The men's 400 metres event at the 2000 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics programme was held at Stadium Australia from 22 to 25 September 2000. Sixty-eight athletes from 44 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 0.56 seconds by Michael Johnson of the United States, successfully defending his 1996 gold medal (the only man to do so in the history of the Olympic 400 metres race). It was the fifth in what would ultimately be 7 consecutive American victories stretching from 1984 to 2008 and the 17th overall title in the event by the United States. Gregory Haughton's bronze was Jamaica's first medal in the event since the nation won back-to-back golds in 1948 and 1952.

Background

This was the 24th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Five of the finalists from 1996 returned: defending gold medalist Michael Johnson and fourth-place finisher Alvin Harrison of the United States, bronze medalist Davis Kamoga of Uganda, seventh-place finisher Davian Clarke of Jamaica, and eight-place Ibrahim Ismail Muftah of Qatar. Johnson had stretched his world championship streak to 4, set a new world record, and was the (overwhelming) favorite again in 2000. Both of the other medalists (Sanderlei Parrela of Brazil and Alejandro Cárdenas of Mexico) from the 1999 worlds were in Sydney as well.

Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, Lithuania and Ukraine appeared in this event for the first time; Russia appeared for the first time since 1912. The United States made its 23rd appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Qualification

Each National Olympic Committee was permitted to enter up to three athletes that had run 45.80 seconds or faster during the qualification period. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. If an NOC had no athletes that qualified under that standard, one athlete that had run 46.20 seconds or faster could be entered.http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/tfn_pdfs/ogqualifying_standards.pdf

Competition format

The competition retained the basic four-round format from 1920. The "fastest loser" system, introduced in 1964, was used for the first round. There were 9 first-round heats, each with 7 or 8 runners. The top three runners in each heat advanced, along with the next five fastest overall. The 32 quarterfinalists were divided into 4 quarterfinals with 8 runners each; the top four athletes in each quarterfinal heat advanced to the semifinals, with no "fastest loser" spots. The semifinals featured 2 heats of 8 runners each. The top four runners in each semifinal heat advanced, making an eight-man final.Official Report, Results Book for Athletics.

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 2000 Summer Olympics.

No world or Olympic records were set in this event.

The following national records were established during the competition:

Nation Athlete Round Time Gerald Clervil Heat 1 46.69 Hamdan O Al-Bishi Heat 8 45.22

Schedule

Following the 1984 schedule, the event was held on four separate days, with each round being on a different day.

All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)

Date Time Round Friday, 22 September 2000 10:40 Round 1 Saturday, 23 September 2000 21:25 Quarterfinals Sunday, 24 September 2000 21:00 Semifinals Monday, 25 September 2000 20:25 Final

Results

All times shown are in seconds.

Round 1

Heat 1

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 1 Avard Moncur 0.266 45.23 2 7 Daniel Caines 0.153 45.39 , 3 5 Casey Vincent 0.162 45.49 4 3 Dmitriy Golovastov 0.234 45.90 5 2 Takahiko Yamamura 0.261 46.25 6 4 Carlos Santa 0.169 46.40 7 8 Piotr Rysiukiewicz 0.227 46.67 8 6 Gerald Clervil 0.556 46.69

Heat 2

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 8 Jude Monye 0.220 45.79 2 1 Patrick Dwyer 0.196 s 45.82 s 3 5 Alejandro Cardenas 0.143 s 46.14 s 4 2 Neil de Silva 0.220 46.84 5 3 Gustavo Aguirre 0.237 47.03 6 3 Troy McIntosh 0.237 47.06 — 7 Jonas Motiejūnas 0.220 4 Kennedy Ochieng 0.178

Heat 3

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 4 Sanderlei Claro Parrela 0.472 45.55 2 3 Danny McFarlane 0.480 45.84 3 3 Soufiene Labidi 0.252 45.84 4 6 Jun Osakada 0.231 45.88 5 1 Tawanda Chiwira 0.203 46.50 6 7 Nduka Awazie 0.319 46.81 7 8 Johnson Kubisa 0.387 46.97 — 2 Evripedes Demosthenous 0.179

