sep 1960 0 d
45.2 Lou Jones USA Los Angeles, USA 30 Jun 1956 4 yrs
45.4A Lou Jones USA Mexico City, Mexico 18 Mar 1955 1 yr
45.8 George Rhoden JAM Eskilstuna, Sweden 22 Aug 1950 4 yrs
45.9 Herb McKenley JAM Milwaukee, USA 2 Jul 1948 2 yrs
46.0 Herb McKenley JAM Berkeley, USA 5 Jun 1948 27 d
46.0 Grover Klemmer USA Philadelphia, USA 6 Jun 1941 6 yrs
46.0 Rudolf Harbig GER Frankfurt am Main, Germany 12 Aug 1939 1 yr
46.1 Archie Williams USA Chicago, USA 19 Jun 1936 3 yrs
46.2 Bill Carr USA Los Angeles, USA 5 Aug 1932 3 yrs
46.4 Ben Eastman USA Palo Alto, California, USA 26 Mar 1932 132 d
47.0 Emerson Spencer USA Palo Alto, USA 12 May 1928 3 yrs
47.6 Eric LiddellEric Liddell's 1924 Olympic Games victory was initially ratified as a world record by the IAAF, despite being slower than Ted Meredith's mark from 1916. The IAAF rescinded the record on August 7, 1928. GBR Paris, France 11 Jul 1924 3 yrs
47.4 Ted Meredith USA Cambridge, USA 27 May 1916 8 yrs
48.2 Charles Reidpath USA Stockholm, Sweden 13 Jul 1912 3 yrs
47.8 Maxie Long USA New York, USA 29 Sep 1900 11 yrs

Rows link to a profile only where the athlete appears on a published list. Struck marks were rescinded or never ratified, and A marks a performance at altitude; both come from the source article's own key and markers, and eras are kept as it lists them. Nothing is inferred.