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

The men's 400 metres hurdles at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held in four rounds at the Stade de France in Paris, France, from 5 to 9 August 2024. This was 28th time that the men's 400 metres hurdles was contested at the Summer Olympics. A total of 40 athletes were able to qualify for the event by entry standard or ranking.

## Summary

This was the most anticipated event at these Olympics because the top three in history were all scheduled to be here. Karsten Warholm set the world record winning in Tokyo, .23 ahead of the second best in history Rai Benjamin. Another half second behind in that race, Alison dos Santos #3 won the 2022 World Championships just .12 slower than Benjamin's Olympic time and beating Benjamin straight up in the race. Warholm was slowed by injury that year but returned to take his third the 2023 World Championship in 2023, while Kyron McMaster #8 of all time, edged out Benjamin. Also in the field is #5 of all time, Abderrahman Samba, #17 Roshawn Clarke, =#19 Trevor Bassitt, #21 Wilfried Happio, #22 Malik James-King and #25 Alessandro Sibilio. After the US Trials, #11 Caleb Dean was already left at home. There wasn't enough room for all of them in the final.
Rain on the day of the final may have precluded the possibility of a world record. In the final, Warholm typically went out to a fast start. Immediately to his outside, Benjamin was running relaxed. On the far outside, Clark was pacing with Benjamin. On the inside dos Santos was chasing Ducos, edging ahead of him by the fourth hurdle. Clark began to fade as Benjamin started to accelerate after the halfway point. Warholm began to strain as Benjamin cruised by, clearly ahead by hurdle 8. Under pressure, Warholm took hurdle 9 awkwardly. Benjamin was free, gliding over the final hurdle and in for gold. Warholm strained to get over the finish line ahead of dos Santos to retain silver.

## Background

The men's 400 m hurdles has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900, with a sole gap at the 1912 Summer Olympics.
Global records before the 2024 Summer Olympics :
| Record | Athlete (Nation) | Time (s) | Location | Date |
| World record | Karsten Warholm (NOR) | 45.94 | Tokyo, Japan | 3 August 2021 |
| Olympic record | Karsten Warholm (NOR) | 45.94 | Tokyo, Japan | 3 August 2021 |
| World leading | Rai Benjamin (USA) | 46.46 | Eugene, United States | 30 June 2024 |
Area records before the 2024 Summer Olympics :
| Area Record | Athlete (Nation) | Time (s) |
| Africa (records) | Samuel Matete (ZAM) | 47.10 |
| Asia (records) | Abderrahman Samba (QAT) | 46.98 |
| Europe (records) | Karsten Warholm (NOR) | 45.94 WR |
| North, Central America and Caribbean (records) | Rai Benjamin (USA) | 46.17 |
| Oceania (records) | Rohan Robinson (AUS) | 48.28 |
| South America (records) | Alison dos Santos (BRA) | 46.29 |

## Qualification

For the men's 400 metres hurdles event, the qualification period was between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024. Forty athletes were able to qualify for the event, with a maximum of three athletes per nation, by running the entry standard of 48.70 seconds or faster or by their World Athletics Ranking for this event.

## Results
### Round 1

Round 1 was held on 5 August, starting at 10:05 (UTC+2) in the morning.
Qualification Rules: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 3 fastest (q) advance to the semifinals. All others advance to Repechage round (except DNS, DNF, DQ).

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 7 | Rai Benjamin | United States | 0.190 | 48.82 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Jaheel Hyde | Jamaica | 0.175 | 49.08 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Kyron McMaster | British Virgin Islands | 0.166 | 49.24 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | Carl Bengtström | Sweden | 0.172 | 49.34 | |
| 5 | 5 | Bassem Hemeida | Qatar | 0.141 | 49.82 | SB |
| 6 | 8 | Daiki Ogawa | Japan | 0.174 | 50.21 | |
| 7 | 3 | Matic Ian Guček | Slovenia | 0.147 | 50.30 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Karsten Warholm | Norway | 0.148 | 47.57 | Q |
| 2 | 9 | Clément Ducos | France | 0.157 | 47.69 | Q, PB |
| 3 | 7 | Abderrahman Samba | Qatar | 0.182 | 48.35 | Q |
| 4 | 8 | Yeral Nuñez | Dominican Republic | 0.187 | 48.67 | |
| 5 | 4 | Trevor Bassitt | United States | 0.185 | 49.38 | |
| 6 | 2 | Vít Müller | Czech Republic | 0.150 | 49.44 | |
| 7 | 6 | Oskar Edlund | Sweden | 0.188 | 49.74 | |
| 8 | 3 | Xie Zhiyu | China | 0.191 | 49.90 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Rasmus Mägi | Estonia | 0.196 | 48.62 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | CJ Allen | United States | 0.144 | 48.64 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Alison dos Santos | Brazil | 0.165 | 48.75 | Q |
| 4 | 9 | Emil Agyekum | Germany | 0.207 | 49.38 | |
| 5 | 3 | Victor Ntweng | Botswana | 0.138 | 49.59 | |
| 6 | 8 | Julien Bonvin | Switzerland | 0.167 | 49.82 | |
| 7 | 7 | Kaito Tsutsue | Japan | 0.149 | 50.50 | |
| 8 | 4 | Yasmani Copello | Turkey | 0.224 | 50.72 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 8 | Roshawn Clarke | Jamaica | 0.191 | 48.17 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Ezekiel Nathaniel | Nigeria | 0.181 | 48.38 | Q |
| 3 | 7 | Wilfried Happio | France | 0.152 | 48.42 | Q |
| 4 | 4 | Alessandro Sibilio | Italy | 0.157 | 48.43 | q |
| 5 | 5 | Wiseman Were Mukhobe | Kenya | 0.198 | 48.58 | q |
| 6 | 9 | Nick Smidt | Netherlands | 0.168 | 48.64 | q, SB |
| 7 | 6 | Gerald Drummond | Costa Rica | 0.213 | 48.80 | |
| 8 | 2 | Constantin Preis | Germany | 0.221 | 49.99 | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Malik James-King | Jamaica | 0.150 | 48.21 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Matheus Lima | Brazil | 0.180 | 48.90 | Q, SB |
| 3 | 9 | Alastair Chalmers | Great Britain | 0.179 | 48.98 | Q |
| 4 | 7 | Joshua Abuaku | Germany | 0.151 | 49.00 | |
| 5 | 3 | Berke Akçam | Turkey | 0.143 | 49.48 | |
| 6 | 4 | Ken Toyoda | Japan | 0.136 | 53.62 | |
| | 8 | Ismail Doudai Abakar | Qatar | 0.177 | DNF | |
| | 5 | Peng Ming-yang | Chinese Taipei | 0.209 | DNF | |

