Aaron O'Neill
Research lead for society, economy, and politics: Europe & global
Get in touch with us nowGold medal times in the 400m sprint at the Summer Olympics 1896-2020
The 400 meter sprint has been featured in every Olympic Games for men since Athens 1896, while the women's event was introduced in 1964. Michael Johnson of the United States is the only male athlete to have won the event twice, while Marie-José Pérec of France and Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas are the only women to have done so. U.S. sprinter Valerie Brisco-Hooks (in 1984), along with Johnson and Pérec (in 1996), are the only athletes to have won the 400m and 200m double, while Cuban runner Alberto Juantorena (in 1976) is the only athlete to have won both the 400m and 800m events. The current men's world record was set in the 2016 Olympics by South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk, while Pérec still holds the women's Olympic record she set in 1996, although the world record of 47.6 seconds, set by Marita Koch (Olympic gold winner in 1980), has stood since 1985. Male athletes from the United States have claimed the gold the most times, with 19 gold medals in total, while the women's event has been won by athletes from a wider variety of nations.
