400 metres hurdles

Athletics 400 metres hurdles
Women's 400m hurdles
World records
Men	Karsten Warholm 45.94 (2021)
Women	Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone 50.37 (2024)
Olympic records
Men	Karsten Warholm 45.94 (2021)
Women	Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone 50.37 (2024)
World Championship records
Men	Alison dos Santos 46.29 (2022)
Women	Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone 50.68 (2022)

The 400 metres hurdles is a hurdling event in track and field. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 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 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 holders are Karsten Warholm with 45.94 seconds and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone with 50.37 seconds. Compared to the 400 metres run, the hurdles race takes the men about three seconds longer and the women four seconds longer. Men clear hurdles that are 91.4 centimetres (36 in) high, while women negotiate 76.2 centimetres (30 in) barriers.

The 400 m hurdles was held for both sexes at the inaugural IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The first championship for women came at the 1980 World Championships in Athletics – being held as a one-off due to the lack of a race at the 1980 Summer Olympics.

The first awards in a men's 400 m hurdles race were given in 1860 when a race was held in Oxford, 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 in Paris, 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 91.4 centimetres (36 in). 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, introduced the event officially as a discipline, with hurdles at the lower height of 76.2 centimetres (30 in). The women's race was not run at the Olympics until the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles where it was first staged with the first Men's World Champion having been crowned the year before at the inaugural World Athletics Championships. A special edition of the Women's 400m Hurdles took place in the 1980 IAAF World Championships in Athletics in response to the Women's 400m Hurdles not being included at the boycotted 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and Liberty Bell Classic.

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, "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."

In terms of technique and endurance, the 400-metre hurdles is arguably the most demanding event in the sprints and hurdles group.^{[1]: 4169 [2]: 9} 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.^[2]: 9 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 (76.2 cm) than the men's (91.4 cm) which usually makes the 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 of lactic acid) will accumulate in the body from anaerobic glycolysis.^[3]: 43

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.

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.

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 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 them 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).

• Updated 17 September 2025.^[4][5]

Area	Men			Women
	Time (s)	Athlete	Nation	Time (s)	Athlete	Nation
Africa (records)	47.10	Samuel Matete	Zambia	52.90	Nezha Bidouane	Morocco
Asia (records)	46.98	Abderrahman Samba	Qatar	53.09	Kemi Adekoya	Bahrain
Europe (records)	45.94 WR	Karsten Warholm	Norway	50.95	Femke Bol	Netherlands
North, Central America and Caribbean (records)	46.17	Rai Benjamin	United States	50.37 WR	Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone	United States
Oceania (records)	48.28	Rohan Robinson	Australia	53.17	Debbie Flintoff-King	Australia
South America (records)	46.29	Alison dos Santos	Brazil	52.66	Gianna Woodruff	Panama

• Correct as of September 2025.^[6][7]