Heat 4

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 8 Gregory Haughton 0.295 45.63 2 2 David Kirui 0.207 45.69 , 3 3 Marc Raquil 0.238 45.72 4 7 Arnaud Malherbe 0.200 45.73 5 6 Sunday Bada 0.554 45.75 6 5 Ato Modibo 0.486 45.91 7 4 Benjamin Youla 0.183 47.54 8 1 Iliya Dzhivondov 0.200 48.64

Heat 5

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 2 Hendrick Mokganyetsi 0.209 45.22 2 3 Piotr Haczek 0.248 45.61 , 3 7 Alessandro Attene 0.134 45.79 4 4 Rohan Pradeep Kumara 0.499 46.00 5 8 Salaheddine Bakar Al-Safi 0.414 46.16 6 5 Zsolt Szeglet 0.176 46.19 7 6 Jamie Baulch 0.164 46.52

Heat 6

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 6 Alvin Harrison 0.467 44.96 2 5 Davian Clarke 0.204 45.30 3 2 Robert Maćkowiak 0.236 45.39 4 3 Anastasios Gousis 0.211 46.38 5 7 Fawzi Al Shammari 0.157 46.38 6 8 Paramjit Singh 0.188 46.64 7 4 Philip Mukomana 0.503 47.11

Heat 7

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 5 Michael Johnson 0.176 45.25 2 2 David Canal 0.189 45.53 , 3 3 Ibrahima Wade 0.262 45.72 4 7 Malik Louahla 0.158 46.06 5 4 Sean Baldock 0.180 46.45 6 8 Fabian Rollins 0.447 46.85 7 6 Oleksandr Kaydash 0.586 46.88

Heat 8

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 4 Hamdan O Al-Bishi 0.153 45.22 , 2 2 Sugath Thilakaratne 0.211 45.48 3 1 Ibrahim Ismail Muftah 0.234 45.48 4 5 Eric Milazar 0.459 45.66 5 3 Štefan Balošák 0.192 46.42 6 7 Kenji Tabata 0.143 46.59 7 8 Rudieon Sylvan 0.241 48.17 8 6 Basheer Al-Khewani 0.452 49.72

Heat 9

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 3 Antonio Pettigrew 0.328 45.62 2 4 Christopher Brown 0.505 45.80 3 6 Davis Kamoga 0.625 45.92 , 4 7 Metija Sestak 0.295 45.95 5 5 Tomas Coman 0.263 46.17 6 2 Juan Pedro Toledo 0.282 46.82 — 8 Daniel Batman 0.378

