The men's 400 metres event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games took place between 26 and 28 July at the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England. Michael Blackwood won the gold medal with a time of 45.07 seconds giving Jamaica its second victory in the event after Bert Cameron claimed the title in 1982. Canadian Shane Niemi placed second, taking the silver medal in 45.09. He finished ahead of world champion Avard Moncur of the Bahamas who won the bronze.
This was the ninth running of the 400 metres event at the Commonwealth Games after converting to metric at the 1970 Edinburgh Games. A 440 yard event was contested between 1930 and 1966. 48 competitors from 26 nations entered the event. The 1999 world indoor champion Jamie Baulch withdrew from the event as he had failed to recover from a hamstring injury. His Welsh team mate and defending champion Iwan Thomas also chose not to contest the event. However, both men were part of the quartet who won silver the 4 × 400 metres relay held later in the meet. Mark Richardson, the silver medallist from Kuala Lumpur, withdrew from the Games in June due to an achilles injury. Sri Lankan Sugath Thilakaratne, who won the bronze four year prior, narrowly missed reaching the final, finishing sixth in the second semi final. The other notable absentee was Greg Haughton, the Olympic and world bronze medallist who missed the Games over a dispute with the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association.
Records Prior to this competition, the existing records were as follows:
+ Records before the 2002 Commonwealth Games Record Time (s) Athlete (nation) Meet Location Date Ref World record 43.18 World Championships Seville, Spain 29 August 1996 Commonwealth record 44.17 Weltklasse Zürich Zurich, Switzerland 19 August 1987 Games record 44.52 Commonwealth Games Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 18 September 1998
Results Heats The heats were held on 26 July, starting at 13:26 in the afternoon.
Qualification Rules: First 4 in each heat (Q) and the best 4 of remaining athletes (q) advance to the quarter finals.
Heat 1 + Results of heat 1 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 45.72 2 45.95 3 46.02 4 46.11 5 46.37 , 6 46.76
Heat 2 + Results of heat 2 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 46.36 2 46.52 3 46.69 4 46.77 5 47.62 6 50.44 7 50.76
Heat 3 + Results of heat 3 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 46.68 2 46.80 3 46.89 4 47.02 5 59.38
Heat 4 + Results of heat 4 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 46.39 2 46.45 3 46.59 4 46.90 5 48.36 , 6 48.48
Heat 5 + Results of heat 5 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 47.37 2 47.87 3 48.04 4 48.12 5 49.01 6 50.45
Heat 6 + Results of heat 6 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 46.82 2 46.84 3 46.96 4 47.72 5 49.57
Heat 7 + Results of heat 7 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 47.31 2 47.70 3 48.39 4 48.97
Quarter finals The quarter finals were held on 26 July, starting at 19:12 in the evening.
Qualification: First 4 of each heat qualified directly (Q) for the semi finals.
Quarter final 1 + Results of quarter final 1 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 46.02 2 46.07 3 46.28 4 46.70 5 47.05 6 47.14 7 47.50 8 48.74
Quarter final 2 + Results of quarter final 2 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 46.49 2 46.49 3 46.66 4 46.71 5 46.74 6 47.14 7 47.61
Quarter final 3 + Results of quarter final 3 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 46.11 2 46.19 3 46.26 4 46.47 5 46.60 6 47.03 7 47.91 8 49.60
Quarter final 4 + Results of quarter final 4 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 45.93 2 46.11 3 46.48 4 46.54 5 47.06 6 47.93
Semi finals The semi finals were held on 27 July, starting at 20:04 in the evening.
Qualification: First 4 of each heat qualified directly (Q) for the final.
Semi final 1 + Results of semi final 1 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 45.06 2 45.08 , 3 45.11 , 4 45.12 5 45.51 6 45.71 7 45.91 8 46.07
Semi final 2 + Results of semi final 2 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 44.98 , 2 45.04 , 3 45.30 4 45.41 , 5 45.43 6 45.79 7 45.89 8 46.28
Final The final was held at 21:00 on 28 July.
+ Results of the final Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 45.07 45.09 45.12 4 45.13 5 45.47 6 45.64 7 45.67 8 46.00
References