What is the 400m world record?

Van Niekerk won the Rio final from lane 8 in 43.03, ahead of Kirani James (43.76) and LaShawn Merritt (43.85). He took 0.15 seconds off Johnson's 43.18 from the 1999 World Championships in Seville.

Women's 400m world record

Koch ran 47.60 in Canberra in 1985, with Olga Bryzgina second in 48.27. The record is disputed. Leaked East German documents allege Koch was part of the state doping program; she never failed a test, she denies doping, and the record stands. Without it, the best time would be McLaughlin-Levrone's 47.78 from Tokyo in 2025.

The men's record has changed hands only three times since 1968. Lee Evans' 43.86, run at altitude at the Mexico City Olympics, lasted almost 20 years until Butch Reynolds ran 43.29 in Zürich in 1988. Reynolds held it for 11 years, Johnson for 17.

After Riitta Salin's 50.14 in 1974, the women's record fell 11 times in 11 years, seven of them to Koch. Jarmila Kratochvílová was the first woman under 48 seconds, with 47.99 in Helsinki in 1983, and Koch took the record back two years later.

The ten fastest athletes in history, each listed once with a best time. Two men moved into the top five in 2026: Samuel Ogazi ran 43.38 in Eugene in June, a month after turning 20, and Busang Collen Kebinatshipi ran 43.39 in Budapest in September. Only van Niekerk, Johnson and Reynolds have run faster. In women's racing, McLaughlin-Levrone and Marileidy Paulino both broke 48 seconds in the same race in Tokyo in 2025.

Indoors the 400m is two laps of a 200m track, and times are slower than outdoors. On World Athletics' short-track list, the fastest men's time is Christopher Morales Williams' 44.49 (Fayetteville, Arkansas, 24 February 2024) and the fastest women's is Femke Bol's 49.17 (Glasgow, 2 March 2024).

Picture where you would be when the record holder finishes. At your average speed, the distance left is 400 × (1 − record ÷ your time). A 55.00 leaves you about 87.1 m behind van Niekerk, close to the start of the home straight.

Rate your own time below. For every level from youth to elite, see the average 400m time page, and for ages 12 to 18, 400m times by age.

Comparing a hand-timed 400m

Stopwatches read fast. In a study of 40-yard sprints, hand timing came out 0.22–0.26 s quicker than electronic timing. Every time on this page is fully automatic.

Using a relay split

A 4×400m split starts on the move, so it reads faster than an open 400m from blocks. Compare your open 400m with the record.

Putting an indoor time next to an outdoor one

The fastest indoor 400m is 1.46 s slower than the outdoor record for men and 1.57 s slower for women. Compare indoor times with indoor marks.