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Men's 400 metres hurdles world record progression

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The first world record in the men's 400 metres hurdles was recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1912. That inaugural record was the performance by Charles Bacon at the 1908 Olympics.[1]

Three athletes, all from the United States, have had long-standing records. Glenn Hardin broke the world record three times and was the record holder for over 21 years, between 1932 and 1953. Edwin Moses set his first record in 1976 and improved his own world record three times. He held the record from 1976 until 1992, when it was beaten by Kevin Young with a time of 46.78 seconds at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Young’s record stood for nearly 29 years, until Karsten Warholm broke it during the Diamond League event at his homefield of Bislett during Bislett games in 2021. The new world record was at 46.70. On August 3, 2021, Warholm broke his record again in the Tokyo Olympics 400 meter hurdle final. The world record is now 45.94.

As of June 21, 2009, 21 world records have been ratified by the IAAF in the event.[1]

Progression 1912–76

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Time Auto Athlete Date Location
55.0  Charles Bacon (USA) July 22, 1908[1] London
54.0  Frank Loomis (USA) August 16, 1920[1] Antwerp
53.8  Sten Pettersson (SWE) October 4, 1925[1] Paris
52.6y  John Gibson (USA) July 2, 1927[1] Lincoln
52.0  Morgan Taylor (USA) July 4, 1928[1] Philadelphia
52.0 51.85  Glenn Hardin (USA) August 1, 1932[1] Los Angeles
51.8  Glenn Hardin (USA) June 30, 1934[1] Milwaukee
50.6  Glenn Hardin (USA) July 26, 1934[1] Stockholm
50.4  Yuriy Lituyev (USSR) September 20, 1953[1] Budapest
49.5  Glenn Davis (USA) June 29, 1956[1] Los Angeles
49.2  Glenn Davis (USA) August 6, 1958[1] Budapest
49.2  Salvatore Morale (ITA) September 14, 1962[1] Belgrade
49.1  Rex Cawley (USA) September 13, 1964[1] Los Angeles
48.8 48.94  Geoff Vanderstock (USA) September 11, 1968[1] Echo Summit
48.1 48.12  David Hemery (GBR) October 15, 1968[1] Mexico City
47.8 47.82  John Akii-Bua (UGA) September 2, 1972[1] Munich

"y" denotes time for 440 yards (402.34 m) which was ratified as a world record in this event.

The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.

Progression post-1976

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Ratified
Not ratified
Ratified but later rescinded
Pending ratification

From 1975, the IAAF accepted separate automatically electronically timed records for events up to 400 metres. Starting January 1, 1977, the IAAF required fully automatic timing to the hundredth of a second for these events.[1]

John Akii-Bua's 1972 Olympic gold medal run was the fastest recorded fully electronic 400 metre race to that time, at 47.82.[1]

Time Athlete Date Location
47.82  John Akii-Bua (UGA) September 2, 1972[1] Munich
47.64  Edwin Moses (USA) July 25, 1976[1] Montreal
47.45  Edwin Moses (USA) June 11, 1977[1] Westwood, Los Angeles
47.13  Edwin Moses (USA) July 3, 1980[1] Milan
47.02  Edwin Moses (USA) August 31, 1983[1] Koblenz
46.78  Kevin Young (USA) August 6, 1992[1] Barcelona
46.70  Karsten Warholm (NOR) July 1, 2021[2] Oslo
45.94  Karsten Warholm (NOR) Aug 3, 2021 Tokyo

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009" (PDF). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. Pages 546, 554. Archived from the original (pdf) on June 29, 2011. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
  2. ^ "Ratified: World records for Gidey, Hassan, Hodgkinson, Holloway and Warholm | PRESS-RELEASES | World Athletics". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
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