# 2022 World Athletics Championships – Women's 400 metres

The women's 400 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Championships was held at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, U.S. from 17 to 22 July 2022.

## Summary

In the absence of defending champion, #3 all time Salwa Eid Naser due to a succession of missed drug tests, #7 and double Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Marileidy Paulino were among the handful of athletes who had broken 50 seconds in 2022. Those two were the only ones to achieve the feat in the semis, though all auto qualifiers were under 50.2.
Adorned with green hair, Miller-Uibo quickly shortened the stagger between herself and Fiordaliza Cofil and then Candice McLeod to her outside. On the far outside, Lieke Klaver, Sada Williams and Paulino were doing the best to hold their position against Miller-Uibo. Williams accelerated slightly through the final turn, coming off in second place, slightly ahead of Paulino. The final 100m is Paulino's territory. Se separated from Williams but was unable to make up any ground on Miller-Uibo.
Miller-Uibo's 49.11 became the new world leader for the year. Williams became the first female medalist for Barbados, improving on her own National Record.

## 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 | Marileidy Paulino (DOM) | 49.49 | La Nucia, Spain | 21 May 2022 |
| 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 51.35.

## Schedule

The event schedule, in local time (UTC−7), was as follows:
| Date | Time | Round |
| 17 July | 12:00 | Heats |
| 20 July | 18:45 | Semi-finals |
| 22 July | 19:15 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

The first 3 athletes in each heat (Q) and the next 6 fastest (q) qualify for the heats.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Stephenie Ann McPherson | Jamaica (JAM) | 50.15 | Q, SB |
| 2 | 2 | Natalia Kaczmarek | Poland (POL) | 50.21 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Lieke Klaver | Netherlands (NED) | 50.24 | Q, NR |
| 4 | 6 | Anna Kiełbasińska | Poland (POL) | 50.63 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | Marileidy Paulino | Dominican Republic (DOM) | 50.76 | Q |
| 6 | 6 | Candice McLeod | Jamaica (JAM) | 50.78 | Q |
| 7 | 3 | Sada Williams | Barbados (BAR) | 51.05 | Q |
| 8 | 6 | Victoria Ohuruogu | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 51.07 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | Bahamas (BAH) | 51.10 | Q |
| 10 | 2 | Nicole Yeargin | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 51.17 | q, SB |
| 11 | 5 | Fiordaliza Cofil | Dominican Republic (DOM) | 51.19 | Q |
| 12 | 3 | Modesta Justė Morauskaitė | Lithuania (LTU) | 51.27 | Q |
| 13 | 3 | Ama Pipi | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 51.32 | Q |
| 14 | 5 | Talitha Diggs | United States (USA) | 51.54 | Q |
| 15 | 2 | Cátia Azevedo | Portugal (POR) | 51.55 | q |
| 16 | 6 | Lada Vondrová | Czech Republic (CZE) | 51.55 | q |
| 17 | 4 | Rhasidat Adeleke | Ireland (IRL) | 51.59 | Q |
| 18 | 4 | Lynna Irby | United States (USA) | 51.78 | Q |
| 19 | 3 | Charokee Young | Jamaica (JAM) | 51.84 | q |
| 20 | 5 | Roxana Gómez | Cuba (CUB) | 51.85 | Q |
| 21 | 1 | Aliyah Abrams | Guyana (GUY) | 51.98 | Q |
| 22 | 1 | Gabby Scott | Puerto Rico (PUR) | 52.05 | Q |
| 23 | 2 | Tábata de Carvalho | Brazil (BRA) | 52.17 | q |
| 24 | 1 | Susanne Walli | Austria (AUT) | 52.18 | q |
| 25 | 4 | Gunta Vaičule | Latvia (LAT) | 52.21 | |
| 26 | 3 | Sophie Becker | Ireland (IRL) | 52.24 | |
| 27 | 1 | Paola Morán | Mexico (MEX) | 52.28 | |
| 28 | 6 | Natassha McDonald | Canada (CAN) | 52.41 | |
| 29 | 4 | Lauren Gale | Canada (CAN) | 52.46 | |
| 30 | 1 | Kendall Ellis | United States (USA) | 52.55 | |
| 31 | 3 | Camille Laus | Belgium (BEL) | 52.56 | |
| 32 | 3 | Eveline Saalberg | Netherlands (NED) | 52.59 | |
| 33 | 4 | Anita Horvat | Slovenia (SLO) | 52.67 | |
| 34 | 5 | Alice Mangione | Italy (ITA) | 52.72 | |
| 35 | 6 | Tiffani Marinho | Brazil (BRA) | 52.80 | |
| 36 | 4 | Imaobong Nse Uko | Nigeria (NGR) | 52.80 | |
| 37 | 2 | Niddy Mingilishi | Zambia (ZAM) | 52.84 | |
| 38 | 5 | Silke Lemmens | Switzerland (SUI) | 52.86 | |
| 39 | 5 | Aiyanna Stiverne | Canada (CAN) | 53.07 | |
| 40 | 5 | Naomi Van Den Broeck | Belgium (BEL) | 53.16 | |
| 41 | 1 | Miranda Charlene Coetzee | South Africa (RSA) | 53.30 | |
| 42 | 6 | Shereen Vallabouy | Malaysia (MAS) | 53.57 | |
| 43 | 6 | Rosie Elliott | New Zealand (NZL) | 54.92 | |