All-time top 25 of the men's 400 metres hurdles

Ath.#	Perf.#	Time (s)	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place	Ref.
1	1	45.94	Karsten Warholm	Norway	3 August 2021	Tokyo	[8]
2	2	46.17	Rai Benjamin	United States	3 August 2021	Tokyo	[8]
	3	46.28	Warholm #2		16 August 2025	Chorzów	[9]
3	4	46.29	Alison dos Santos	Brazil	19 July 2022	Eugene	[10]
	5	46.39	Benjamin #2		16 September 2023	Eugene	[11]
	6	46.46	Benjamin #3		30 June 2024	Eugene	[12]
			Benjamin #4		9 August 2024	Saint-Denis	[13]
	8	46.51	Warholm #3		21 July 2023	Monaco	[14]
	9	46.52	Warholm #4		15 June 2023	Oslo	[15]
			Benjamin #5		19 September 2025	Tokyo	[16]
	11	46.53	Warholm #5		16 September 2023	Eugene	[11]
	12	46.54	Benjamin #6		15 June 2025	Stockholm	[17]
	13	46.62	Benjamin #7		9 July 2023	Eugene	[18]
	14	46.63	dos Santos #2		30 May 2024	Oslo	[19]
	15	46.64	Benjamin #8		18 May 2024	Los Angeles	[20]
	16	46.65	dos Santos #3		5 July 2025	Eugene	[21]
	17	46.67	Benjamin #9		12 July 2024	Monaco	[22]
	18	46.68	dos Santos #4		15 June 2025	Stockholm	[17]
	19	46.70	Warholm #6		1 July 2021	Oslo
			Warholm #7		30 May 2024	Oslo	[19]
			Warholm #8		28 August 2025	Zurich	[23]
	22	46.71	Benjamin #10		5 July 2025	Eugene	[21]
	23	46.72	dos Santos #5		3 August 2021	Tokyo	[8]
	24	46.73	Warholm #9		12 July 2024	Monaco	[22]
	25	46.76	Warholm #10		6 July 2023	Jessheim	[24]
4		46.78	Kevin Young	United States	6 August 1992	Barcelona
5		46.98	Abderrahman Samba	Qatar	30 June 2018	Paris	[25]
6		47.02	Edwin Moses	United States	31 August 1983	Koblenz
7		47.03	Bryan Bronson	United States	21 June 1998	New Orleans
8		47.08	Kyron Mcmaster	British Virgin Islands	3 August 2021	Tokyo	[8]
9		47.10	Samuel Matete	Zambia	7 August 1991	Zurich
10		47.11	Ezekiel Nathaniel	Nigeria	19 September 2025	Tokyo	[26]
11		47.19	Andre Phillips	United States	25 September 1988	Seoul
12		47.23	Amadou Dia Ba	Senegal	25 September 1988	Seoul
			Caleb Dean	United States	7 June 2024	Eugene	[27]
14		47.24	Kerron Clement	United States	26 June 2005	Carson
15		47.25	Félix Sánchez	Dominican Republic	29 August 2003	Saint-Denis
			Angelo Taylor	United States	18 August 2008	Beijing
17		47.30	Bershawn Jackson	United States	9 August 2005	Helsinki
18		47.34	Roshawn Clarke	Jamaica	21 August 2023	Budapest	[28]
19		47.37	Stéphane Diagana	France	5 July 1995	Lausanne
20		47.38	Danny Harris	United States	10 July 1991	Lausanne
			Trevor Bassitt	United States	21 August 2023	Budapest	[28]
22		47.41	Wilfried Happio	France	19 July 2022	Eugene	[10]
23		47.42	Malik James-King	Jamaica	28 June 2024	Kingston	[29]
			Clement Ducos	France	25 August 2024	Chorzów	[30]
25		47.43	James Carter	United States	9 August 2005	Helsinki

• Correct as of September 2025.^[31][32]

