The 400 metres hurdles is a

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

hurdling Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

event. The event has been on the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

programme since

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...

for men and since

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once around the stadium. Runners stay in their lanes the entire way after starting out of the blocks and must clear ten

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

that are evenly spaced around the track. The hurdles are positioned and weighted so that they fall forward if bumped into with sufficient force, to prevent injury to the runners. Although there is no longer any penalty for knocking hurdles over, runners prefer to clear them cleanly, as touching them during the race slows runners down. The current men's and women's

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

holders are

Karsten Warholm Karsten Warholm (; born 28 February 1996) is a Norwegian Sport of athletics, sprinter who competes in the 400 metres and 400 metres hurdles, 400 m hurdles. He is the Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics, 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion, silver meda ...

with 45.94 seconds and

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Sydney Michelle McLaughlin-Levrone ( ; ; born August 7, 1999) is an American hurdler and sprinter who competes in the 400 meters hurdles and is the world record holder in that event. She has won gold in the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, as ...

with 50.37 seconds. Compared to the

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 ...

run, the hurdles race takes the men about three seconds longer and the women four seconds longer. Men clear hurdles that are high, while women negotiate barriers. The 400 m hurdles was held for both sexes at the inaugural

IAAF World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

. The first championship for women came at the

1980 World Championships in Athletics The 1980 World Championships in Athletics () was the second global, international athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Hosted from 14 to 16 August 1980 at the De Baandert in Sittard, Ne ...

– being held as a one-off due to the lack of a race at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

History

The first awards in a men's 400 m hurdles race were given in 1860 when a race was held in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, England, over a course of 440 yards (402.336 m). While running the course, participants had to clear twelve wooden hurdles, over 100 centimetres tall, that had been spaced in even intervals. To reduce the risk of injury, somewhat more lightweight constructions were introduced in 1895 that runners could push over. However, until 1935 runners were disqualified if they pushed over more than three hurdles in a race and records were only officially accepted if the runner in question had cleared all hurdles clean and left them all standing. The 400 m hurdles became an Olympic event at the

1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 14 May to 28 October 1900. No opening or closin ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France. At the same time, the race was standardized; thus, virtually identical races could be held and the finish times compared to one other. As a result, the official distance was fixed to 400 metres, or one lap of the stadium, and the number of hurdles was reduced to ten. The official height of the hurdles was set to . The hurdles are now placed on the course with a run-up to the first hurdle of 45 metres, distance between the hurdles of 35 metres each, and home stretch from the last hurdle to finish line of 40 metres. The first documented 400 m hurdles race for women took place in 1971. In 1974, the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF), now known as

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

, introduced the event officially as a discipline, with hurdles at the lower height of . The women's race was not run at the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

until the 1984 Summer Games in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

where it was first staged with the first Men's World Champion having been crowned the year before at the

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inau ...

World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial sport of athletics, athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations ...

. A special edition of the Women's 400m Hurdles took place in the

1980 IAAF World Championships in Athletics The 1980 World Championships in Athletics () was the second global, international athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Hosted from 14 to 16 August 1980 at the De Baandert in Sittard, ...

in response to the Women's 400m Hurdles not being included at the boycotted

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, and

Liberty Bell Classic The Liberty Bell Classic was a track and field athletics event organized by the Athletics Congress as part of the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott and held at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on July 16 and 17, 19 ...

. Many athletic commentators and officials have often brought up the idea of lifting the height of the women's 400 m hurdles to incorporate a greater requirement of hurdling skill. This is a view held by German athletic coach

Norbert Stein Norbert is a Germanic given name and infrequent surname, from '' nord'' "north" and ''berht'' "bright". People with the given name Academia * Norbert Angermann (born 1936), German historian * Norbert A’Campo (born 1941), Swiss mathematician * ...

, "All this means that the women's hurdles for specialists, who are the target group to be dealt with in this discussion, is considerably depreciated in skill demands when compared to the men's hurdles. It should not be possible in the women's hurdles that the winner is an athlete whose performance in the flat sprint is demonstrably excellent but whose technique of hurdling is only moderate and whose anthropometric characteristics are not optimal. This was the case at the World Championships in Seville and the same problem can often be seen at international and national meetings."