### Repechage round

The repechage round is scheduled to be held on 6 August, starting at 12:00 (UTC+2) in the afternoon.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6 | Trevor Bassitt | United States | 0.177 | 48.64 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Emil Agyekum | Germany | 0.194 | 48.67 | Q |
| 3 | 7 | Vít Müller | Czech Republic | 0.157 | 48.96 | |
| 4 | 8 | Oskar Edlund | Sweden | 0.168 | 48.99 | |
| 5 | 3 | Daiki Ogawa | Japan | 0.136 | 49.25 | |
| 6 | 2 | Bassem Hemeida | Qatar | 0.146 | 49.64 | SB |
| | 5 | Yasmani Copello | Turkey | | DNS | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 8 | Carl Bengtström | Sweden | 0.171 | 48.63 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Gerald Drummond | Costa Rica | 0.216 | 48.78 | Q |
| 3 | 5 | Victor Ntweng | Botswana | 0.168 | 48.88 | |
| 4 | 7 | Matic Ian Guček | Slovenia | 0.146 | 49.06 | |
| 5 | 3 | Constantin Preis | Germany | 0.218 | 51.02 | |
| | 3 | Kaito Tsutsue | Japan | | DNS | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Berke Akçam | Turkey | 0.146 | 48.72 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Joshua Abuaku | Germany | 0.159 | 48.87 | Q, SB |
| 3 | 3 | Julien Bonvin | Switzerland | 0.165 | 49.08 | |
| 4 | 8 | Xie Zhiyu | China | 0.224 | 49.59 | |
| 5 | 7 | Yeral Nuñez | Dominican Republic | 0.204 | 53.68 | |
| | 4 | Ken Toyoda | Japan | | DNS | |

### Semi-finals

The semi-finals were held on 7 August, starting at 19:35 (UTC+2) in the evening.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 7 | Karsten Warholm | Norway | 47.67 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Clément Ducos | France | 47.85 | Q |
| 3 | 9 | Alison dos Santos | Brazil | 47.95 | q |
| 4 | 2 | Trevor Bassitt | United States | 48.29 | |
| 5 | 5 | Ezekiel Nathaniel | Nigeria | 48.65 | |
| 6 | 4 | Nick Smidt | Netherlands | 49.61 | |
| 7 | 8 | Jaheel Hyde | Jamaica | 50.03 | |
| 8 | 3 | Joshua Abuaku | Germany | 50.19 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Kyron McMaster | British Virgin Islands | 48.15 | Q |
| 2 | 7 | Rasmus Mägi | Estonia | 48.16 | Q |
| 3 | 5 | Abderrahman Samba | Qatar | 48.20 | q |
| 4 | 8 | CJ Allen | United States | 48.44 | |
| 5 | 3 | Emil Agyekum | Germany | 48.78 | |
| 6 | 9 | Alessandro Sibilio | Italy | 48.79 | |
| 7 | 6 | Malik James-King | Jamaica | 48.85 | |
| 8 | 2 | Berke Akçam | Turkey | 49.12 | |

#### Semifinal 3

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Rai Benjamin | United States | 47.85 | Q |
| 2 | 8 | Roshawn Clarke | Jamaica | 48.34 | Q |
| 3 | 7 | Wilfried Happio | France | 48.66 | |
| 4 | 6 | Matheus Lima | Brazil | 49.08 | |
| 5 | 4 | Wiseman Mukhobe | Kenya | 49.22 | |
| 6 | 3 | Carl Bengtström | Sweden | 49.56 | |
| 7 | 2 | Gerald Drummond | Costa Rica | 49.68 | |
| 8 | 9 | Alastair Chalmers | Great Britain | 56.52 | |

### Final

The final is scheduled to be held on 9 August, starting at 21:45 (UTC+2) in the evening.
| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | 8 | Rai Benjamin | United States | 46.46 | =SB |
| | 7 | Karsten Warholm | Norway | 47.06 | |
| | 3 | Alison dos Santos | Brazil | 47.26 | |
| 4 | 5 | Clément Ducos | France | 47.76 | |
| 5 | 6 | Kyron McMaster | British Virgin Islands | 47.79 | SB |
| 6 | 2 | Abderrahman Samba | Qatar | 47.98 | |
| 7 | 4 | Rasmus Mägi | Estonia | 52.53 | |
| - | 9 | Roshawn Clarke | Jamaica | DNF | |