All-time top 25 of the women's 400 metres hurdles

Ath.#	Perf.#	Time (s)	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place	Ref.
1	1	50.37	Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone	United States	8 August 2024	Saint-Denis	[33]
	2	50.65	McLaughlin-Levrone #2		30 June 2024	Eugene	[12]
	3	50.68	McLaughlin-Levrone #3		22 July 2022	Eugene	[34]
2	4	50.95	Femke Bol	Netherlands	14 July 2024	La Chaux-de-Fonds	[35][36]
	5	51.30	Bol #2		20 July 2024	London	[37]
	6	51.41	McLaughlin-Levrone #4		25 June 2022	Eugene	[38]
	7	51.45	Bol #3		23 July 2023	London	[39]
	8	51.46	McLaughlin-Levrone #5		4 August 2021	Tokyo	[40]
	9	51.54	Bol #4		19 September 2025	Tokyo	[41]
3	10	51.58	Dalilah Muhammad	United States	4 August 2021	Tokyo	[40]
	11	51.61	McLaughlin-Levrone #6		5 June 2022	Nashville	[42]
	12	51.68	McLaughlin-Levrone #7		8 August 2022	Székesfehérvár	[43]
	13	51.70	Bol #5		24 August 2023	Budapest	[44]
4	14	51.87	Anna Cockrell	United States	8 August 2024	Saint-Denis	[33]
	15	51.90	McLaughlin-Levrone #8		27 June 2021	Eugene	[45]
	16	51.91	Bol #6		16 August 2025	Chorzów	[46]
	17	51.95	Bol #7		11 July 2025	Monaco	[47]
	18	51.98	Bol #8		17 September 2023	Eugene	[48]
	19	52.03	Bol #9		4 August 2021	Tokyo	[40]
	20	52.07	McLaughlin-Levrone #9		3 May 2025	Miramar	[49]
5	21	52.08	Jasmine Jones	United States	19 September 2025	Tokyo	[41]
	22	52.10	Bol #10		19 July 2025	London	[50]
	23	52.11	Bol #11		8 September 2023	Brussels	[51]
			Bol #12		15 June 2025	Stockholm	[52]
	25	52.13	McLaughlin-Levrone #10		6 August 2024	Saint-Denis	[53]
			Bol #13		25 August 2024	Chorzów	[54]
6	52.34		Yuliya Pechonkina	Russia	8 August 2003	Tula
7	52.39		Shamier Little	United States	4 July 2021	Stockholm	[55]
8	52.42		Melaine Walker	Jamaica	20 August 2009	Berlin
9	52.46		Savannah Sutherland	Canada	14 June 2025	Eugene	[56]
10	52.47		Lashinda Demus	United States	1 September 2011	Daegu
11	52.51		Rushell Clayton	Jamaica	28 June 2024	Kingston	[57]
12	52.61		Kim Batten	United States	11 August 1995	Gothenburg
13	52.62		Tonja Buford-Bailey	United States	11 August 1995	Gothenburg
14	52.66		Gianna Woodruff	Panama	17 September 2025	Tokyo	[58]
15	52.74		Sally Gunnell	Great Britain	19 August 1993	Stuttgart
16	52.77		Fani Halkia	Greece	22 August 2004	Athens
17	52.79		Sandra Farmer-Patrick	United States	19 August 1993	Stuttgart
			Kaliese Spencer	Jamaica	5 August 2011	London
19	52.82		Deon Hemmings	Jamaica	31 July 1996	Atlanta
20	52.83		Zuzana Hejnová	Czech Republic	15 August 2013	Moscow
21	52.89		Daimí Pernía	Cuba	25 August 1999	Seville
22	52.90		Nezha Bidouane	Morocco	25 August 1999	Seville
23	52.92		Natalya Antyukh	Russia	30 July 2010	Barcelona
24	52.94		Marina Stepanova	Soviet Union	17 September 1986	Tashkent
25	52.95		Sheena Johnson	United States	11 July 2004	Sacramento
			Kori Carter	United States	25 June 2017	Sacramento

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

Annulled marks from the all-time top 25 of the women's 400 metres hurdles

Time (s)	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place	Ref.
52.70	Natalya Antyukh	Russia	8 August 2012	London	[59]

• Men
  • First official IAAF world record: 55.0 seconds, Charles Bacon (USA), 1908
  • First under 54 seconds: 53.8 seconds, Sten Pettersson (SWE), 1925
  • First under 53 seconds: 52.6 seconds, John Gibson (USA), 1927
  • First under 52 seconds: 51.7 seconds, Bob Tisdall (IRL), 1932
  • First under 51 seconds: 50.6 seconds, Glenn Hardin (USA), 1934
  • First under 50 seconds: 49.5 seconds, Glenn Davis (USA), 1956
  • First under 49 seconds: 48.8 seconds, Geoff Vanderstock (USA), 1968
  • First under 48 seconds: 47.82 seconds, John Akii-Bua (UGA), 1972
  • First under 47 seconds: 46.78 seconds, Kevin Young (USA), 1992
  • First under 46 seconds: 45.94 seconds, Karsten Warholm (NOR), 2021^[60]
• 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 (URS), 1984
  • First under 53 seconds: 52.94 seconds, Marina Stepanova (URS), 1986
  • First under 52 seconds: 51.90 seconds, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA), 2021
  • First under 51 seconds: 50.68 seconds, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA), 2022

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, Edwin Moses' record is significant: he won 122 races in a row between 1977 and 1987 plus two gold medals, at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montréal and the 1984 Summer Olympics 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 in Barcelona.

