# Athletics at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metres

The women's 400 metres at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held in four rounds at the Stade de France in Paris, France, between 5 and 9 August 2024. This was the sixteenth time that the women's 400 metres was contested at the Summer Olympics. A total of 48 athletes were able to qualify for the event by entry standard or ranking.

## Summary

Tokyo champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo was back to defend her championship, but she didn't have any recent results to look competitive a year and a half after giving birth. Returning silver medalist Marileidy Paulino was back as the 2023 World Champion. Those same two finished in the same order in 2022. The bronze medalist Allyson Felix retired with the most medals in history. Silver in 2023 Natalia Kaczmarek had several top times of the year. Sada Williams was 2022 and 2023 bronze medalist. Going further back, Salwa Eid Naser #3 of all time set while winning the 2019 World Championship, also the 2017 silver medalist, was back after a "whereabouts" drug suspension. Nickisha Pryce came in as the World Leader, part of the remarkable University of Arkansas program that also included Amber Anning. The 21-year-old Irish prodigy, recent European silver medalist and former NCAA champion, Rhasidat Adeleke was also in the reckoning.
Miller-Uibo did not get out of the heats. After a long college season, Pryce did not make through the semi-final round.
In the final, Naser got off to the fastest start, Alexis Holmes and Anning slightly behind. Onto the backstretch, rocking her head, Paulino moved closer to Naser, getting even to the stagger and ahead by 200 metres. Through the turn Rhasidat Adeleke asserted herself into third. Coming onto the home stretch, Paulino had a big lead over Nasser, holding it until letting off the gas 10 meters before the finish. Adeleke had vanquished everyone else except Kaczmarek. With 50 meters to go, Kaczmarek accelerated and Adeleke struggled. Anning sensed blood and accelerated to try to nip Adeleke at the line, but she ran out of track.
Paulino's 48.17 broke Marie-José Pérec's 28 year old Olympic record and her own National Record. Anning also set a new British Record. All eight finalists finished under 50 seconds for the first time ever.

## Background

The women's 400 metres has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1964.
Global records before the 2024 Summer Olympics :
| Record | Athlete (nation) | Time (s) | Location | Date |
| World record | Marita Koch (GDR) | 47.60 | Canberra, Australia | 6 October 1985 |
| Olympic record | Marie-José Pérec (FRA) | 48.25 | Atlanta, United States | 29 July 1996 |
| World leading | Nickisha Pryce (JAM) | 48.57 | London, United Kingdom | 20 July 2024 |
Area records before the 2024 Summer Olympics :
| Area record | Athlete (nation) | Time (s) |
| Africa (records) | Falilat Ogunkoya (NGR) | 49.10 |
| Asia (records) | Salwa Eid Naser (BHR) | 48.14 |
| Europe (records) | Marita Koch (GDR) | 47.60 WR |
| North, Central America and Caribbean (records) | Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH) | 48.36 |
| Oceania (records) | Cathy Freeman (AUS) | 48.63 |
| South America (records) | Ximena Restrepo (COL) | 49.64 |

## Qualification

For the women's 400 metres event, the qualification period is between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024. 48 athletes are able to qualify for the event, with a maximum of three athletes per nation, by running the entry standard of 50.95 seconds or faster or by their World Athletics Ranking for this event.

## Results
### Heats

The heats are scheduled to be held on 5 August, starting at 11:55 (UTC+2) in the morning. 48 athletes qualified for the first round by qualification time or world ranking. Qualification: First 3 in each heat (Q) advance to the semi-finals, all others (Re) advance to the repechage round (except DNS, DNF, DQ)

