# 1997 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 400 metres

These are the results of the Men's 400 metres event at the 1997 World Championships in Athletics in Athens, Greece. The winning margin was 0.25 seconds.

## Medalists

| Gold | Michael Johnson United States (USA) |
| Silver | Davis Kamoga Uganda (UGA) |
| Bronze | Tyree Washington United States (USA) |

## Results
### Heats

First 4 of each Heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) qualified for the quarterfinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6 | Jerome Young | United States | 45.34 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Sanderlei Claro Parrela | Brazil | 45.35 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Tyree Washington | United States | 45.35 | Q |
| 4 | 6 | Mark Richardson | Great Britain | 45.44 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | Sugath Tillakeratne | Sri Lanka | 45.58 | Q, NR |
| 6 | 3 | Ibrahima Wade | Senegal | 45.61 | Q |
| 7 | 4 | Iwan Thomas | Great Britain | 45.62 | Q |
| 8 | 5 | Michael Johnson | United States | 45.66 | Q |
| 9 | 3 | Matthias Rusterholz | Switzerland | 45.76 | q, SB |
| 10 | 4 | Davian Clarke | Jamaica | 45.77 | Q |
| 11 | 5 | Eswort Coombs | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 45.78 | Q |
| 12 | 6 | Sunday Bada | Nigeria | 45.79 | Q |
| 13 | 4 | Tomasz Czubak | Poland | 45.82 | Q |
| 14 | 5 | Hachim Ndiaye | Senegal | 45.84 | Q |
| 14 | 7 | Štefan Balošák | Slovakia | 45.84 | Q |
| 16 | 1 | Jamie Baulch | Great Britain | 45.85 | Q |
| 16 | 3 | Jean-Louis Rapnouil | France | 45.85 | q |
| 18 | 5 | Kennedy Ochieng | Kenya | 45.88 | Q |
| 18 | 6 | Ibrahim Ismail Muftah | Qatar | 45.88 | Q |
| 20 | 2 | Michael McDonald | Jamaica | 45.89 | Q |
| 21 | 5 | Marco Vaccari | Italy | 46.00 | q |
| 22 | 1 | Roxbert Martin | Jamaica | 46.04 | Q |
| 23 | 4 | Arnaud Malherbe | South Africa | 46.08 | Q |
| 24 | 1 | Tawanda Chiwira | Zimbabwe | 46.09 | Q |
| 25 | 7 | Clement Chukwu | Nigeria | 46.10 | Q |
| 26 | 7 | Robert Maćkowiak | Poland | 46.15 | Q |
| 27 | 2 | Davis Kamoga | Uganda | 46.17 | Q |
| 28 | 4 | Samir-Adel Louahla | Algeria | 46.22 | q |
| 29 | 2 | Alejandro Cardenas | Mexico | 46.26 | Q |
| 30 | 5 | Odair da Costa | São Tomé and Príncipe | 46.48 | PB |
| 31 | 6 | Soloveni Nakaunicina | Fiji | 46.51 | |
| 32 | 5 | Jan Poděbradský | Czech Republic | 46.52 | |
| 33 | 1 | Benjamin Youla | Republic of the Congo | 46.62 | Q, NR |
| 34 | 4 | Konstantinos Moumoulidis | Greece | 46.64 | |
| 35 | 1 | Roman Galkin | Ukraine | 46.82 | |
| 36 | 1 | Antonio Andrés | Spain | 46.94 | |
| 37 | 7 | Rafik Elouardi | Austria | 46.95 | |
| 38 | 6 | Shigekazu Omori | Japan | 47.09 | |
| 39 | 3 | Kenmore Hughes | Antigua and Barbuda | 47.11 | SB |
| 40 | 2 | Shon Ju-Il | South Korea | 47.47 | Q |
| 41 | 4 | Evripides Demosthenous | Cyprus | 47.57 | |
| 42 | 2 | Liod Kgopong | South Africa | 47.66 | |
| 43 | 2 | Kendon Maynard | United States Virgin Islands | 47.83 | |
| 44 | 7 | Dennis Darling | Bahamas | 47.96 | |
| 45 | 6 | Eugene Farrell | Ireland | 48.20 | SB |
| 46 | 7 | Angelo Ignatius | Netherlands Antilles | 49.01 | |
| 47 | 2 | Mohsin Munir | Pakistan | 49.61 | |
| 48 | 6 | Bashir Mohamed Al Khewani | Yemen | 50.96 | |
| | 7 | Antonio Pettigrew | United States | DQ | Q |
| | 1 | Neil de Silva | Trinidad and Tobago | DNF | |
| | 2 | Jude Monye | Nigeria | DNS | |