• Olympic Games & World Championships victories
  • Edwin Moses (USA), Olympic 1976, 1984, World 1983, 1987
  • Felix Sanchez (DOM), Olympic 2004, 2012, World 2001, 2003
  • Karsten Warholm (NOR), Olympic 2020, World 2017, 2019, 2023
  • Kerron Clement (USA), Olympic 2016, World 2007, 2009
  • Sally Gunnell (GBR), Olympic 1992, World 1993
  • Kevin Young (USA), Olympic 1992, World 1993
  • Derrick Adkins (USA), Olympic 1996, World 1995
  • Melaine Walker (JAM), Olympic 2008, World 2009
  • Lashinda Demus (USA), Olympic 2012, World 2011
  • Dalilah Muhammad (USA), Olympic 2016, World 2019
  • Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA) Olympic 2020, 2024, World 2022
• Two Olympic victories:
  • Glenn Davis (USA), 1956 and 1960
  • Edwin Moses (USA), 1976 and 1984 (also bronze in 1988)
  • Angelo Taylor (USA), 2000 and 2008
  • Félix Sánchez (DOM), 2004 and 2012
  • Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA), 2020 and 2024
• Three World Championships:
  • Karsten Warholm (NOR), 2017, 2019 and 2023
• Two World Championships:
  • Edwin Moses (USA), 1983 and 1987
  • Félix Sánchez (DOM), 2001 and 2003 (won silver in 2007)
  • Kerron Clement (USA), 2007 and 2009
  • Nezha Bidouane (MAR), 1997 and 2001 (won silver in 1999)
  • Jana Pittman (AUS), 2003 and 2007
  • Zuzana Hejnová (CZE), 2013 and 2015
  • Femke Bol (NED), 2023 and 2025

* Note: Edwin Moses, Kevin Young and Karsten Warholm are the only male 400 m hurdlers to have been Olympic Champion, World Champion, and broken the World Record.
* Note: Sally Gunnell, Dalilah Muhammad and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone are the only female 400 m hurdlers to have been Olympic Champion, World Champion, and broken the World Record.

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

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

Championships	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1983 Helsinki	Edwin Moses (USA)	Harald Schmid (FRG)	Aleksandr Kharlov (URS)
1987 Rome	Edwin Moses (USA)	Danny Harris (USA)	Harald Schmid (FRG)
1991 Tokyo	Samuel Matete (ZAM)	Winthrop Graham (JAM)	Kriss Akabusi (GBR)
1993 Stuttgart	Kevin Young (USA)	Samuel Matete (ZAM)	Winthrop Graham (JAM)
1995 Gothenburg	Derrick Adkins (USA)	Samuel Matete (ZAM)	Stéphane Diagana (FRA)
1997 Athens	Stéphane Diagana (FRA)	Llewellyn Herbert (RSA)	Bryan Bronson (USA)
1999 Seville	Fabrizio Mori (ITA)	Stéphane Diagana (FRA)	Marcel Schelbert (SUI)
2001 Edmonton	Félix Sánchez (DOM)	Fabrizio Mori (ITA)	Dai Tamesue (JPN)
2003 Saint-Denis	Félix Sánchez (DOM)	Joey Woody (USA)	Periklis Iakovakis (GRE)
2005 Helsinki	Bershawn Jackson (USA)	James Carter (USA)	Dai Tamesue (JPN)
2007 Osaka	Kerron Clement (USA)	Félix Sánchez (DOM)	Marek Plawgo (POL)
2009 Berlin	Kerron Clement (USA)	Javier Culson (PUR)	Bershawn Jackson (USA)
2011 Daegu	Dai Greene (GBR)	Javier Culson (PUR)	L. J. van Zyl (RSA)
2013 Moscow	Jehue Gordon (TRI)	Michael Tinsley (USA)	Emir Bekrić (SRB)
2015 Beijing	Nicholas Bett (KEN)	Denis Kudryavtsev (RUS)	Jeffery Gibson (BAH)
2017 London	Karsten Warholm (NOR)	Yasmani Copello (TUR)	Kerron Clement (USA)
2019 Doha	Karsten Warholm (NOR)	Rai Benjamin (USA)	Abderrahman Samba (QAT)
2022 Eugene	Alison dos Santos (BRA)	Rai Benjamin (USA)	Trevor Bassitt (USA)
2023 Budapest	Karsten Warholm (NOR)	Kyron McMaster (BVI)	Rai Benjamin (USA)
2025 Tokyo	Rai Benjamin (USA)	Alison dos Santos (BRA)	Abderrahman Samba (QAT)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	8	6	5	19
2	Norway (NOR)	3	0	0	3
3	Dominican Republic (DOM)	2	1	0	3
4	Zambia (ZAM)	1	2	0	3
5	France (FRA)	1	1	1	3
6	Brazil (BRA)	1	1	0	2
	Italy (ITA)	1	1	0	2
8	Great Britain (GBR)	1	0	1	2
9	Kenya (KEN)	1	0	0	1
	Trinidad and Tobago (TTO)	1	0	0	1
11	Puerto Rico (PUR)	0	2	0	2
12	Germany (GER)	0	1	1	2
	Jamaica (JAM)	0	1	1	2
	South Africa (RSA)	0	1	1	2
15	British Virgin Islands (BVI)	0	1	0	1
	Russia (RUS)	0	1	0	1
	Turkey (TUR)	0	1	0	1
18	Japan (JPN)	0	0	2	2
	Qatar (QAT)	0	0	2	2
20	Bahamas (BAH)	0	0	1	1
	Greece (GRE)	0	0	1	1
	Poland (POL)	0	0	1	1
	Serbia (SRB)	0	0	1	1
	Soviet Union (URS)	0	0	1	1
	Switzerland (SUI)	0	0	1	1
Totals (25 entries)		20	20	20	60

