The women's 400 metres at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held in four rounds at the Stade de France in Paris, France, between 5 and 9 August 2024. This was the sixteenth time that the women's 400 metres was contested at the Summer Olympics. A total of 48 athletes were able to qualify for the event by entry standard or ranking.
Summary Tokyo champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo returned to defend her title, despite having given birth in 2023 and withdrawing from the Bahamian Championships due to injury. Marileidy Paulino, the silver medalist from Tokyo, was viewed as one of the favourites before the Games after her 48.76 s clocking to win the 2023 World Championships. NCAA champion Nickisha Pryce had run 48.57 s to win the London Diamond League, to be the world leader going into the Games. Other athletes seen as contenders for medals included 2019 World Champion Salwa Eid Naser, reigning European Champion Natalia Kaczmarek, 2023 NCAA Champion Rhasidat Adeleke and U.S Champion Kendall Ellis.
In the final, Naser started fastest, reaching the 100 m mark first in 11.73 s. Paulino followed in second with Amber Anning third. At the 200 m point, Paulino led, having overtaken Naser to reach 200 m in 22.81 s. Kaczmarek made up ground to be third at the 200 m mark. Over the next 100 m, Adeleke passed Kaczmarek to be in bronze medal position. In the final straight, Paulino extended her lead over Naser and Kaczmarek was able to accelerate and pass Adeleke for the bronze medal.
Paulino's time of 48.17 broke Marie-José Pérec's 28 year old Olympic record and her own National Record. Anning also set a new British National Record in fourth. All eight finalists finished under 50 seconds for the first time ever.
Background The women's 400 metres has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1964. +Global records before the 2024 Summer OlympicsRecordAthlete (nation)Time (s)LocationDateWorld record47.60"All time Top lists – Senior – 400 Metres women", World Athletics, 29 June 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.Canberra, Australia6 October 1985Olympic record48.25Atlanta, United States29 July 1996World leading48.57"Season Top Lists – Senior 2024 – 400 Metres women", World Athletics, 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.London, United Kingdom20 July 2024 +Area records before the 2024 Summer OlympicsArea recordAthlete (nation)Time (s)Africa 49.10Asia 48.14Europe 47.60 North, Central Americaand Caribbean 48.36Oceania 48.63South America 49.64
Qualification
For the women's 400 metres event, the qualification period was between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024.Sean McAlister, "How to qualify for athletics at Paris 2024. The Olympics qualification system explained", Olympics.com, 20 December 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2024. 48 athletes were able to qualify for the event, with a maximum of three athletes per nation, by running the entry standard of 50.95 seconds or faster or by their World Athletics Ranking for this event.
Results
Heats The heats were held on 5 August, starting at 11:55 (UTC+2) in the morning. 48 athletes qualified for the first round by qualification time or world ranking."Paris 2024 - Olympic Schedule - Athletics", Olympics.com. Retrieved 29 June 2024. Qualification: First 3 in each heat (Q) advance to the semi-finals, all others (Re) advance to the repechage round (except , , )
Heat 1 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes13Salwa Eid Naser49.9128Stacey-Ann Williams50.16, 34Andrea Miklós50.54, 42Gabby Scott50.7455Kendall Ellis51.1666Sophie Becker51.8479Tereza Petržilková51.9287Modesta Justė Morauskaitė52.00
Heat 2 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes18Nickisha Pryce50.0227Laviai Nielsen50.3632Henriette Jæger50.3944Justyna Święty-Ersetic50.9556Ellie Beer51.4765Lina Licona51.8573Zoe Sherar51.97
Heat 3 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes18Amber Anning49.6822Lieke Klaver49.9636Paola Morán51.0449Martina Weil51.1557Alice Mangione51.6063Ella Onojuvwevwo51.6574Tiffani Marinho52.6285Cátia Azevedo52.73
Heat 4 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes14Natalia Kaczmarek49.9829Roxana Gómez50.38, 35Sada Williams50.4546Victoria Ohuruogu50.9353Gunta Vaičule51.1362Helena Ponette51.7577Shaunae Miller-Uibo2:29.298Esther Joseph
Heat 5 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes15Marileidy Paulino49.4227Aaliyah Butler50.5236Susanne Gogl-Walli50.67, 48Sharlene Mawdsley50.7154Aliyah Abrams51.5569Lurdes Gloria Manuel52.2072Kiran Pahal52.5183Cynthia Bolingo52.77
Heat 6 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes15Rhasidat Adeleke50.0927Alexis Holmes50.3538Junelle Bromfield51.3642Miranda Coetzee51.5856Lada Vondrová51.8063Lauren Gale53.1374Evelis Aguilar53.369Nicole Caicedo
Repechage round The repechage round was held on 6 August, starting at 11:20 (UTC+2).
Heat 1 RankLaneAthleteNationResultNotes 15Ella Onojuvwevwo 50.592 4Justyna Święty-Ersetic 50.89 33Sharlene Mawdsley51.18 47Tereza Petržilková 51.46 58Aliyah Abrams 51.84 6 6Kiran Pahal 52.59
Heat 2 RankLaneAthleteNationResultNotes 14Gabby Scott 50.52, 28Miranda Coetzee 50.66, 35Lurdes Gloria Manuel 50.81 46Modesta Justė Morauskaitė 51.33 57Helena Ponette 51.46 63Martina Weil 51.79 72Shaunae Miller-Uibo 53.50
Heat 3 RankLaneAthleteNationResultNotes 18Victoria Ohuruogu 50.59, 22Gunta Vaičule 50.93 36Alice Mangione 51.07 44Ellie Beer 51.65 55Cátia Azevedo 52.04 63Lauren Gale 52.68 77Evelis Aguilar 52.86
Heat 4
RankLaneAthleteNationResultNotes 18Kendall Ellis 50.44 26Sophie Becker 51.28 37Zoe Sherar 51.43 44Lina Licona 51.90 55Lada Vondrová 52.15 62Tiffani Marinho 52.32 3Cynthia Bolingo
Semi-finals The semi-finals were held on 7 August, starting at 20:45 (UTC+2) in the evening.
Semi-final 1 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes17Salwa Eid Naser49.08, 28Rhasidat Adeleke49.9534Henriette Jæger50.1746Lieke Klaver50.4453Victoria Ohuruogu51.1465Aaliyah Butler51.1872Gabby Scott51.2289Junelle Bromfield51.93
Semi-final 2 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes16Marileidy Paulino49.2125Alexis Holmes50.0037Laviai Nielsen50.6948Nickisha Pryce50.7759Andrea Miklós50.7863Ella Onojuvwevwo51.0574Susanne Gogl-Walli51.1782Lurdes Gloria Manuel51.42
Semi-final 3 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes17Natalia Kaczmarek49.4526Amber Anning49.47, 34Sada Williams 49.8942Kendall Ellis50.4055Roxana Gómez50.4869Paola Morán50.7378Stacey-Ann Williams50.7983Miranda Coetzee51.60
Final The final was held on 9 August, starting at 21:40 (UTC+2) in the evening.
Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes6Marileidy Paulino48.17, 8Salwa Eid Naser48.537Natalia Kaczmarek48.9844Rhasidat Adeleke 49.2855Amber Anning49.2969Alexis Holmes49.7772Sada Williams49.8383Henriette Jæger49.96
References