# 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 400 metres

The women's 400 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships took place in three rounds at the Štark Arena in Belgrade, Serbia, on 18 and 19 March 2022.
The gold medal was won by Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas in 50.31 seconds, the silver medal by Femke Bol in 50.57 seconds of the Netherlands and the bronze medal by Stephenie Ann McPherson of Jamaica in 50.79 seconds.

## Background

Records before the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships :
| Record | Athlete (Nation) | Time | Location | Date |
| World indoor record | Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH) | 49.59 | Milano, Italy | 7 March 1982 |
| Championship record | Olesya Krasnomovets-Forsheva (RUS) | 50.04 | Moscow, Russia | 12 March 2006 |
| World leading | Femke Bol (NED) | 50.30 | Apeldoorn, Netherlands | 27 February 2022 |

## Results
### Round 1

The heats were started on 18 March at 11:41. The first two runners in each heat (Q) and the next two fastest runners (q) qualified for the semi-finals.
Results of round 1 :
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | 5 | Femke Bol | Netherlands | 51.48 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | 2 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | Bahamas | 51.74 | Q, SB |
| 3 | 1 | 6 | Phil Healy | Ireland | 51.75 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | 5 | Stephenie Ann McPherson | Jamaica | 51.86 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | 5 | Lieke Klaver | Netherlands | 51.96 | Q |
| 6 | 5 | 6 | Modesta Justė Morauskaitė | Lithuania | 52.11 | q |
| 7 | 4 | 5 | Natalia Kaczmarek | Poland | 52.22 | Q |
| 8 | 5 | 4 | Roxana Gómez | Cuba | 52.25 | q, SB |
| 9 | 4 | 4 | Aliyah Abrams | Guyana | 52.34 | Q |
| 10 | 3 | 6 | Justyna Święty-Ersetic | Poland | 52.37 | Q |
| 11 | 4 | 3 | Camille Laus | Belgium | 52.51 | SB |
| 12 | 2 | 6 | Ama Pipi | Great Britain | 52.53 | Q |
| 13 | 1 | 4 | Sada Williams | Barbados | 52.65 | |
| 14 | 2 | 3 | Jessica Beard | United States | 52.72 | |
| 15 | 4 | 6 | Lynna Irby | United States | 52.78 | |
| 16 | 1 | 3 | Roneisha McGregor | Jamaica | 52.89 | |
| 17 | 3 | 4 | Jessie Knight | Great Britain | 52.93 | Q |
| 18 | 3 | 5 | Lada Vondrová | Czech Republic | 52.94 | |
| 19 | 1 | 1 | Cátia Azevedo | Portugal | 53.01 | |
| 20 | 1 | 2 | Gunta Vaičule | Latvia | 53.05 | SB |
| 21 | 2 | 4 | Tereza Petržilková | Czech Republic | 53.05 | |
| 22 | 4 | 1 | Sara Gallego | Spain | 53.13 | |
| 23 | 5 | 3 | Maja Ćirić | Serbia | 53.36 | |
| 24 | 3 | 3 | Sophie Becker | Ireland | 53.47 | |
| 25 | 4 | 2 | Irini Vasiliou | Greece | 53.62 | SB |
| 26 | 3 | 2 | Megan Moss | Bahamas | 54.03 | |
| 27 | 2 | 2 | Micha Powell | Canada | 54.65 | |
| 28 | 5 | 1 | Yanique Haye-Smith | Turks and Caicos Islands | 56.20 | |

### Semi-finals

The two heats of the semi-finals were held on 18 March during the evening session, starting at 18:36. The first three runners in each heat qualified (Q) for the final.
Results of semi-finals :
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | 4 | Stephenie Ann McPherson | Jamaica | 51.26 | Q, SB |
| 2 | 1 | 5 | Femke Bol | Netherlands | 51.28 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | 5 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | Bahamas | 51.38 | Q, SB |
| 4 | 1 | 3 | Aliyah Abrams | Guyana | 51.57 | Q, AR |
| 5 | 2 | 3 | Justyna Święty-Ersetic | Poland | 51.67 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 4 | Lieke Klaver | Netherlands | 51.81 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | 6 | Natalia Kaczmarek | Poland | 51.87 | |
| 8 | 2 | 1 | Jessie Knight | Great Britain | 51.93 | SB |
| 9 | 2 | 2 | Modesta Justė Morauskaitė | Lithuania | 52.00 | |
| 10 | 1 | 2 | Roxana Gómez | Cuba | 52.28 | |
| 11 | 2 | 6 | Phil Healy | Ireland | 52.40 | |
| 12 | 1 | 1 | Ama Pipi | Great Britain | 52.95 | |

### Final

The final was started on 19 March at 19:55
Shaunae Miller-Uibo entered these championships with no other races this season, but as the two time Olympic gold medalist, her credentials preceded her. Each round was a season best for her. After being the #3 semi-finalist, she was drawn into lane 6, the widest turn favorable to her long stride.
Running two turns in lanes before breaking, Miller-Uibo reached the cones with the slightest of a margin ahead of Femke Bol, the #3 400 metres hurdler of all time outdoors. As the athletes collapsed to lane 1, Miller-Uibo's long strides put her solidly into the lead ahead of Bol, as the rest of the competitors fell into line behind them. Aliyah Abrams and Lieke Klaver traded elbows as Klaver kept Abrams to the outside, while Abrams maintained a slight advantage but couldn't get in front. Other than that battle, the finish order was set with a lap to go. Bol could make no headway against Miller-Uibo. Stephenie Ann McPherson made a run at Bol on the final straight out couldn't catch her.
Results of the final :
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | 6 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | Bahamas | 50.31 | SB |
| | 4 | Femke Bol | Netherlands | 50.57 | |
| | 5 | Stephenie Ann McPherson | Jamaica | 50.79 | NR |
| 4 | 3 | Justyna Święty-Ersetic | Poland | 51.40 | |
| 5 | 2 | Aliyah Abrams | Guyana | 52.34 | |
| 6 | 1 | Lieke Klaver | Netherlands | 52.67 | |