• The official World Athletics Championships 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, 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).^[61]

Championships	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1980 Sittard	Bärbel Broschat (GDR)	Ellen Neumann (GDR)	Petra Pfaff (GDR)
1983 Helsinki	Yekaterina Fesenko (URS)	Ana Ambrazienė (URS)	Ellen Neumann-Fiedler (GDR)
1987 Rome	Sabine Busch (GDR)	Debbie Flintoff (AUS)	Cornelia Feuerbach (GDR)
1991 Tokyo	Tatyana Ledovskaya (URS)	Sally Gunnell (GBR)	Janeene Vickers (USA)
1993 Stuttgart	Sally Gunnell (GBR)	Sandra Farmer-Patrick (USA)	Margarita Ponomaryova (RUS)
1995 Gothenburg	Kim Batten (USA)	Tonja Buford (USA)	Deon Hemmings (JAM)
1997 Athens	Nezha Bidouane (MAR)	Deon Hemmings (JAM)	Kim Batten (USA)
1999 Seville	Daimí Pernía (CUB)	Nezha Bidouane (MAR)	Deon Hemmings (JAM)
2001 Edmonton	Nezha Bidouane (MAR)	Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS)	Daimí Pernía (CUB)
2003 Saint-Denis	Jana Pittman (AUS)	Sandra Glover (USA)	Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS)
2005 Helsinki	Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS)	Lashinda Demus (USA)	Sandra Glover (USA)
2007 Osaka	Jana Rawlinson (AUS)	Yuliya Pechenkina (RUS)	Anna Jesień (POL)
2009 Berlin	Melaine Walker (JAM)	Lashinda Demus (USA)	Josanne Lucas (TRI)
2011 Daegu	Lashinda Demus (USA)	Melaine Walker (JAM)	Natalya Antyukh (RUS)
2013 Moscow	Zuzana Hejnová (CZE)	Dalilah Muhammad (USA)	Lashinda Demus (USA)
2015 Beijing	Zuzana Hejnová (CZE)	Shamier Little (USA)	Cassandra Tate (USA)
2017 London	Kori Carter (USA)	Dalilah Muhammad (USA)	Ristananna Tracey (JAM)
2019 Doha	Dalilah Muhammad (USA)	Sydney McLaughlin (USA)	Rushell Clayton (JAM)
2022 Eugene	Sydney McLaughlin (USA)	Femke Bol (NED)	Dalilah Muhammad (USA)
2023 Budapest	Femke Bol (NED)	Shamier Little (USA)	Rushell Clayton (JAM)
2025 Tokyo	Femke Bol (NED)	Jasmine Jones (USA)	Emma Zapletalová (SVK)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States (USA)	5	11	6	22
2	East Germany (GDR)	2	1	3	6
3	Australia (AUS)	2	1	0	3
	Morocco (MAR)	2	1	0	3
	Soviet Union (URS)	2	1	0	3
	Netherlands (NED)	2	1	0	3
7	Czech Republic (CZE)	2	0	0	2
8	Jamaica (JAM)	1	2	4	7
9	Russia (RUS)	1	2	3	6
10	Great Britain (GBR)	1	1	0	2
11	Cuba (CUB)	1	0	1	2
12	Denmark (DEN)	1	0	0	1
13	Spain (ESP)	0	1	0	1
	Turkey (TUR)	0	1	0	1
17	Poland (POL)	0	0	1	1
	Trinidad and Tobago (TTO)	0	0	1	1
	Slovakia (SVK)	0	0	1	1

