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 25 →

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
44.95 Lee Evans USA Winnipeg, Canada 30 Jul 1967 1 yr

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 Struck marks were rescinded or never ratified, and A marks a performance at altitude; both come from the source article's own key and markers, and eras are kept as it lists them.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.