Hurdling technique

In terms of technique and endurance, the 400-metre hurdles is arguably the most demanding event in the sprints and hurdles group. Athletes must be able to run a fast 400-metre flat time, maintain a good hurdling technique, and have a unique awareness of stride pattern between hurdles. The ideal time difference between an athlete's 400 time and their 400 hurdles time should be between 1.5 and 3 seconds. This variation depends on the specific qualities of the athlete. At the professional level, the women's hurdles are smaller (76cm) than the men's (91cm) which usually makes the 400-400hs average time difference smaller for female athletes. In 2024, the two fastest 400 hurdlers in the world (Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol) are also two of the fastest women in the open 400, based on their relay split compared to other athletes. To be able to maintain a good hurdling technique throughout the race it is important to work on step patterns. The number of steps an athlete takes during a 400 hurdles is called rhythm. Most 400 hurdlers know how many steps they are going to take in between each hurdle, starting from the block. The distance between the block and the first hurdle is 45 meters, which allows the fastest women to take 21 to 23 steps, while the fastest men can get down to 19 or 20. After the first one, the hurdles are 35 meters apart, and the tenth one is placed at 40 meters from the finish line. The internal steps from hurdle two to hurdle ten vary depending on the athlete's abilities, speed, technique, and personal preferences. The most skilled athletes can change their rhythm depending on how fast they need, or want, to run. For example, Karsten Warholm ran 13 steps up to hurdle seven, then decided to switch to 15 steps for the last three hurdles at the Paris Olympics, because he is more comfortable going over hurdles with his dominant leg. An even number of steps in between the hurdles implies alternating which leg goes over it first (lead leg), while an uneven number of steps allows for going over the hurdles with the same leg. Furthermore, athletes must possess anaerobic endurance over the final 150 to 100 metres of the race as, at this point, lactate (the

conjugate base A conjugate acid, within the Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory, is a chemical compound formed when an acid gives a proton () to a base—in other words, it is a base with a hydrogen ion added to it, as it loses a hydrogen ion in the reve ...

of lactic acid) will accumulate in the body from

anaerobic glycolysis Anaerobic glycolysis is the transformation of glucose to lactate when limited amounts of oxygen (O2) are available. This occurs in health as in exercising and in disease as in sepsis and hemorrhagic shock. providing energy for a period ranging fr ...

Block start

When preparing to hurdle, the blocks should be set so that the athlete arrives at the first hurdle leading on the desired leg without inserting a stutter step. A stutter step is when the runner has to chop his or her stride down to arrive on the "correct" leg for take off. Throughout the race, any adjustments to stride length stride speed should be made several strides out from the hurdle because a stutter or being too far from the hurdle at takeoff will result in loss of momentum and speed.

Hurdling

At the beginning of the take-off, the knee must be driven toward the hurdle and the foot then extended. The leg position when extended must be stretched out, in a position of a split. The knee should be slightly bent when crossing the hurdle. Unless an athlete's body has great flexibility, the knee must be slightly bent to allow a forward body lean. Unlike the 110m hurdles, a significant forward body lean is not that necessary due to the hurdles being lower. However, the trail leg must be kept bent and short to provide a quick lever action allowing a fast hurdle clearance. The knee should pull through under the armpit and should not be flat across the top of the hurdle. It is also important that the hurdler does not reach out on the last stride before the hurdle as this will result in a longer bound being made to clear the hurdle. This will also result in a loss of momentum if the foot lands well in front of the center of gravity.

Stride length

Using a left lead leg on the bends allows the hurdler to run closer to the inside of the lane and cover a shorter distance. Additionally, if the left leg is used for the lead, then the athlete's upper body can be leaned to the left, making it easier to bring the trail leg through. Additionally, an athlete hurdling with a right leg lead around the bends must take care that they do not inadvertently trail their foot or toe around the hurdle rather than passing over the top, which would lead to a disqualification from the race. Depending on the height and strength of the athlete, men work toward a stride pattern of 13 to 15 steps between each hurdle, and women work toward a stride pattern of 15 to 17. This does not include the landing step from the previous hurdle.

Edwin Moses Edwin Corley Moses (born August 31, 1955) is an Americans, American former Hurdling, hurdler who won gold medals in the 400 metres hurdles, 400 m hurdles at the 1976 Summer Olympics, 1976 and 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 Olympics. Between 1977 an ...

was the first man to keep 13 strides throughout an entire race. Weaker athletes will typically hold a longer step pattern throughout the race so that they do not bound or reach with each step, which also results in a loss of speed. These patterns are ideal because it allows the hurdler to take off from their predominant leg throughout the race without switching legs. However, fatigue from the race will knock athletes off their stride pattern and force runners to switch legs. At an early age, many coaches train their athletes to hurdle with both legs. This is a useful skill to learn since as a runner tires, their stride length may decrease, resulting in the need either to add a stutter stride, or to take a hurdle on the other leg. Even though some athletes prefer using their dominant leg as lead, every professional knows how to go over hurdles with both legs. Some athletes have started choosing an even rhythm (Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone does 14 steps for most of her race).

