# Men's 400 metres world record progression

The first world record in the 400 m for men (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as World Athletics, in 1912. The IAAF ratified Charles Reidpath's 48.2 s performance set at that year's Stockholm Olympics as a world record, but it also recognized the superior mark over 440 yards (402.336 metres) run by Maxie Long in 1900 as a world record.
Up to and including 2021, World Athletics has ratified 24 world records in the event.
The following tables show the world record progression in the men's 400 metres, as ratified by World Athletics.

## Records 1912–1976

| Time | Auto | Athlete | Nationality | Location of race | Date |
| 47.8y | | Maxie Long | United States | New York, USA | September 29, 1900 |
| 48.2 | | Charles Reidpath | United States | Stockholm, Sweden | July 13, 1912 |
| 47.4y | | Ted Meredith | United States | Cambridge, USA | May 27, 1916 |
| 47.6 | | Eric Liddell | United Kingdom | Paris, France | July 11, 1924$^{:49}$ |
| 47.0 | | Emerson Spencer | United States | Palo Alto, USA | May 12, 1928 |
| 46.4y | | Ben Eastman | United States | Palo Alto, California, USA | March 26, 1932 |
| 46.2 | 46.28 | Bill Carr | United States | Los Angeles, USA | August 5, 1932 |
| 46.1 | | Archie Williams | United States | Chicago, USA | June 19, 1936 |
| 46.0 | | Rudolf Harbig | Nazi Germany | Frankfurt am Main, Nazi Germany | August 12, 1939 |
| 46.0 | | Grover Klemmer | United States | Philadelphia, USA | June 6, 1941 |
| 46.0y | | Herb McKenley | Jamaica | Berkeley, USA | June 5, 1948 |
| 45.9 | 46.00 | Herb McKenley | Jamaica | Milwaukee, USA | July 2, 1948 |
| 45.8 | | George Rhoden | Jamaica | Eskilstuna, Sweden | August 22, 1950 |
| 45.4A | 45.68 | Lou Jones | United States | Mexico City, Mexico | March 18, 1955 |
| 45.2 | | Lou Jones | United States | Los Angeles, USA | June 30, 1956 |
| 44.9 | 45.07 | Otis Davis | United States | Rome, Italy | September 6, 1960 |
| 44.9 | 45.08 | Carl Kaufmann | Germany | Rome, Italy | September 6, 1960 |
| 44.9y | | Adolph Plummer | United States | Tempe, USA | May 25, 1963 |
| 44.9 | | Mike Larrabee | United States | Los Angeles, USA | September 12, 1964 |
| 44.5+ | | Tommie Smith | United States | San Jose, USA | May 20, 1967 |
| 44.1A | 44.19 | Larry James | United States | Echo Summit, USA | September 14, 1968 |
| 43.8A | 43.86 | Lee Evans | United States | Mexico City, Mexico | October 18, 1968 |
(+) plus sign denotes en route time during longer race "y" denotes time for 440 yards, ratified as a record for this event "A" indicates that the time was set at altitude.
The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.

## Records post-1976

From 1975, the IAAF accepted separate automatically electronically timed records for events up to 400 metres. Starting January 1, 1977, the IAAF required fully automatic timing to the hundredth of a second for these events.
Lee Evans' 1968 Olympic gold medal victory time of 43.86 was the fastest recorded result to that time.
| Time | Athlete | Nationality | Location of race | Date | Duration of record |
| 43.86 A | Lee Evans | United States | Mexico City, Mexico | October 18, 1968 | 19 years, 9 months and 30 days |
| 43.29 | Butch Reynolds | United States | Zürich, Switzerland | August 17, 1988 | 11 years and 9 days |
| 43.18 | Michael Johnson | United States | Seville, Spain | August 26, 1999 | 16 years, 11 months and 19 days |
| 43.03 | Wayde van Niekerk | South Africa | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | August 14, 2016 | 8 years, 4 months and 7 days |
Excluding times run at high altitude (above 1,000 metres), the progression of automatic times is shown below.
| Time | Athlete | Nationality | Location of race | Date | Duration of record |
| 44.95 | Lee Evans | United States | Winnipeg, Canada | July 30, 1967 | 4 years and 2 days |
| 44.60 | John Smith | United States | Cali, Colombia | August 1, 1971 | 4 years, 11 months and 28 days |
| 44.26 | Alberto Juantorena | Cuba | Montreal, Canada | July 29, 1976 | 10 years, 9 months and 4 days |
| 44.10 | Butch Reynolds | United States | Columbus, Ohio, USA | May 3, 1987 | 1 year, 2 months and 17 days |
| 43.93 | Butch Reynolds | United States | Indianapolis, USA | July 20, 1988 | 28 days |
| 43.29 | Butch Reynolds | United States | Zürich, Switzerland | August 17, 1988 | 11 years and 9 days |
| 43.18 | Michael Johnson | United States | Seville, Spain | August 26, 1999 | 16 years, 11 months and 19 days |
| 43.03 | Wayde van Niekerk | South Africa | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | August 14, 2016 | 8 years, 4 months and 7 days |