The men's 400 metres was held over two rounds at the 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary on 11 and 12 September 2026. It was the first time the World Ultimate Championship is held. Athletes qualified by wildcard or by their world ranking.
Background + Global records before the 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship Record Athlete (nation) Location Date World record 43.03 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 14 August 2016 World lead 43.38 Eugene, United States 12 June 2026
+ Area records before the 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship Record Athlete (nation) Location Date African record 43.03 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 14 August 2016 Asian record 43.93 Beijing, China 23 August 2015 European record 43.44 Paris, France 7 August 2024 North, Central American,and Caribbean record 43.18 Seville, Spain 26 August 1999 Oceanian record 44.38 Seoul, South Korea 26 September 1988 South American record 43.93 Tokyo, Japan 2 August 2021
Qualification For the 400 metres, sixteen athletes qualified, up to three by wildcard for winners of the event at the 2024 Summer Olympic, the 2025 World Athletics Championships, or the 2026 Diamond League final and the others by their position at the World Athletics Rankings for the event on 3 September 2026.
Results Semi-finals The semi-finals were held on 11 September at 19:19 (UTC+2). First 4 of each heat () qualified to the final.
Heat 1 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 7 Collen Kebinatshipi 44.23 2 9 Chris Bailey 44.28 3 8 Rai Benjamin 44.28 4 6 Jereem Richards 44.44 5 3 Christopher Morales Williams 44.98 6 4 Bayapo Ndori 45.00 7 5 Muzala Samukonga 45.51 8 2 Muhammad Abdallah Kounta 45.53 9 1 Patrik Simon Enyingi 45.72
Heat 2 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 8 Jacory Patterson 44.73 2 7 Matthew Hudson-Smith 44.79 3 4 Lee Eppie 44.85 4 9 Attila Molnár 44.97 5 2 Yuki Joseph Nakajima 45.00 6 3 Jonas Phijffers 45.21 7 6 Zakithi Nene 45.30 8 5 Khaleb McRae 46.55
Final The final was held on 12 September at 18:18 (UTC+2).
Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 7 Collen Kebinatshipi 43.39 2 4 Rai Benjamin 44.15 3 2 Jereem Richards 44.23 4 8 Chris Bailey 44.27 5 5 Matthew Hudson-Smith 44.28 6 6 Jacory Patterson 44.59 7 9 Lee Eppie 44.66 8 3 Attila Molnár 45.10
References