Track and Field Statistics

Main > Women, 400 m > World Records Progression

All records considered statistically valid, but some of them, were unratified for various reasons. •   - Record was ratified           *   - Record was repeated Manual Timing • 64.4y Mary Lines GBR London Jul 17, 1922 • 62.4y Mary Lines GBR Bromley Aug 18, 1923 • 60.8y Eileen Edwards GBR London Jul 16, 1924   59.0 Kinue Hitomi JPN Tokyo May 05, 1928   58.8y Nellie Halstead GBR London Jul 11, 1931   58.8*y Nellie Halstead GBR London Jul 09, 1932   56.8*y Nellie Halstead GBR London Jul 09, 1932   56.7 Zoya Petrova URS Kiev May 19, 1950   56.0 Zoya Petrova URS Moscow Jul 15, 1951   56.0* Valentina Pomogayeva URS Minsk Aug 29, 1951   55.7 Ursula Jurewitz GDR Berlin Jun 26, 1953   55.7* Polina Solopova URS Leipzig Jun 12, 1954   55.5 Nina Otkalenko URS Kiev Jun 25, 1954   55.0 Ursula Donath GDR Budapest Aug 06, 1954   54.8 Zinaida Safronova URS Moscow Jul 21, 1955   54.4 Ursula Donath GDR Warsaw Aug 05, 1955   53.9 Maria Itkina URS Bucurest Oct 01, 1955 • 55.2 Polina Lazareva URS Moscow May 10, 1957 • 54.0 Maria Itkina URS Minsk Jun 08, 1957 • 53.6 Maria Itkina URS Moscow Jul 06, 1957   53.6* Maria Itkina URS Warsaw Jun 14, 1958 • 53.4 Maria Itkina URS Krasnodar Sep 12, 1959   53.0 Shin Kim Dan PRK Pyongyang Oct 22, 1960   53.0* Shin Kim Dan PRK Moscow Jun 30, 1962 • 51.9 Shin Kim Dan PRK Pyongyang Oct 23, 1962   51.4 Shin Kim Dan PRK Jakarta Nov 13, 1963   51.2 Shin Kim Dan PRK Pyongyang Oct 21, 1964 • 51.0 Marilyn Neufville JAM Edinburgh Jul 23, 1970 • 51.0* Monika Zehrt GDR Paris Jul 04, 1972 • 49.9 Irena Szewinska POL Warsaw Jul 22, 1974 Electronic Timing   53.12 Elizabeth Grieveson GBR London Sep 14, 1963   52.77 Ann Packer GBR Tokyo Oct 16, 1964   52.01 Betty Cuthbert AUS Tokyo Oct 17, 1964   51.72 Nicole Duclos FRA Athens Sep 18, 1969   51.02 Marilyn Neufville JAM Edinburgh Jul 23, 1970   50.98 Jelica Pavlicic YUG Sofia Aug 03, 1974   50.78 Riitta Salin FIN Helsinki Aug 18, 1974 • 50.14 Riitta Salin FIN Rome Sep 04, 1974 • 49.77 Christina Brehmer GDR Dresden May 09, 1976 • 49.75 Irena Szewinska POL Bydgoszcz Jun 22, 1976 • 49.29 Irena Szewinska POL Montréal Jul 29, 1976 • 49.19 Marita Koch GDR Leipzig Jul 02, 1978 • 49.03 Marita Koch GDR Potsdam Aug 19, 1978 • 48.94 Marita Koch GDR Prague Aug 31, 1978 • 48.89 Marita Koch GDR Potsdam Jul 29, 1979 • 48.60 Marita Koch GDR Turin Aug 04, 1979 • 48.16 Marita Koch GDR Athens Sep 08, 1982 • 47.99 Jarmila Kratochvilova TCH Helsinki Aug 10, 1983 • 47.60 Marita Koch GDR Canberra Oct 06, 1985