Men Year Time Athlete Place 1971 48.9 h  Ralph Mann (USA) Helsinki 1972 47.82  John Akii-Bua (UGA) Munich 1973 48.54  John Akii-Bua (UGA) Lagos 1974 48.1 h  Jim Bolding (USA) Milan 1975 48.4 h  Jim Bolding (USA) Milan 1976 47.63  Edwin Moses (USA) Montreal 1977 47.45  Edwin Moses (USA) Westwood 1978 47.94  Edwin Moses (USA) Zurich 1979 47.53  Edwin Moses (USA) Montreal 1980 47.13  Edwin Moses (USA) Milan 1981 47.14  Edwin Moses (USA) Lausanne 1982 47.48  Harald Schmid (FRG) Athens 1983 47.02  Edwin Moses (USA) Koblenz 1984 47.32  Edwin Moses (USA) Koblenz 1985 47.63  Danny Harris (USA) Zurich 1986 47.38  Edwin Moses (USA) Lausanne 1987 47.46  Edwin Moses (USA) Rome 1988 47.19  Andre Phillips (USA) Seoul 1989 47.86  Kevin Young (USA) Berlin 1990 47.49  Danny Harris (USA) Lausanne 1991 47.10  Samuel Matete (ZAM) Zurich 1992 46.78  Kevin Young (USA) Barcelona 1993 47.18  Kevin Young (USA) Stuttgart 1994 47.70  Derrick Adkins (USA) Linz 1995 47.37  Stéphane Diagana (FRA) Lausanne 1996 47.54  Derrick Adkins (USA) Atlanta 1997 47.64  Bryan Bronson (USA) Monaco 1998 47.03  Bryan Bronson (USA) New Orleans 1999 47.72  Fabrizio Mori (ITA) Seville 2000 47.50  Angelo Taylor (USA) Sydney 2001 47.38  Félix Sánchez (DOM) Zurich 2002 47.35  Félix Sánchez (DOM) Zurich 2003 47.25  Félix Sánchez (DOM) Saint-Denis 2004 47.63  Félix Sánchez (DOM) Athens 2005 47.24  Kerron Clement (USA) Carson 2006 47.39  Kerron Clement (USA) Indianapolis 2007 47.61  Kerron Clement (USA) Osaka 2008 47.25  Angelo Taylor (USA) Beijing 2009 47.91  Kerron Clement (USA) Berlin 2010 47.32  Bershawn Jackson (USA) Des Moines 2011 47.66  L. J. van Zyl (RSA) Pretoria Ostrava 2012 47.63  Félix Sánchez (DOM) London 2013 47.69  Jehue Gordon (TRI) Moscow 2014 48.03  Javier Culson (PUR) New York City 2015 47.79  Nicholas Bett (KEN) Beijing 2016 47.73  Kerron Clement (USA) Rio de Janeiro 2017 47.80  Kyron McMaster (IVB) Kingston 2018 46.98  Abderrahman Samba (QAT) Paris 2019 46.92  Karsten Warholm (NOR) Zurich 2020 46.87  Karsten Warholm (NOR) Stockholm 2021 45.94  Karsten Warholm (NOR) Tokyo 2022 46.29  Alison dos Santos (BRA) Eugene 2023 46.39  Rai Benjamin (USA) Eugene 2024 46.46  Rai Benjamin (USA) Eugene 2025 46.28  Karsten Warholm (NOR) Chorzów