### Semi-finals

The semifinals started on 20 July at 18:45.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | Bahamas (BAH) | 49.55 | Q, SB |
| 2 | 3 | Marileidy Paulino | Dominican Republic (DOM) | 49.98 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Candice McLeod | Jamaica (JAM) | 50.05 | Q, SB |
| 4 | 3 | Sada Williams | Barbados (BAR) | 50.12 | Q, SB |
| 5 | 2 | Fiordaliza Cofil | Dominican Republic (DOM) | 50.14 | Q, PB |
| 6 | 2 | Lieke Klaver | Netherlands (NED) | 50.18 | Q, NR |
| 7 | 2 | Stephenie Ann McPherson | Jamaica (JAM) | 50.56 | q |
| 8 | 1 | Anna Kiełbasińska | Poland (POL) | 50.65 | q |
| 9 | 1 | Rhasidat Adeleke | Ireland (IRL) | 50.81 | |
| 10 | 3 | Talitha Diggs | United States (USA) | 50.84 | |
| 11 | 1 | Victoria Ohuruogu | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 50.99 | PB |
| 12 | 1 | Lynna Irby | United States (USA) | 51.00 | |
| 13 | 3 | Roxana Gómez | Cuba (CUB) | 51.12 | |
| 14 | 2 | Nicole Yeargin | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 51.22 | |
| 15 | 2 | Natalia Kaczmarek | Poland (POL) | 51.34 | |
| 16 | 3 | Charokee Young | Jamaica (JAM) | 51.41 | |
| 17 | 3 | Lada Vondrová | Czech Republic (CZE) | 51.47 | |
| 18 | 2 | Aliyah Abrams | Guyana (GUY) | 51.79 | |
| 19 | 1 | Cátia Azevedo | Portugal (POR) | 51.79 | |
| 20 | 2 | Gabby Scott | Puerto Rico (PUR) | 51.97 | |
| 21 | 3 | Modesta Justė Morauskaitė | Lithuania (LTU) | 52.19 | |
| 22 | 3 | Ama Pipi | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 52.28 | |
| 23 | 2 | Susanne Walli | Austria (AUT) | 52.37 | |
| 24 | 1 | Tábata de Carvalho | Brazil (BRA) | 52.42 | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | Bahamas (BAH) | 49.11 | WL |
| | Marileidy Paulino | Dominican Republic (DOM) | 49.60 | |
| | Sada Williams | Barbados (BAR) | 49.75 | NR |
| 4 | Lieke Klaver | Netherlands (NED) | 50.33 | |
| 5 | Stephenie Ann McPherson | Jamaica (JAM) | 50.36 | |
| 6 | Fiordaliza Cofil | Dominican Republic (DOM) | 50.57 | |
| 7 | Candice McLeod | Jamaica (JAM) | 50.78 | |
| 8 | Anna Kiełbasińska | Poland (POL) | 50.81 | |