Continental Records

*Updated 14 July 2024.

All-time top 25

Men

* Correct as of June 2025.

Women

*Correct as of June 2025.

Annulled marks

The following athletes have had their personal best annulled due to doping offences:

Milestones

* Men ** First official

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

world record: 55.0 seconds,

Charles Bacon Charles James Bacon Jr. (January 9, 1885 – November 15, 1968) was an American athlete and a member of the Irish American Athletic Club and the New York City Police Department. He won the 400 metres hurdles at the 1908 Summer Olympics. H ...

(USA), 1908 ** First under 54 seconds: 53.8 seconds,

Sten Pettersson Sten Karl Leopold "Sten-Pelle" Pettersson (11 September 1902 – 1 June 1984) was a Swedish track and field athlete who competed in sprint and hurdling events. He competed at the 1924, 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympics in the 110 and 400 m hurdles ...

(SWE), 1925 ** First under 53 seconds: 52.6 seconds, John Gibson (USA), 1927 ** First under 52 seconds: 51.7 seconds,

Bob Tisdall Robert Morton Newburgh Tisdall (16 May 1907 in Nuwara Eliya, Ceylon – 27 July 2004 in Nambour, Queensland, Australia) was an Irish athlete who won a gold medal in the 400-metre hurdles at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Tisdall was ...

(IRL), 1932 ** First under 51 seconds: 50.6 seconds,

Glenn Hardin Glenn Foster "Slats" Hardin (July 1, 1910 – March 6, 1975) was an American athlete, winner of 400 m hurdles at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Born in Derma, Mississippi, Glenn Hardin was the world's dominant 400 m hurdler in the 1930s and was equ ...

(USA), 1934 ** First under 50 seconds: 49.5 seconds, Glenn Davis (USA), 1956 ** First under 49 seconds: 48.8 seconds,

Geoff Vanderstock Geoffrey Peter Vanderstock (born October 8, 1946) is an American track and field athlete primarily known for running hurdles. He was once the world record holder in the 400 metres hurdles. His 48.94 was set at the high altitude United States Ol ...

(USA), 1968 ** First under 48 seconds: 47.82 seconds,

John Akii-Bua John Akii-Bua (3 December 1949 – 20 June 1997) was a Ugandan hurdler and the first Olympic champion from his country Uganda. In 1986, he was a recipient of the Silver Olympic Order. Biography Akii-Bua was raised in a family of 43 child ...

(UGA), 1972 ** First under 47 seconds: 46.78 seconds, Kevin Young (USA), 1992 ** First under 46 seconds: 45.94 seconds,

(NOR), 2021 * Women ** First official world record: 56.51 seconds, Krystyna Kacperczyk (POL), 1974 ** First under 56 seconds: 55.74 seconds, Tatyana Storozheva (URS), 1977 ** First under 55 seconds: 54.89 seconds, Tatyana Zelentsova (URS), 1978 ** First under 54 seconds: 53.58 seconds,

Margarita Ponomaryova Margarita Anatolyevna Ponomaryova (; 19 June 1963 – 16 September 2021), also known as Margarita Khromova, was a hurdler from Russia, best known for setting the world record in the women's 400 metres hurdles in 1984 with 53.58 secs. Ponomaryov ...

(URS), 1984 ** First under 53 seconds: 52.94 seconds, Marina Stepanova (URS), 1986 ** First under 52 seconds: 51.90 seconds,

(USA), 2021 ** First under 51 seconds: 50.68 seconds,

(USA), 2022

Most successful athletes

American athlete Glenn Davis had a prodigious start to his hurdling career, running his first race in April 1956 in 54.4 s. Two months later, he ran a new world record with 49.5 s and later that year he won the 400 m hurdles at the Olympics, and was also the first to repeat that feat in 1960. In terms of success and longevity in competition,

' record is significant: he won 122 races in a row between 1977 and 1987 plus two gold medals, at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

in Montréal and the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

in Los Angeles. He was undefeated for exactly nine years nine months and nine days, from 26 August 1977 until 4 June 1987. He finished third in the 1988 Olympic final, the last race of his career. He also held the world record for sixteen years from when he first broke it at the Olympics on 25 July 1976 until it was finally broken by Kevin Young at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

in Barcelona. Ed moses

* Olympic Games & World Championships victories **

(USA), Olympic 1976, 1984, World 1983, 1987 ** Felix Sanchez (DOM), Olympic 2004, 2012, World 2001, 2003 **

(NOR), Olympic 2020, World 2017, 2019, 2023 **

Kerron Clement Kerron Stephon Clement (born October 31, 1985) is a Trinidadian-born American track and field athlete who competes in the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter sprint. He held the List of world indoor records in athletics, indoor world record in the 4 ...

