The men's

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

at the

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was held in four rounds at the

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, France, between 4-7 August 2024. This was the 30th time that the men's 400 metres was contested at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

. A total of 48 athletes were able to qualify for the event by entry standard or ranking. The 2024 men's final was the fastest 400-meter race in Olympic history, collectively: five of the eight men ran under 43.87 seconds, with these five times ranking among the top 15 fastest Olympic times. The winning margin was 0.04 seconds which is the narrowest winning margin in the men's 400 metres at the Olympics since the introduction of fully automatic timing. Steven Gardiner was a reigning champion in Tokyo 2021, but he did not start in the fourth heat.

Summary

The entire podium from Tokyo returned, Steven Gardiner, Anthony Zambrano and Kirani James. James was the 2012 Olympic champion and complete set of medals. Zambrano was largely absent during the season. Also returning was 5th place Michael Norman with a chip on his shoulder to settle. Norman won the 2022 World Championships but didn't get to 2023, won by Antonio Watson. The world leader for the season was 2022 bronze medalist Matthew Hudson-Smith. World record holder Wayde van Niekerk has been on the comeback trail after a devastating injury in 2017 but instead elected to run 200 metres. Watson didn't appear, and Gardiner didn't start. Zambrano didn't qualify into the semis. James won his semi in 43.78, the fastest semi ever, but he was pushed by Commonwealth Games Champion Muzala Samukonga in 43.81. Quincy Hall ran an eased up 43.95 to win his semi. On the inside lanes of the final, Norman and James got off fastest. Onto the back stretch, on the far outside Jereem Richards accelerated to take the lead, splitting 20.46 at the 200, with James, Hudson-Smith and Samukonga. Going into the turn Hall edged ahead of Norman into fifth. Coming off the turn Hudson-Smith assumed the lead barely ahead of Richards and James. Hall looked like he was struggling but had edged ahead of Samukonga. Down the home stretch with the three leaders holding the same positions trying to get to the finish. With his head shaking and arms pumping, Hall was moving faster than all of them, with Samukonga also sprinting home. Just before the line, Hall picked off all three leaders to cross the line with gold. Samukonga got past James and Richards to pick off a bronze. After the finish, Hall did a snow angel on the dry track to celebrate. Hall ran the #4 time in history, Hudson-Smith #5, the fastest non-winning time in history and a new European record. Samukonga #13 and Richards #14 also both achieved national records.

Background

The men's 400 metres has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since the inaugural edition in 1896. The reigning Olympic champion is Steven Gardiner from the Bahamas.

Qualification

For the men's 400 metres event, the qualification period is between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024.Sean McAlister,
How to qualify for athletics at Paris 2024. The Olympics qualification system explained
", '' Olympics.com'', 20 December 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2024. 48 athletes are able to qualify for the event, with a maximum of three athletes per nation, by running the entry standard of 45.00 seconds or faster or by their World Athletics Ranking for this event.

Results

Heats

The heats are scheduled to be held on 4 August, starting at 19:05 (UTC+2) in the evening.Paris 2024 - Olympic Schedule - Athletics
", '' Olympics.com''. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
''Qualification rule:'' First 3 in each heat (Q) advance to

semi-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

, all others advance to Repechage round (except DNS, DNF, DQ).

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Heat 6

Repechage round

The repechage round was scheduled to be held on 5 August, starting at 11:20 (UTC+2) in the morning.
''Qualification rule:'' First in each Repechage heat (Q) and next 2 fastest (q) advance to

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were scheduled to be held on 6 August, starting at 19:35 (UTC+2) in the evening.
''Qualification rule:'' First 2 in each heat (Q) and next 2 fastest (q) advance to

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Semifinal 3

Final

The final was scheduled to be held on 7 August, starting at 21:20 (UTC+2) in the evening.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 2024 Summer Olympics - Men's 400 metres Men's 400 metres

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Men's events at the 2024 Summer Olympics