400 metres hurdles at the Olympics

Longest hurdling event in the Olympic programme

400 metres hurdles
at the Olympic Games

The 2012 Olympic men's 400 m hurdles semi-final

Overview
Sport| Athletics
Gender| Men and women
Years held| Men: 1900– 1908, 1920 –2024
Women: 1984–2024
Olympic record
Men| 45.94 Karsten Warholm (2021)
Women| 50.37 Sydney McLaughlin (2024)
Reigning champion
Men|  Rai Benjamin (USA)
Women|  Sydney McLaughlin (USA)

The 400 metres hurdles at the Summer Olympics is the longest hurdling event held at the multi-sport event. The men's 400 m hurdles has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900, with a sole gap at the 1912 Summer Olympics. The women's event was added to the programme over eighty years later, at the 1984 Olympics. It is the most prestigious 400 m hurdles race at elite level.

The Olympic records for the event are 45.94 seconds for men, set by Karsten Warholm in 2021, and 50.37 seconds for women, set by Sydney McLaughlin in 2024. The men's world record has been broken at the Olympics on eight occasions: 1908 (the first official IAAF record), 1920, 1932, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1992, and 2021. The women's world record had never been broken in Olympic competition prior to 2021.[1]

Edwin Moses is the most successful athlete in the event, having won two gold and one bronze medal. Glenn Davis, Angelo Taylor and Felix Sanchez have also won two Olympic 400 m hurdles titles. Morgan Taylor is the only other athlete beside Moses that has won three medals in the event. Deon Hemmings was the most successful woman, with her 1996 gold and 2000 silver medals, and was the first female athlete to win multiple medals, until Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won gold in 2021 in Tokyo and 2024 in Paris. It is relatively common for 400 m hurdles athletes to also be part of their nation's team for the 4×400 metres relay at the Olympics.

The United States is the most successful nation in the men's event. American men have swept the medals on five occasions. The American women have the highest medal total, with nine, but the nation managed to achieve its first victory only in 2016, when Dalilah Muhammad won the event. Russia and Jamaica are the only nations to win multiple women's gold medals, with two each. Great Britain is the first nation to have won a gold medal in both the men's and women's event, having three champions in total. In 2016, the United States became the second.

## Medal summary

[edit]

### Men

[edit]

Games  | Gold  | Silver  | Bronze

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edit

1900 Paris
details | Walter Tewksbury
United States | Henri Tauzin
France | George Orton
Canada
1904 St. Louis
details | Harry Hillman
United States | Frank Waller
United States | George Poage
United States
1908 London
details | Charles Bacon
United States | Harry Hillman
United States | Jimmy Tremeer
Great Britain
1912 Stockholm | not included in the Olympic program
1920 Antwerp
details | Frank Loomis
United States | John Norton
United States | August Desch
United States
1924 Paris
details | Morgan Taylor
United States | Erik Wilén
Finland | Ivan Riley
United States
1928 Amsterdam
details | David Burghley
Great Britain | Frank Cuhel
United States | Morgan Taylor
United States
1932 Los Angeles
details | Bob Tisdall
Ireland | Glenn Hardin
United States | Morgan Taylor
United States
1936 Berlin
details | Glenn Hardin
United States | John Loaring
Canada | Miguel White
Philippines
1948 London
details | Roy Cochran
United States | Duncan White
Ceylon | Rune Larsson
Sweden
1952 Helsinki
details | Charles Moore
United States | Yuriy Lituyev
Soviet Union | John Holland
New Zealand
1956 Melbourne
details | Glenn Davis
United States | Eddie Southern
United States | Josh Culbreath
United States
1960 Rome
details | Glenn Davis
United States | Clifton Cushman
United States | Dick Howard
United States
1964 Tokyo
details | Rex Cawley
United States | John Cooper
Great Britain | Salvatore Morale
Italy
1968 Mexico City
details | David Hemery
Great Britain | Gerhard Hennige
West Germany | John Sherwood
Great Britain
1972 Munich
details | John Akii-Bua
Uganda | Ralph Mann
United States | David Hemery
Great Britain
1976 Montreal
details | Edwin Moses
United States | Michael Shine
United States | Yevgeniy Gavrilenko
Soviet Union
1980 Moscow
details | Volker Beck
East Germany | Vasyl Arkhypenko
Soviet Union | Gary Oakes
Great Britain
1984 Los Angeles
details | Edwin Moses
United States | Danny Harris
United States | Harald Schmid
West Germany
1988 Seoul
details | André Phillips
United States | Amadou Dia Ba
Senegal | Edwin Moses
United States
1992 Barcelona
details | Kevin Young
United States | Winthrop Graham
Jamaica | Kriss Akabusi
Great Britain
1996 Atlanta
details | Derrick Adkins
United States | Samuel Matete
Zambia | Calvin Davis
United States
2000 Sydney
details | Angelo Taylor
United States | Hadi Al-Somaily
Saudi Arabia | Llewellyn Herbert
South Africa
2004 Athens
details | Félix Sánchez
Dominican Republic | Danny McFarlane
Jamaica | Naman Keïta
France
2008 Beijing
details | Angelo Taylor
United States | Kerron Clement
United States | Bershawn Jackson
United States
2012 London
details | Félix Sánchez
Dominican Republic | Michael Tinsley
United States | Javier Culson
Puerto Rico
2016 Rio de Janeiro
details | Kerron Clement
United States | Boniface Mucheru Tumuti
Kenya | Yasmani Copello
Turkey
2020 Tokyo
details | Karsten Warholm
Norway | Rai Benjamin
United States | Alison dos Santos
Brazil
2024 Paris
details | Rai Benjamin
United States | Karsten Warholm
Norway | Alison dos Santos
Brazil

