# 2023 World Athletics Championships – Women's 400 metres

The women's 400 metres at the 2023 World Athletics Championships was held at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary from 20 to 23 August 2023. The winning margin was 0.81 seconds which as of 2024 is the only time the women's 400 metres has been won by more than 0.7 seconds at these championships.

## Summary

The buildup to the event was very hectic, as world leader Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone withdrew just a few weeks before the championships started, citing a minor knee injury. 2019 champion and #3 all-time Salwa Eid Naser also withdrew, just days before the heats started. Aside from the withdrawals, some big names also failed to make it past the first round. Defending champion and #6 all-time Shaunae Miller-Uibo was not back in full form, as she returned to the track just four months after giving birth to her first child. Another big name that failed to make it to the semi-final round was world number three Britton Wilson, who finished last in her opening heat. All of the semi-finalists had sub-50 credentials, six of them broke 50 in the semi-final round. That also meant they all had a sub-50 recently.
In the final, Lieke Klaver was out fast, making up the stagger on Natalia Kaczmarek to her outside down the backstretch. After the halfway mark, returning silver medalist Marileidy Paulino began to make up ground on returning bronze medalist Sada Williams to her outside. When Paulino hit the 100 metre start line, she had a step on Klaver and two more on her next pursuers Williams, Rhasidat Adeleke and Kaczmarek. Down the stretch, Klaver was gritting her teeth but was moving backwards relative to Kaczmarek, Adeleke and Williams, but Paulino was so far this was clearly a battle just for silver. Kaczmarek emerged as the next best, holding a step on Williams as Adeleke faded. Paulino finished 6 metres up on Kaczmarek with Williams taking a second bronze in a row.
Paulino's 48.76 National Record makes her the eleventh fastest in history. Only the three medalists were able to break 50 in the final.

## Records

Before the competition records were as follows:
| Record | Athlete & Nat. | Perf. | Location | Date |
| World record | Marita Koch (GDR) | 47.60 | Canberra, Australia | 6 October 1985 |
| Championship record | Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH) | 47.99 | Helsinki, Finland | 10 August 1983 |
| World Leading | Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA) | 48.74 | Eugene, United States | 8 July 2023 |
| African Record | Falilat Ogunkoya (NGR) | 49.10 | Atlanta, United States | 29 July 1996 |
| Asian Record | Salwa Eid Naser (BHR) | 48.14 | Doha, Qatar | 3 October 2019 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | Shaunae Miller-Uibo (BAH) | 48.36 | Tokyo, Japan | 6 August 2021 |
| South American Record | Ximena Restrepo (COL) | 49.64 | Barcelona, Spain | 5 August 1992 |
| European Record | Marita Koch (GDR) | 47.60 | Canberra, Australia | 6 October 1985 |
| Oceanian record | Cathy Freeman (AUS) | 48.63 | Atlanta, United States | 29 July 1996 |

## Qualification standard

The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 51.00.

## Schedule

The event schedule, in local time (UTC+2), was as follows:
| Date | Time | Round |
| 20 August | 9:35 | Heats |
| 21 August | 21:12 | Semi-finals |
| 23 August | 21:35 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

