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 Alison dos Santos with 45.80 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 high, while women negotiate 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.
History
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 . 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 . 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."
Hurdling technique
In terms of technique and endurance, the 400-metre hurdles is arguably the most demanding event in the sprints and hurdles group. Athletes must be able to run a fast 400-metre flat time, maintain a good hurdling technique, and have an awareness of stride pattern between hurdles. 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 attributes of the athlete: In adult races, the women's hurdles are lower (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) were also two of the fastest women in the flat 400. To be able to maintain a good hurdling technique throughout the race it is important to work on step patterns. Most 400 hurdlers know how many steps they are going to take in between each hurdle. The distance between the start 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 steps taken between hurdles varies 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 odd 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.
Block start
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 their 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.
Hurdling
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.
Stride length 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).
Area records Updated 27 August 2026.
Area Men Women Time(s) Season Athlete Time(s) Season Athlete World 45.80 2026 50.37 2024 Area records Africa 47.10 1991 52.90 1999 Asia 46.98 2018 53.09 2023 Europe 45.94 2021 50.95 2024 North, Central Americaand Caribbean 46.17 2021 50.37 2024 Oceania 48.28 1996 53.17 1988 South America 45.80 2026 52.66 2025
All-time top 25
Tables show data for two definitions of "Top 25" - the top 25 400m hurdles times and the top 25 athletes:- denotes top performance for athletes in the top 25 400m hurdles times- denotes lesser performances, still in the top 25 400m hurdles times, by repeat athletes- denotes top performance (only) for other top 25 athletes who fall outside the top 25 400m hurdles times
Men Correct as of September 2026. (select the "All" option when filtering by athlete)
+ Time (s) Athlete Nation Date Place 1145.8027 August 2026Zurich2 2 45.94 3 August 2021 Tokyo3 45.98 13 September 2026 Budapest 3 4 46.17 3 August 2021 Tokyo 546.2816 August 2025Chorzów6 46.29 19 July 2022 Eugene 746.3916 September 2023Eugene846.4013 September 2026Budapest946.43 23 August 2026Chorzów1046.4630 June 2024Eugene9 August 2024Saint-Denis1246.4826 July 2026São Paulo1346.5121 July 2023Monaco1446.5215 June 2023Oslo19 September 2025Tokyo1646.5316 September 2023Eugene 23 August 2026Chorzów1846.5415 June 2025Stockholm1946.6118 July 2026London2046.629 July 2023Eugene2146.6330 May 2024Oslo14 August 2026Birmingham2346.6418 May 2024Los Angeles2446.655 July 2025Eugene2546.6712 July 2024Monaco21 August 2026Lausanne4 46.78 6 August 1992 Barcelona5 46.98 30 June 2018 Paris 6 47.02 31 August 1983 Koblenz 7 47.03 21 June 1998 New Orleans 847.083 August 2021Tokyo9 47.10 7 August 1991 Zurich 13 September 2026 Budapest 11 47.11 19 September 2025 Tokyo 12 47.19 25 September 1988 Seoul 13 47.23 25 September 1988 Seoul 7 June 2024Eugene15 47.24 26 June 2005 Carson16 47.25 29 August 2003 Saint-Denis 18 August 2008 Beijing 1847.2623 August 2026Chorzów19 47.30 9 August 2005 Helsinki20 47.34 21 August 2023 Budapest 21 47.37 5 July 1995 Lausanne 6 June 2026College Station23 47.38 10 July 1991 Lausanne 2447.4119 July 2022Eugene25 47.42 28 June 2024 Kingston 25 August 2024 Chorzów
Women Correct as of August 2026.