# 1988 World Junior Championships in Athletics – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres event at the 1988 World Junior Championships in Athletics was held in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, at Laurentian University Stadium on 27, 28 and 29 July.

## Medalists

| Gold | Tomasz Jędrusik Poland |
| Silver | Steve Perry Australia |
| Bronze | Anthony Eziuka Nigeria |

## Results
### Final

29 July
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| | Tomasz Jędrusik | Poland | 46.19 |
| | Steve Perry | Australia | 46.74 |
| | Anthony Eziuka | Nigeria | 46.81 |
| 4 | Mark Richardson | United Kingdom | 46.94 |
| 5 | Wayne McDonald | United Kingdom | 47.08 |
| 6 | Joseph Chepsiror Kiptanui | Kenya | 47.22 |
| 7 | Pedro Cañete | Cuba | 47.28 |
| 8 | Daniel England | Jamaica | 47.48 |

### Semifinals

28 July

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Steve Perry | Australia | 46.21 | Q |
| 2 | Mark Richardson | United Kingdom | 46.43 | Q |
| 3 | Anthony Eziuka | Nigeria | 46.66 | q |
| 4 | Jerome Williams | United States | 46.89 | |
| 5 | Mark Jackson | Canada | 47.56 | |
| 6 | Shigeaki Matsunaga | Japan | 48.17 | |
| | Joseph Tengelei | Kenya | DQ | |
| | Geoffrey Clark | New Zealand | DQ | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Wayne McDonald | United Kingdom | 46.29 | Q |
| 2 | Joseph Chepsiror Kiptanui | Kenya | 46.32 | Q |
| 3 | Pedro Cañete | Cuba | 46.86 | q |
| 4 | Jesse Carr | United States | 47.30 | |
| 5 | Thierry Jean-Charles | France | 47.70 | |
| 6 | Kiril Raykov | Bulgaria | 48.74 | |
| 7 | Ilidio Motty | Portugal | 49.82 | |
| | Samuel Matete | Zambia | DQ | |

#### Semifinal 3

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Tomasz Jędrusik | Poland | 46.16 | Q |
| 2 | Daniel England | Jamaica | 46.71 | Q |
| 3 | Brian Dicker | Canada | 47.29 | |
| 4 | Masaru Komori | Japan | 47.47 | |
| 5 | Anthony Ryan | Australia | 47.62 | |
| 6 | Olivier Noirot | France | 47.68 | |
| 7 | Omokhegbele Okotako | Nigeria | 49.26 | |
| 8 | Nicolás Rodríguez | Argentina | 49.93 | |

### Heats

27 July

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Daniel England | Jamaica | 47.18 | Q |
| 2 | Pedro Cañete | Cuba | 47.43 | Q |
| 3 | Mark Jackson | Canada | 47.64 | Q |
| 4 | Joseph Tengelei | Kenya | 48.02 | q |
| 5 | Inaldo de Sena | Brazil | 48.30 | |
| 6 | Muhammad Sadaqat | Pakistan | 49.33 | |
| | José Hernández | Puerto Rico | DQ | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Joseph Chepsiror Kiptanui | Kenya | 46.54 | Q |
| 2 | Mark Richardson | United Kingdom | 46.63 | Q |
| 3 | Olivier Noirot | France | 47.43 | Q |
| 4 | Brian Dicker | Canada | 47.70 | q |
| 5 | Feru Dadi | Ethiopia | 48.24 | |
| 6 | Gilmar da Silva | Brazil | 49.97 | |
| 7 | Mitchell Peters | U.S. Virgin Islands | 50.17 | |
| 8 | Gilbert Hashan | Mauritius | 50.19 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Samuel Matete | Zambia | 46.88 | Q |
| 2 | Thierry Jean-Charles | France | 47.20 | Q |
| 3 | Masaru Komori | Japan | 47.49 | Q |
| 4 | Omokhegbele Okotako | Nigeria | 47.73 | q |
| 5 | Eversley Linley | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 48.65 | |
| 6 | Ibrahim Abdirashid Aden | Somalia | 49.00 | |
| 7 | Eric Krings | Guatemala | 50.71 | |
| 8 | Legesse Dereba | Ethiopia | 51.10 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Anthony Ryan | Australia | 47.08 | Q |
| 2 | Jesse Carr | United States | 47.49 | Q |
| 3 | Geoffrey Clark | New Zealand | 47.63 | Q |
| 4 | Miguel Cuesta | Spain | 48.29 | |
| 5 | Raffaele Altissimo | Italy | 48.54 | |
| | Barrington Campbell | Jamaica | DNF | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Anthony Eziuka | Nigeria | 47.29 | Q |
| 2 | Jerome Williams | United States | 47.34 | Q |
| 3 | Ilidio Motty | Portugal | 47.92 | Q |
| 4 | Joel Otim-Bua | Uganda | 48.10 | |
| 5 | Gianrico Boncompagni | Italy | 48.23 | |
| 6 | William Archer | British Virgin Islands | 52.60 | |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Steve Perry | Australia | 46.79 | Q |
| 2 | Kiril Raykov | Bulgaria | 48.05 | Q |
| 3 | Nicolás Rodríguez | Argentina | 49.12 | Q |
| 4 | Peter Merchant | Antigua and Barbuda | 50.68 | |
| | Yeóryios Panayiotopoulos | Greece | DQ | |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Tomasz Jędrusik | Poland | 46.50 | Q |
| 2 | Wayne McDonald | United Kingdom | 47.58 | Q |
| 3 | Shigeaki Matsunaga | Japan | 48.02 | Q |
| 4 | Lin Kuang-Liang | Chinese Taipei | 48.15 | |
| 5 | Aurelio Mancheno | Ecuador | 48.63 | |
| 6 | Grzegorz Machelski | Poland | 48.74 | |

## Participation

According to an unofficial count, 46 athletes from 33 countries participated in the event.
* Antigua and Barbuda (1)
* Argentina (1)
* Australia (2)
* Brazil (2)
* British Virgin Islands (1)
* Bulgaria (1)
* Canada (2)
* Chinese Taipei (1)
* Cuba (1)
* Ecuador (1)
* Ethiopia (2)
* France (2)
* Greece (1)
* Guatemala (1)
* Italy (2)
* Jamaica (2)
* Japan (2)
* Kenya (2)
* Mauritius (1)
* New Zealand (1)
* Nigeria (2)
* Pakistan (1)
* Poland (2)
* Portugal (1)
* Puerto Rico (1)
* Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (1)
* Somalia (1)
* Spain (1)
* Uganda (1)
* United Kingdom (2)
* United States (2)
* U.S. Virgin Islands (1)
* Zambia (1)