The first 3 athletes in each heat (Q) and the next 6 fastest (q) qualify for the semi-finals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6 | Marileidy Paulino | Dominican Republic (DOM) | 49.90 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Natalia Kaczmarek | Poland (POL) | 50.02 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Cynthia Bolingo | Belgium (BEL) | 50.29 | Q, SB |
| 4 | 1 | Candice McLeod | Jamaica (JAM) | 50.37 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | Nickisha Pryce | Jamaica (JAM) | 50.38 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Lieke Klaver | Netherlands (NED) | 50.52 | Q |
| 7 | 6 | Victoria Ohuruogu | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 50.60 | Q |
| 8 | 3 | Sada Williams | Barbados (BAR) | 50.78 | Q |
| 9 | 5 | Rhasidat Adeleke | Ireland (IRL) | 50.80 | Q |
| 10 | 2 | Ama Pipi | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 50.81 | Q |
| 11 | 2 | Lynna Irby-Jackson | United States (USA) | 50.81 | Q |
| 12 | 4 | Roxana Gómez | Cuba (CUB) | 50.86 | Q |
| 13 | 6 | Talitha Diggs | United States (USA) | 50.87 | Q |
| 14 | 6 | Lada Vondrová | Czech Republic (CZE) | 50.92 | q, PB |
| 15 | 2 | Susanne Walli | Austria (AUT) | 51.00 | q |
| 16 | 6 | Modesta Justė Morauskaitė | Lithuania (LTU) | 51.06 | q, SB |
| 17 | 4 | Gabby Scott | Puerto Rico (PUR) | 51.07 | Q, SB |
| 18 | 1 | Sharlene Mawdsley | Ireland (IRL) | 51.17 | q, PB |
| 19 | 5 | Andrea Miklós | Romania (ROM) | 51.24 | Q |
| 20 | 6 | Charokee Young | Jamaica (JAM) | 51.24 | q |
| 21 | 2 | Evelis Aguilar | Colombia (COL) | 51.27 | q, PB |
| 22 | 5 | Tereza Petržilková | Czech Republic (CZE) | 51.30 | Q |
| 23 | 5 | Henriette Jæger | Norway (NOR) | 51.33 | |
| 24 | 4 | Martina Weil | Chile (CHI) | 51.35 | |
| 25 | 1 | Gunta Vaičule | Latvia (LAT) | 51.36 | SB |
| 26 | 5 | Aliyah Abrams | Guyana (GUY) | 51.44 | |
| 27 | 5 | Helena Ponette | Belgium (BEL) | 51.52 | PB |
| 28 | 1 | Alice Mangione | Italy (ITA) | 51.57 | |
| 29 | 3 | Paola Morán | Mexico (MEX) | 51.59 | Q |
| 30 | 4 | Grace Konrad | Canada (CAN) | 51.60 | PB |
| 31 | 3 | Zenéy van der Walt | South Africa (RSA) | 51.76 | Q |
| 32 | 3 | Cátia Azevedo | Portugal (POR) | 51.93 | |
| 33 | 3 | Amandine Brossier | France (FRA) | 51.98 | SB |
| 34 | 3 | Imaobong Nse Uko | Nigeria (NGR) | 52.24 | |
| 35 | 2 | Kyra Constantine | Canada (CAN) | 52.28 | |
| 36 | 1 | Miranda Charlene Coetzee [fr] | South Africa (RSA) | 52.30 | |
| 37 | 3 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | Bahamas (BAH) | 52.65 | |
| 38 | 4 | Giulia Senn | Switzerland (SUI) | 52.66 | |
| 39 | 1 | Kateryna Karpiuk | Ukraine (UKR) | 52.66 | |
| 40 | 4 | Fanni Rapai | Hungary (HUN) | 52.73 | PB |
| 41 | 5 | Mette Baas [fi] | Finland (FIN) | 52.74 | |
| 42 | 2 | Nicole Caicedo | Ecuador (ECU) | 52.82 | |
| 43 | 3 | Rosie Elliott | New Zealand (NZL) | 52.88 | |
| 44 | 6 | Tiffani Marinho | Brazil (BRA) | 53.12 | |
| 45 | 6 | Marlie Viljoen [de] | South Africa (RSA) | 53.73 | |
| 46 | 4 | Britton Wilson | United States (USA) | 53.87 | |
| 47 | 5 | Tabata Vitorino | Brazil (BRA) | 54.15 | |
| 48 | 2 | Janet Richard | Malta (MLT) | 54.50 | |

### Semi-finals

The first 2 athletes in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualify for the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Natalia Kaczmarek | Poland (POL) | 49.50 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Marileidy Paulino | Dominican Republic (DOM) | 49.54 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Sada Williams | Barbados (BAR) | 49.58 | Q, NR |
| 4 | 1 | Rhasidat Adeleke | Ireland (IRL) | 49.87 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Lieke Klaver | Netherlands (NED) | 49.87 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Cynthia Bolingo | Belgium (BEL) | 49.96 | q, NR |
| 7 | 1 | Candice McLeod | Jamaica (JAM) | 50.62 | q |
| 8 | 3 | Lynna Irby-Jackson | United States (USA) | 50.71 | |
| 9 | 3 | Victoria Ohuruogu | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 50.74 | |
| 10 | 3 | Andrea Miklós | Romania (ROM) | 50.77 | |
| 11 | 2 | Talitha Diggs | United States (USA) | 50.86 | Q |
| 12 | 1 | Evelis Aguilar | Colombia (COL) | 51.07 | PB |
| 13 | 2 | Roxana Gómez | Cuba (CUB) | 51.07 | |
| 14 | 2 | Ama Pipi | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 51.17 | |
| 15 | 2 | Nickisha Pryce | Jamaica (JAM) | 51.24 | |
| 16 | 3 | Charokee Young | Jamaica (JAM) | 51.40 | |
| 17 | 1 | Paola Morán | Mexico (MEX) | 51.46 | |
| 18 | 3 | Susanne Walli | Austria (AUT) | 51.50 | |
| 19 | 1 | Lada Vondrová | Czech Republic (CZE) | 51.50 | |
| 20 | 2 | Gabby Scott | Puerto Rico (PUR) | 51.52 | |
| 21 | 1 | Zenéy van der Walt | South Africa (RSA) | 51.54 | |
| 22 | 2 | Sharlene Mawdsley | Ireland (IRL) | 51.78 | |
| 23 | 3 | Tereza Petržilková | Czech Republic (CZE) | 51.94 | |
| 24 | 2 | Modesta Justė Morauskaitė | Lithuania (LTU) | 52.15 | |

### Final

The final was held on Wednesday 23 August 2023.
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Marileidy Paulino | Dominican Republic (DOM) | 48.76 | NR |
| | Natalia Kaczmarek | Poland (POL) | 49.57 | |
| | Sada Williams | Barbados (BAR) | 49.60 | |
| 4 | Rhasidat Adeleke | Ireland (IRL) | 50.13 | |
| 5 | Cynthia Bolingo | Belgium (BEL) | 50.33 | |
| 6 | Lieke Klaver | Netherlands (NED) | 50.33 | |
| 7 | Candice McLeod | Jamaica (JAM) | 51.08 | |
| 8 | Talitha Diggs | United States (USA) | 51.25 | |