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Salwa Eid Naser | Bahrain | 49.91 | Q |
| 2 | 8 | Stacey-Ann Williams | Jamaica | 50.16 | Q, SB |
| 3 | 4 | Andrea Miklós | Romania | 50.54 | Q, PB |
| 4 | 2 | Gabby Scott | Puerto Rico | 50.74 | NR |
| 5 | 5 | Kendall Ellis | United States | 51.16 | |
| 6 | 6 | Sophie Becker | Ireland | 51.84 | |
| 7 | 9 | Tereza Petržilková | Czech Republic | 51.92 | |
| 8 | 7 | Modesta Justė Morauskaitė | Lithuania | 52.00 | SB |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 8 | Nickisha Pryce | Jamaica | 50.02 | Q |
| 2 | 7 | Laviai Nielsen | Great Britain | 50.36 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Henriette Jæger | Norway | 50.39 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | Justyna Święty-Ersetic | Poland | 50.95 | SB |
| 5 | 6 | Ellie Beer | Australia | 51.47 | PB |
| 6 | 5 | Lina Licona | Colombia | 51.85 | |
| 7 | 3 | Zoe Sherar | Canada | 51.97 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 8 | Amber Anning | Great Britain | 49.68 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Lieke Klaver | Netherlands | 49.96 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Paola Morán | Mexico | 51.04 | Q |
| 4 | 9 | Martina Weil | Chile | 51.15 | |
| 5 | 7 | Alice Mangione | Italy | 51.60 | |
| 6 | 3 | Ella Onojuvwevwo | Nigeria | 51.65 | |
| 7 | 4 | Tiffani Marinho | Brazil | 52.62 | |
| 8 | 5 | Cátia Azevedo | Portugal | 52.73 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Natalia Kaczmarek | Poland | 49.98 | Q |
| 2 | 9 | Roxana Gómez | Cuba | 50.38 | Q, SB |
| 3 | 5 | Sada Williams | Barbados | 50.45 | Q |
| 4 | 6 | Victoria Ohuruogu | Great Britain | 50.93 | |
| 5 | 3 | Gunta Vaičule | Latvia | 51.13 | |
| 6 | 2 | Helena Ponette | Belgium | 51.75 | |
| 7 | 7 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | Bahamas | 2:29.29 | |
| | 8 | Esther Joseph | Nigeria | DQ | TR17.2.3 |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Marileidy Paulino | Dominican Republic | 49.42 | Q |
| 2 | 7 | Aaliyah Butler | United States | 50.52 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Susanne Gogl-Walli | Austria | 50.67 | Q, PB |
| 4 | 8 | Sharlene Mawdsley | Ireland | 50.71 | PB |
| 5 | 4 | Aliyah Abrams | Guyana | 51.55 | SB |
| 6 | 9 | Lurdes Gloria Manuel | Czech Republic | 52.20 | |
| 7 | 2 | Kiran Pahal | India | 52.51 | |
| 8 | 3 | Cynthia Bolingo | Belgium | 52.77 | SB |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Rhasidat Adeleke | Ireland | 50.09 | Q |
| 2 | 7 | Alexis Holmes | United States | 50.35 | Q |
| 3 | 8 | Junelle Bromfield | Jamaica | 51.36 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Miranda Coetzee | South Africa | 51.58 | |
| 5 | 6 | Lada Vondrová | Czech Republic | 51.80 | |
| 6 | 3 | Lauren Gale | Canada | 53.13 | |
| 7 | 4 | Evelis Aguilar | Colombia | 53.36 | |
| | 9 | Nicole Caicedo | Ecuador | DQ | TR16.8 |

### Repechage round

The repechage round was held on 6 August, starting at 11:20 (UTC+2).