### Quarterfinals

First 3 of each Heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Jerome Young | United States | 44.87 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Iwan Thomas | Great Britain | 44.98 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Mark Richardson | Great Britain | 45.05 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Jamie Baulch | Great Britain | 45.06 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Clement Chukwu | Nigeria | 45.06 | Q |
| 6 | 3 | Tyree Washington | United States | 45.09 | Q |
| 7 | 4 | Michael McDonald | Jamaica | 45.16 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | Davis Kamoga | Uganda | 45.25 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | Robert Maćkowiak | Poland | 45.26 | Q, NR |
| 10 | 3 | Davian Clarke | Jamaica | 45.27 | Q |
| 11 | 1 | Roxbert Martin | Jamaica | 45.37 | q |
| 11 | 4 | Sunday Bada | Nigeria | 45.37 | q, SB |
| 13 | 2 | Ibrahima Wade | Senegal | 45.38 | Q |
| 14 | 2 | Michael Johnson | United States | 45.39 | q |
| 15 | 4 | Tomasz Czubak | Poland | 45.41 | q, PB |
| 16 | 3 | Hachim Ndiaye | Senegal | 45.44 | PB |
| 17 | 2 | Eswort Coombs | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 45.47 | |
| 18 | 1 | Štefan Balošák | Slovakia | 45.48 | |
| 19 | 1 | Matthias Rusterholz | Switzerland | 45.89 | |
| 20 | 3 | Sugath Tillakeratne | Sri Lanka | 46.11 | |
| 21 | 4 | Ibrahim Ismail Muftah | Qatar | 46.12 | |
| 22 | 2 | Jean-Louis Rapnouil | France | 46.14 | |
| 23 | 2 | Tawanda Chiwira | Zimbabwe | 46.22 | |
| 24 | 4 | Samir-Adel Louahla | Algeria | 46.23 | |
| 25 | 3 | Kennedy Ochieng | Kenya | 46.28 | |
| 26 | 2 | Benjamin Youla | Republic of the Congo | 46.29 | NR |
| 27 | 3 | Marco Vaccari | Italy | 46.32 | |
| 28 | 1 | Alejandro Cardenas | Mexico | 46.63 | |
| 29 | 4 | Arnaud Malherbe | South Africa | 46.73 | |
| 30 | 1 | Shon Ju-Il | South Korea | 47.36 | |
| | 1 | Antonio Pettigrew | United States | DQ | Q |
| | 3 | Sanderlei Claro Parrela | Brazil | DNS | |

### Semifinals

First 4 of each Semifinal qualified directly (Q) for the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Michael Johnson | United States | 44.37 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Jerome Young | United States | 44.50 | Q, SB |
| 3 | 2 | Davis Kamoga | Uganda | 44.57 | Q, SB |
| 4 | 1 | Tyree Washington | United States | 44.61 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Iwan Thomas | Great Britain | 44.61 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Mark Richardson | Great Britain | 44.62 | Q, SB |
| 7 | 1 | Jamie Baulch | Great Britain | 44.69 | Q, SB |
| 8 | 1 | Davian Clarke | Jamaica | 45.07 | |
| 9 | 2 | Clement Chukwu | Nigeria | 45.26 | |
| 10 | 1 | Ibrahima Wade | Senegal | 45.47 | |
| 11 | 2 | Roxbert Martin | Jamaica | 45.49 | |
| 12 | 2 | Tomasz Czubak | Poland | 45.51 | |
| 13 | 2 | Michael McDonald | Jamaica | 45.74 | |
| 14 | 1 | Sunday Bada | Nigeria | 45.96 | |
| | 1 | Antonio Pettigrew | United States | DQ | Q |
| | 1 | Robert Maćkowiak | Poland | DNS | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | Michael Johnson | United States | 44.12 | |
| | 7 | Davis Kamoga | Uganda | 44.37 | NR |
| | 3 | Tyree Washington | United States | 44.39 | PB |
| 4 | 5 | Mark Richardson | Great Britain | 44.47 | PB |
| 5 | 6 | Jerome Young | United States | 44.51 | |
| 6 | 2 | Iwan Thomas | Great Britain | 44.52 | |
| 7 | 1 | Jamie Baulch | Great Britain | 45.22 | |
| | 8 | Antonio Pettigrew | United States | DQ | |