(USA), Olympic 2016, World 2007, 2009 **

Sally Gunnell Sally Jane Janet Gunnell, OBE, DL (born 29 July 1966) is a British former track-and-field athlete, who won the 1992 Olympic gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles. During a 24-month period between 1992 and 1994, Gunnell won every international ...

(GBR), Olympic 1992, World 1993 ** Kevin Young (USA), Olympic 1992, World 1993 **

Derrick Adkins Derrick Ralph Adkins (born July 2, 1970) is a former American track and field athlete who specialized in the 400-meter hurdles. He was an Olympic gold medalist in that event at the 1996 Summer Olympics and World Champion at the 1995 World Cham ...

(USA), Olympic 1996, World 1995 **

Melaine Walker Melaine Walker (born 1 March 1983) is a Jamaican 400 metres hurdler. She was born in Kingston. Walker is the former Olympic 400 m hurdles champion.Lewis, Richard (2009-08-20)For Walker, World record assault next item on the agenda?". ''IAAF' ...

(JAM), Olympic 2008, World 2009 **

Lashinda Demus Lashinda Demus (born March 10, 1983, in Inglewood, California) is a retired American hurdler who specialized in the 400 meter hurdles, an event in which she was the 2011 world champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist, becoming the first woman from ...

(USA), Olympic 2012, World 2011 **

Dalilah Muhammad Dalilah Muhammad (born February 7, 1990) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 metres hurdles, 400 meters hurdles. She is the Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics, 2016 Rio Olympics champion and Athletics at the 2020 ...

(USA), Olympic 2016, World 2019 **

(USA) Olympic 2020, 2024, World 2022 * Two Olympic victories: ** Glenn Davis (USA), 1956 and 1960 **

(USA), 1976 and 1984 (also bronze in 1988) **

Angelo Taylor Angelo F. Taylor (born December 29, 1978) is an American track and field athlete, winner of 400-meter hurdles at the 2000 and 2008 Summer Olympics. His personal record for the hurdles event is 47.25 seconds. His time puts him in a tie with ...

(USA), 2000 and 2008 ** Félix Sánchez (DOM), 2004 and 2012 **

(USA), 2020 and 2024 *Three World Championships: **

(NOR), 2017, 2019 and 2023 * Two World Championships: **

(USA), 1983 and 1987 ** Félix Sánchez (DOM), 2001 and 2003 (won silver in 2007) **

(USA), 2007 and 2009 **

Nezha Bidouane Nezha Bidouane (; born on 18 September 1969 in Rabat) is a retired Moroccan track and field hurdler who specialised in the 400 metres hurdles. A two-time World champion, she won the 400 m hurdles gold medal at the 1997 World Championships in A ...

(MAR), 1997 and 2001 (won silver in 1999) **

Jana Pittman Jana Pittman (born 9 November 1982) is an Australian former athlete. During her athletic career Pittman specialised in the 400 metres run and 400-metre hurdles events. She is a two-time world champion in the 400 m hurdles, from 2003 and 2007. ...

(AUS), 2003 and 2007 **

Zuzana Hejnová Zuzana Hejnová (; born 19 December 1986) is a retired Czech athlete who specialised in the 400 metres hurdles. She won the silver medal in the event at the 2012 London Olympics. Hejnová is a two-time World Champion, having claimed titles at t ...

(CZE), 2013 and 2015

Olympic medalists

Men

Women

World Championships medalists

Men

Women

* The official

began in 1983 as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, but in 1980, the women's 3000 metres and 400 metres hurdles events had a World Championship competition in

Sittard Sittard (; ) is a city in the Netherlands, situated in the southernmost province of Limburg. The town is part of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen and has almost 37,500 inhabitants in 2016. In its east, Sittard borders the German municipal ...

, Netherlands. This was due to these events not yet being on the Olympic program (the same had happened in 1976 for the men's 50 km walk).

Season's bests

National records

Men

*Updated 14 June 2025. Equal or superior to 48.00 s:

Women

*Updated 8 August 2024. Equal or superior to 54.00 s:

Notes and references

External links

IAAF list of 400-metres-hurdles records in XML
{{DEFAULTSORT:400 Metre Hurdles Events in track and field Summer Olympic disciplines in athletics Hurdling