Overall results for Round 1

RankAthlete NationHeatLanePlaceTimeQual.Record 1 Alvin Harrison 6 6 1 44.96 s Q 2 Hamdan O Al-Bishi 8 4 1 45.22 s Q NR Hendrick Mokganyetsi 5 2 1 45.22 s Q 4 Avard Moncur 1 1 1 45.23 s Q 5 Michael Johnson 7 5 1 45.25 s Q 6 Davian Clarke 6 5 2 45.30 s Q 7 Daniel Caines 1 7 2 45.39 s Q PB Robert Maćkowiak 6 2 3 45.39 s Q 9 Ibrahim Ismail Muftah 8 1 3 45.48 s Q Sugath Thilakaratne 8 2 2 45.48 s Q 11 Casey Vincent 1 5 3 45.49 s Q 12 David Canal 7 2 2 45.53 s Q SB 13 Sanderlei Claro Parrela 3 4 1 45.55 s Q 14 Piotr Haczek 5 3 2 45.61 s Q SB 15 Antonio Pettigrew 9 3 1 45.62 s Q 16 Gregory Haughton 4 8 1 45.63 s Q 17 Eric Milazar 8 5 4 45.66 s q 18 David Kipkorir Kirui 4 2 2 45.69 s Q PB 19 Marc Raquil 4 3 3 45.72 s Q Ibrahima Wade 7 3 3 45.72 s Q 21 Arnaud Malherbe 4 7 4 45.73 s q 22 Sunday Bada 4 6 5 45.75 s q 23 Alessandro Attene 5 7 3 45.79 s Q Jude Monye 2 8 1 45.79 s Q 25 Christopher Brown 8 4 2 45.80 s Q 26 Patrick Dwyer 2 1 2 45.82 s Q 27 Soufiene Labidi 3 3 3 45.84 s Q Danny McFarlane 3 5 2 45.84 s Q 29 Jun Osakada 3 6 4 45.88 s q 30 Dmitriy Golovastov 1 3 4 45.90 s q 31 Ato Modibo 4 5 6 45.91 s 32 Davis Kamoga 9 6 3 45.82 s Q SB 33 Matija Sestak 9 7 4 45.95 s 34 Rhohan Pradeep Kumar 5 4 4 46.00 s 35 Malik Louahla 7 4 4 46.06 s 36 Alejandro Cardenas 2 5 3 46.14 s Q 37 Salaheldin E Bakkar 5 8 5 46.16 s 38 Tomas Coman 9 5 5 46.17 s 39 Zsolt Szeglet 5 5 6 46.19 s 40 Takahiko Yamamura 1 2 5 46.25 s 41 Fawzi Al Shammari 6 7 5 46.38 s Anastasios Gousis 6 3 4 46.38 s 43 Carlos Santa 1 4 6 46.40 s 44 Štefan Balošák 8 3 5 46.42 s 45 Sean Baldock 7 4 5 46.45 s 46 Tawanda Chiwira 3 1 5 46.50 s 47 Jamie Baulch 5 6 7 46.52 s 48 Kenji Tabata 8 7 6 46.59 s 49 Paramjit Singh 6 8 8 46.64 s 50 Piotr Rysiukiewicz 1 8 7 46.67 s 51 Gerald Clervil 1 6 8 46.69 s NR 52 Nduka Awazie 3 7 6 46.81 s 53 Juan Pedro Toledo 9 2 6 46.82 s 54 Neil de Silva 2 2 4 46.84 s 55 Fabian Rollins 7 8 6 46.85 s 56 Oleksandr Kaydash 7 6 7 46.88 s 57 Johnson Kubisa 3 8 7 46.97 s 58 Gustavo Aguirre 2 3 5 47.03 s 59 Troy McIntosh 2 6 6 47.06 s 60 Philip Mukomana 6 4 7 47.11 s 61 Benjamin Youla 4 4 7 47.54 s 62 Rudieon Sylvan 8 8 7 48.17 s 63 Iliya Dzhivondov 4 1 8 48.64 s 64 Basheer Al Khewani 8 6 8 49.72 s PB - Daniel Batman 9 8 - DNF Evripedes Demosthenous 3 2 - DNF Jonas Motiejunas 2 7 - DNF Kennedy Ochieng 2 4 - DNF

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 4 Michael Johnson 0.150 45.31 2 1 Piotr Haczek 0.251 45.43 , 3 5 Avard Moncur 45.43 4 8 Casey Vincent 0.163 45.45 5 7 Eric Milazar 0.364 45.52 6 6 Sugath Thilakaratne 0.199 45.54 7 3 David Canal 0.221 45.54 8 2 Arnaud Malherbe 0.192 45.59

Quarterfinal 2

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 3 Davian Clarke 0.283 45.06 , 2 4 Antonio Pettigrew 0.475 45.35 3 6 Hamdan O Al-Bishi 0.600 45.35 4 8 Danny McFarlane 0.183 45.40 5 7 Ibrahima Wade 0.223 45.61 6 2 Davis Kamoga 0.207 45.74 7 5 David Kirui 46.00 8 1 Jun Osakada 0.217 46.15