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Result | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Ella Onojuvwevwo | Nigeria | 50.59 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Justyna Święty-Ersetic | Poland | 50.89 | SB |
| 3 | 3 | Sharlene Mawdsley | Ireland | 51.18 | |
| 4 | 7 | Tereza Petržilková | Czech Republic | 51.46 | SB |
| 5 | 8 | Aliyah Abrams | Guyana | 51.84 | |
| 6 | 6 | Kiran Pahal | India | 52.59 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Result | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Gabby Scott | Puerto Rico | 50.52 | Q, NR |
| 2 | 8 | Miranda Coetzee | South Africa | 50.66 | q, PB |
| 3 | 5 | Lurdes Gloria Manuel | Czech Republic | 50.81 | q |
| 4 | 6 | Modesta Justė Morauskaitė | Lithuania | 51.33 | PB |
| 5 | 7 | Helena Ponette | Belgium | 51.46 | PB |
| 6 | 3 | Martina Weil | Chile | 51.79 | |
| 7 | 2 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | Bahamas | 53.50 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Result | Notes |
| 1 | 8 | Victoria Ohuruogu | Great Britain | 50.59 | Q, SB |
| 2 | 2 | Gunta Vaičule | Latvia | 50.93 | |
| 3 | 6 | Alice Mangione | Italy | 51.07 | PB |
| 4 | 4 | Ellie Beer | Australia | 51.65 | |
| 5 | 5 | Cátia Azevedo | Portugal | 52.04 | SB |
| 6 | 3 | Lauren Gale | Canada | 52.68 | |
| 7 | 7 | Evelis Aguilar | Colombia | 52.86 | SB |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Result | Notes |
| 1 | 8 | Kendall Ellis | United States | 50.44 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Sophie Becker | Ireland | 51.28 | |
| 3 | 7 | Zoe Sherar | Canada | 51.43 | |
| 4 | 4 | Lina Licona | Colombia | 51.90 | |
| 5 | 5 | Lada Vondrová | Czech Republic | 52.15 | |
| 6 | 2 | Tiffani Marinho | Brazil | 52.32 | |
| | 3 | Cynthia Bolingo | Belgium | DNS | |

### Semi-finals

The semi-finals are scheduled to be held on 7 August, starting at 20:45 (UTC+2) in the evening.

#### Semi-final 1

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 7 | Salwa Eid Naser | Bahrain | 49.08 | Q, SB |
| 2 | 8 | Rhasidat Adeleke | Ireland | 49.95 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Henriette Jæger | Norway | 50.17 | q |
| 4 | 6 | Lieke Klaver | Netherlands | 50.44 | |
| 5 | 3 | Victoria Ohuruogu | Great Britain | 51.14 | |
| 6 | 5 | Aaliyah Butler | United States | 51.18 | |
| 7 | 2 | Gabby Scott | Puerto Rico | 51.22 | |
| 8 | 9 | Junelle Bromfield | Jamaica | 51.93 | |

#### Semi-final 2

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6 | Marileidy Paulino | Dominican Republic | 49.21 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Alexis Holmes | United States | 50.00 | Q |
| 3 | 7 | Laviai Nielsen | Great Britain | 50.69 | |
| 4 | 8 | Nickisha Pryce | Jamaica | 50.77 | |
| 5 | 9 | Andrea Miklós | Romania | 50.78 | |
| 6 | 3 | Ella Onojuvwevwo | Nigeria | 51.05 | |
| 7 | 4 | Susanne Gogl-Walli | Austria | 51.17 | |
| 8 | 2 | Lurdes Gloria Manuel | Czech Republic | 51.42 | |

#### Semi-final 3

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 7 | Natalia Kaczmarek | Poland | 49.45 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Amber Anning | Great Britain | 49.47 | Q, PB |
| 3 | 4 | Sada Williams | Barbados | 49.89 | q |
| 4 | 2 | Kendall Ellis | United States | 50.40 | |
| 5 | 5 | Roxana Gómez | Cuba | 50.48 | |
| 6 | 9 | Paola Morán | Mexico | 50.73 | |
| 7 | 8 | Stacey-Ann Williams | Jamaica | 50.79 | |
| 8 | 3 | Miranda Coetzee | South Africa | 51.60 | |

### Final

The final is scheduled to be held on 9 August, starting at 21:40 (UTC+2) in the evening.
| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | 6 | Marileidy Paulino | Dominican Republic | 48.17 | OR, AR |
| | 8 | Salwa Eid Naser | Bahrain | 48.53 | SB |
| | 7 | Natalia Kaczmarek | Poland | 48.98 | |
| 4 | 4 | Rhasidat Adeleke | Ireland | 49.28 | |
| 5 | 5 | Amber Anning | Great Britain | 49.29 | NR |
| 6 | 9 | Alexis Holmes | United States | 49.77 | PB |
| 7 | 2 | Sada Williams | Barbados | 49.83 | |
| 8 | 3 | Henriette Jæger | Norway | 49.96 | |