The men's 400 metres event at the

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

took place between 12 and 14 August at the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

. Fifty-three athletes from 35 nations competed. The event was won by

Wayde van Niekerk Wayde van Niekerk (South African English: , ; born 15 July 1992) is a South African track and field Sprint (running), sprinter who competes in the 200 metres, 200 and 400 metres. In the 400 metres, he is the current world record, world and ...

of South Africa, the nation's second gold medal in the men's 400 metres (after Bevil Rudd in 1920). Kirani James of Grenada and

LaShawn Merritt LaShawn Merritt (born June 27, 1986) is an American track and field athlete who competes in sprinting events, specializing in the 400 metres. He is a former Olympic champion over the distance and his personal best of 43.65 seconds makes him the ...

of the United States became the sixth and seventh men to win two medals in the event, but Michael Johnson remained the only man with two gold medals.

Summary

Kirani James was the Olympic champion in 2012 and was in good form before the competition with a run of 44.08 seconds placing him second on the global rankings. The 2008 Olympic champion

topped the lists for the season as the only man under 44 seconds.

ranked third and was the 2015 World Championships winner. At that competition the trio had all run under 44 seconds for medals (a first for the sport) and were the principal challengers to the Olympic title. Two younger athletes,

Baboloki Thebe Baboloki Tirelo Thebe (born 18 March 1997) is a Botswana track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. He was a silver medallist in the 200 metres at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics. He reached the semi-finals at the 2014 World Jun ...

and Machel Cedenio, were the next fastest athletes to enter. James was the fastest in the first round with 44.93 and Cedenio was the other heat winner under 45 seconds. The 2016 World Indoor Champion Pavel Maslák, David Verburg and Rafał Omelko qualified as fastest losers. Former European champions

Martyn Rooney Martyn Joseph Rooney (born 3 April 1987) is an English sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres event. He reached the 400 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics and won bronze in the 4×400 metres relay. A mainstay on the anchor leg of the ...

and

Kevin Borlée Kevin Borlée (; born 22 February 1988) is a Belgian sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres. He is a member of the Borlée family. Borlée won bronze at the 2011 World Championships in the 400m. He qualified for the finals of the 400 met ...

were eliminated. In the semi-finals, James had a season's best time of 44.02 to win the round nearly two tenths ahead of Merritt. Cedenio won the 2nd semi final ahead with van Niekerk second. Bralon Taplin won the third semi final. Fastest loser qualifiers Karabo Sibanda,

Matthew Hudson-Smith Matthew Hudson-Smith (born 26 October 1994) is a British track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. He holds, as of July 2022, the British record, running a personal best of 44.35 seconds for the distance set at Eugene, Oregon ...

and Ali Khamis all set personal bests. In the final, the three favorites James, van Niekerk and Merritt led from the start. By the end of the turn, van Niekerk had a clear 2 metre lead, Merritt just slightly ahead of James who had closed the gap during the turn. Cedenio was another four metres back, with Taplin another metre back. In the home straight van Niekerk increased his lead while James overtook Merritt, finishing second and third. Cedenio was fourth, Taplin faded, and in lane 1, 18-year-old Karabo Sibanda finished fifth. Van Niekerk set a new world record of 43.03 seconds, beating Michael Johnson’s previous record set at the 1999 World Championships by 0.15 seconds. Johnson was in the stadium, working in the British commentary booth. This was also the first time that the event has been won and the world record broken by a runner in lane 8. Cedenio set the national record for Trinidad and Tobago and Ali Khamis in sixth set the national record for Bahrain.

Background

This was the 28th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The top six finishers from 2012 (in order: Kirani James of Grenada, Luguelín Santos of the Dominican Republic,

Lalonde Gordon Lalonde Keida Gordon, HBM (born 25 November 1988) is a Tobagonian male track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. He won the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics with a personal best of 44.52 seconds. He is the third faste ...

of Trinidad and Tobago,

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to ''Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempor ...

of the Bahamas, and

and Jonathan Borlée of Belgium) returned.

of the United States, 2008 gold medalist who was injured and could not finish his heat in 2012, also returned. A new challenger was

of South Africa. James (2011), Merritt (2013), and van Niekerk (2015) were the latest three world champions. Bahrain and Niger appeared in this event for the first time. Also competing was one member of the Refugee Olympic Team. The United States made its 27th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Qualification

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

(NOC) could enter up to 3 qualified athletes in the men's 400 metres event if all athletes meet the entry standard during the qualifying period. (The limit of 3 has been in place since the 1930 Olympic Congress.) The qualifying standard was 45.40 seconds. The qualifying period was from 1 May 2015 to 11 July 2016. The qualifying time standards could be obtained in various meets during the given period that have the approval of the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

. Indoor and outdoor meets were accepted. NOCs could also use their universality place—each NOC could enter one male athlete regardless of time if they had no male athletes meeting the entry standard for an athletics event—in the 400 metres.

Competition format

The competition used the three-round format introduced in 2004. The "fastest loser" system, introduced in 1964, was used for the first round and semifinals. There were 7 first-round heats, each with 7 or 8 runners. The top three runners in each heat advanced, along with the next three fastest overall. The 24 semifinalists were divided into 3 heats of 8 runners each. The top two runners in each semifinal heat and the next two fastest overall advanced, making an eight-man final.Official Report, Results Book for Athletics.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows. The following new world, Olympic and African record were established during this competition: The following national records were established during the competition:

Schedule

All times are Brasília Standard Time ( UTC-3)

Results

Round 1

Qualification rule: first 3 of each heat (Q) plus the 3 fastest times (q) qualified.

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Heat 6

Heat 7

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Semifinal 3

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics - Men's 400 metres Men's 400 metres

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Men's events at the 2016 Summer Olympics