Quarterfinal 3

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 6 Alvin Harrison 0.195 44.25 2 4 Gregory Haughton 0.475 45.08 3 7 Alessandro Attene 0.150 45.35 , 4 8 Patrick Dwyer 0.174 45.38 5 1 Dmitriy Golovastov 0.184 45.66 6 5 Christopher Brown 0.204 45.76 7 2 Soufiene Labidi 0.215 46.01 8 3 Jude Monye 0.203 46.32

Quarterfinal 4

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 7 Robert Maćkowiak 0.194 45.01 , 2 4 Hendrick Mokganyetsi 0.440 45.15 3 5 Daniel Caines 0.161 45.37 , 4 3 Sanderlei Claro Parrela 0.302 45.55 5 2 Marc Raquil 0.224 45.56 6 1 Alejandro Cardenas 0.139 45.66 7 8 Sunday Bada 0.226 45.83 8 6 Ibrahim Ismail Muftah 0.549 45.96

Overall results for quarterfinals

RankAthlete NationHeatLanePlaceTimeQual.Record 1 Alvin Harrison 3 6 1 44.25 s Q 2 Robert Maćkowiak 4 7 1 45.01 s Q PB 3 Davian Clarke 2 3 1 45.06 s Q SB 4 Gregory Haughton 3 4 2 45.08 s Q 5 Hendrick Mokganyetsi 4 4 2 45.15 s Q 6 Michael Johnson 1 4 1 45.31 s Q 7 Hamdan O Al-Bishi 2 6 3 45.35 s Q Alessandro Attene 3 7 3 45.35 s Q PB Antonio Pettigrew 2 4 2 45.35 s Q 10 Daniel Caines 4 5 3 45.37 s Q PB 11 Patrick Dwyer 3 8 4 45.38 s Q 12 Danny McFarlane 2 8 4 45.40 s Q 13 Piotr Haczek 1 1 2 45.43 s Q PB Avard Moncur 1 5 3 45.43 s Q 15 Casey Vincent 1 8 4 45.45 s Q 16 Eric Milazar 1 7 5 45.52 s 17 David Canal 1 3 7 45.54 s Sugath Thilakaratne 1 6 6 45.54 s 19 Sanderlei Claro Parrela 4 3 4 45.55 s Q 20 Marc Raquil 4 2 5 45.56 s 21 Arnaud Malherbe 1 2 8 45.59 s 22 Ibrahima Wade 2 7 5 45.61 s 23 Alejandro Cardenas 4 1 6 45.66 s Dmitriy Golovastov 3 1 5 45.66 s 25 Davis Kamoga 2 2 6 45.74 s 26 Christopher Brown 3 5 6 45.76 s 27 Sunday Bada 4 8 7 45.83 s 28 Ibrahim Ismail Muftah 4 6 8 45.96 s 29 David Kirui 2 5 7 46.00 s 30 Soufiene Labidi 3 2 7 46.01 s 31 Jun Osakada 2 1 8 46.15 s 32 Jude Monye 3 3 8 46.32 s

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 6 Alvin Harrison 0.220 44.53 2 5 Michael Johnson 0.164 44.65 3 3 Gregory Haughton 0.258 44.93 4 2 Sanderlei Claro Parrela 0.212 45.17 5 8 Avard Moncur 0.198 45.18 6 4 Piotr Haczek 0.470 45.66 7 1 Patrick Dwyer 0.176 45.70 8 7 Hamdan O Al-Bishi 0.179 45.98

Semifinal 2

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes 1 4 Antonio Pettigrew 0.499 45.24 2 7 Danny McFarlane 0.253 45.38 3 5 Hendrick Mokganyetsi 0.529 45.52 4 6 Robert Maćkowiak 0.192 45.53 5 8 Daniel Caines 0.168 45.55 6 2 Casey Vincent 0.229 45.61 7 1 Alessandro Attene 0.221 46.41 — 3 Davian Clarke 0.270

Overall results for semifinals