#### Multiple medalists

[edit]

Rank  | Athlete  | Nation  | Olympics  | Gold  | Silver  | Bronze  | Total

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|
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1 | Edwin Moses |  United States (USA) | 1976–1988 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3
2 | Glenn Davis |  United States (USA) | 1956–1960 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2
Angelo Taylor |  United States (USA) | 2000–2008 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2
Félix Sánchez |  Dominican Republic (DOM) | 2004–2012 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2
5 | Harry Hillman |  United States (USA) | 1904–1908 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2
Glenn Hardin |  United States (USA) | 1932–1936 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2
Kerron Clement |  United States (USA) | 2008, 2016 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2
8 | Morgan Taylor |  United States (USA) | 1924–1932 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3
9 | David Hemery |  Great Britain (GBR) | 1968–1972 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2

#### Medals by country

[edit]

Rank  | Nation  | Gold  | Silver  | Bronze  | Total

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|
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|
|

1 |  United States (USA) | 19 | 13 | 10 | 42
2 |  Great Britain (GBR) | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8
3 |  Dominican Republic (DOM) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2
4 |  East Germany (GDR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1
Ireland (IRL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1
Norway (NOR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1
Uganda (UGA) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1
8 |  Soviet Union (URS) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3
9 |  Jamaica (JAM) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2
10 |  Canada (CAN) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2
France (FRA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2
West Germany (FRG) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2
13 |  Ceylon (CEY) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1
Finland (FIN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1
Kenya (KEN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1
Saudi Arabia (KSA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1
Senegal (SEN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1
Zambia (ZAM) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1
19 |  Brazil (BRA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1
Italy (ITA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1
New Zealand (NZL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1
Philippines (PHI) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1
Puerto Rico (PUR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1
South Africa (RSA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1
Sweden (SWE) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1
Turkey (TUR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1

### Women

[edit]

Games  | Gold  | Silver  | Bronze

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|
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edit

1984 Los Angeles
details | Nawal El Moutawakel
Morocco | Judi Brown
United States | Cristieana Cojocaru
Romania
1988 Seoul
details | Debbie Flintoff-King
Australia | Tatyana Ledovskaya
Soviet Union | Ellen Fiedler
East Germany
1992 Barcelona
details | Sally Gunnell
Great Britain | Sandra Farmer-Patrick
United States | Janeene Vickers
United States
1996 Atlanta
details | Deon Hemmings
Jamaica | Kim Batten
United States | Tonja Buford-Bailey
United States
2000 Sydney
details | Irina Privalova
Russia | Deon Hemmings
Jamaica | Nezha Bidouane
Morocco
2004 Athens
details | Fani Halkia
Greece | Ionela Târlea-Manolache
Romania | Tetyana Tereshchuk-Antipova
Ukraine
2008 Beijing
details | Melaine Walker
Jamaica | Sheena Tosta
United States | Tasha Danvers
Great Britain
2012 London
details | Lashinda Demus
United States | Zuzana Hejnová
Czech Republic | Kaliese Spencer
Jamaica
2016 Rio de Janeiro
details | Dalilah Muhammad
United States | Sara Petersen
Denmark | Ashley Spencer
United States
2020 Tokyo
details | Sydney McLaughlin
United States | Dalilah Muhammad
United States | Femke Bol
Netherlands
2024 Paris
details | Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
United States | Anna Cockrell
United States | Femke Bol
Netherlands

#### Multiple medalists

[edit]

Rank  | Athlete  | Nation  | Olympics  | Gold  | Silver  | Bronze  | Total

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1 | Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone |  United States (USA) | 2020–2024 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2
2 | Deon Hemmings |  Jamaica (JAM) | 1996–2000 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2
3 | Dalilah Muhammad |  United States (USA) | 2016–2020 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2
4 | Femke Bol |  Netherlands (NED) | 2020–2024 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2

#### Medalists by country

[edit]

Rank  | Nation  | Gold  | Silver  | Bronze  | Total

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1 |  United States (USA) | 4 | 6 | 3 | 13
2 |  Jamaica (JAM) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4
3= |  Great Britain (GBR) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2
3= |  Morocco (MAR) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2
5= |  Australia (AUS) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1
5= |  Greece (GRE) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1
5= |  Russia (RUS) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1
8 |  Romania (ROU) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2
9= |  Czech Republic (CZE) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1
9= |  Denmark (DEN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1
9= |  Soviet Union (URS) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1
12= |  East Germany (GDR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1
12= |  Ukraine (UKR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1
12= |  Netherlands (NED) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1