Women Year Time Athlete Place 1971 — — — 1972 — — — 1973 56.7 h  Danuta Piecyk (POL) Warsaw 1974 56.51  Krystyna Kacperczyk (POL) Augsburg 1975 — — — 1976 — — — 1977 55.63  Karin Roßley (GDR) Helsinki 1978 54.89  Tatyana Zelentsova (URS) Prague 1979 54.78  Marina Stepanova (URS) Moscow 1980 54.28  Karin Roßley (GDR) Jena 1981 54.79  Ellen Fiedler (GDR) Jena 1982 54.57  Ann-Louise Skoglund (SWE) Athens 1983 54.02  Anna Ambrazienė (URS) Moscow 1984 53.58  Margarita Ponomaryova (URS) Kyiv 1985 53.55  Sabine Busch (GDR) Berlin 1986 52.94  Marina Stepanova (URS) Tashkent 1987 53.24  Sabine Busch (GDR) Potsdam 1988 53.17  Debbie Flintoff-King (AUS) Seoul 1989 53.37  Sandra Farmer-Patrick (USA) New York City 1990 53.62  Tatyana Ledovskaya (URS) Split 1991 53.11  Tatyana Ledovskaya (URS) Tokyo 1992 53.23  Sally Gunnell (GBR) Barcelona 1993 52.74  Sally Gunnell (GBR) Stuttgart 1994 53.33  Sally Gunnell (GBR) Helsinki 1995 52.61  Kim Batten (USA) Gothenburg 1996 52.82  Deon Hemmings (JAM) Atlanta 1997 52.97  Kim Batten (USA) Indianapolis  Nezha Bidouane (MAR) Athens 1998 52.74  Kim Batten (USA) Monaco 1999 52.89  Daimí Pernía (CUB) Seville 2000 53.02  Irina Privalova (RUS) Sydney 2001 53.34  Nezha Bidouane (MAR) Edmonton 2002 53.10  Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS) Tula 2003 52.34  Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS) Tula 2004 52.77  Faní Halkiá (GRE) Athens 2005 52.90  Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS) Helsinki 2006 53.02  Lashinda Demus (USA) Athens 2007 53.28  Tiffany Williams (USA) Indianapolis 2008 52.64  Melaine Walker (JAM) Beijing 2009 52.42  Melaine Walker (JAM) Berlin 2010 52.82  Lashinda Demus (USA) Rome 2011 52.47  Lashinda Demus (USA) Daegu 2012 52.77  Lashinda Demus (USA) London 2013 52.83  Zuzana Hejnová (CZE) Moscow 2014 53.41  Kaliese Spencer (JAM) Kingston 2015 53.50  Zuzana Hejnová (CZE) Beijing 2016 52.88  Dalilah Muhammad (USA) Eugene 2017 52.64  Dalilah Muhammad (USA) Sacramento 2018 52.75  Sydney McLaughlin (USA) Knoxville 2019 52.16  Dalilah Muhammad (USA) Doha 2020 53.79  Femke Bol (NED) Arnhem 2021 51.46  Sydney McLaughlin (USA) Tokyo 2022 50.68  Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA) Eugene 2023 51.45  Femke Bol (NED) London 2024 50.37  Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA) Saint-Denis 2025 51.54  Femke Bol (NED) Tokyo

• National records in the 400 metres hurdles
• Men's 400 metres hurdles world record progression
• Women's 400 metres hurdles world record progression

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 400 m hurdles.

• IAAF list of 400-metres-hurdles records in XML