## Finishing times

[edit]

The 2024 women's final was the fastest women's 400-meter hurdles race in Olympic history collectively: five of the eight women ran under 52.7 seconds, with these times ranking among the top 11 in Olympic history.[2]

### Top ten fastest Olympic times

[edit]

Fastest men's times at the Olympics[3] | Rank  | Time (sec)  | Athlete  | Nation  | Games  | Date

|
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|
|
|

1 | 45.94 (WR) | Karsten Warholm |  Norway | 2020 | 2021-08-03
2 | 46.17 | Rai Benjamin |  United States | 2020 | 2021-08-03
3 | 46.46 | Rai Benjamin |  United States | 2024 | 2024-08-09
4 | 46.72 | Alison dos Santos |  Brazil | 2020 | 2021-08-03
5 | 46.78 | Kevin Young |  United States | 1992 | 1992-08-06
6 | 47.06 | Karsten Warholm |  Norway | 2024 | 2024-08-09
7 | 47.08 | Kyron McMaster |  British Virgin Islands | 2020 | 2021-08-03
8 | 47.12 | Abderrahman Samba |  Qatar | 2020 | 2021-08-03
9 | 47.19 | Andre Phillips |  United States | 1988 | 1988-09-25
10 | 47.20 | Alison dos Santos |  Brazil | 2024 | 2024-08-09
Fastest women's times at the Olympics[2] | Rank  | Time (sec)  | Athlete  | Nation  | Games  | Date

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|
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1 | 50.37 (WR) | Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone |  United States | 2024 | 2024-08-08
2 | 51.46 | Sydney McLaughlin |  United States | 2020 | 2021-08-04
3 | 51.58 | Dalilah Muhammad |  United States | 2020 | 2021-08-04
4 | 51.87 | Anna Cockrell |  United States | 2024 | 2024-08-08
5 | 52.03 | Femke Bol |  Netherlands | 2020 | 2021-08-04
6 | 52.13 | Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone |  United States | 2024SF | 2024-08-06
7 | 52.15 | Femke Bol |  Netherlands | 2024 | 2024-08-08
8 | 52.29 | Jasmine Jones |  United States | 2024 | 2024-08-08
9 | 52.57 | Femke Bol |  Netherlands | 2024SF | 2024-08-06
10 | 52.64 | Melaine Walker |  Jamaica | 2008 | 2008-08-20

* SF - Semi-Finals

## References

[edit]

Participation and athlete data

* Athletics Men's 400 metres Hurdles Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-02-07.
* Athletics Women's 400 metres Hurdles Medalists. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-02-07.

Olympic record progressions

* Mallon, Bill (2012). TRACK & FIELD ATHLETICS - OLYMPIC RECORD PROGRESSIONS. Track and Field News. Retrieved on 2014-02-07.

Specific

1. ^ "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009" (PDF). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. Pages 546, 554, 664. Archived from the original (pdf) on June 29, 2011. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
2. ^ a b "Women's 400m Hurdles".
3. ^ "Men's 400m Hurdles".

## External links

[edit]

* IAAF 400 metres hurdles homepage
* Official Olympics website
* Olympic athletics records from Track & Field News

* v
* t
* e

400 metres hurdles at the Olympic Games

Summary

Men|

* 1900
* 1904
* 1908
* 1912
* 1920
* 1924
* 1928
* 1932
* 1936
* 1948
* 1952
* 1956
* 1960
* 1964
* 1968
* 1972
* 1976
* 1980
* 1984
* 1988
* 1992
* 1996
* 2000
* 2004
* 2008
* 2012
* 2016
* 2020
* 2024

Women|

* 1900
* 1904
* 1908
* 1912
* 1920
* 1924
* 1928
* 1932
* 1936
* 1948
* 1952
* 1956
* 1960
* 1964
* 1968
* 1972
* 1976
* 1980
* 1984
* 1988
* 1992
* 1996
* 2000
* 2004
* 2008
* 2012
* 2016
* 2020
* 2024

* v
* t
* e

Athletics at the Summer Olympics

Editions|

* 1896
* 1900
* 1904
* 1906 (Intercalated)
* 1908
* 1912
* 1920
* 1924
* 1928
* 1932
* 1936
* 1948
* 1952
* 1956
* 1960
* 1964
* 1968
* 1972
* 1976
* 1980
* 1984
* 1988
* 1992
* 1996
* 2000
* 2004
* 2008
* 2012
* 2016
* 2020
* 2024

Events|

| Track|

* 100 m
* 200 m
* 400 m
* 800 m
* 1500 m
* 5000 m
* 10,000 m
* 4 × 100 m relay
* 4 × 400 m relay
* Sprint hurdles
* 400 m hurdles
* Steeplechase

|

Field|

* Shot put
* Discus throw
* Hammer throw
* Javelin throw
* Pole vault
* High jump
* Long jump
* Triple jump

Others|

* Combined events
* Marathon
* Race walking

Defunct|

* Cross country
* Team races
* 60 metres
* Weight throw
* Wheelchair racing
* Professional events
* Handicap events

* List of medalists
* men
* women
* Records
* Venues
* Medal sweeps

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