Main > Men, 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 Chart
Manual Timing
  53.5y E.L. Hunt GBR Dublin May 17, 1865
  50.3y Charles Guy-Pyn GBR London Nov 11, 1865
  50.3*y Edward Colbeck GBR London Jun 20, 1868
  49.6y Robert Philpot GBR Cambridge Mar 07, 1871
  49.2y Lawrence Myers USA New York Sep 20, 1879
  48.6y Lawrence Myers USA Birmingham Jul 16, 1881
  48.5y Henry Tindall GBR London Jun 28, 1889
  48.5y* Edgar Bredin GBR London Jun 22, 1895
• 47.8y Maxie Long USA New York Sep 29, 1900
• 47.4y Ted Meredith USA Cambridge May 27, 1916
  47.4y Binga Dismond USA Evanston Jun 03, 1916
• 47.0 Emerson Spencer USA Palo Alto May 12, 1928
• 46.4y Benjamin Eastman USA Palo Alto Mar 26, 1932
• 46.2 William Carr USA Los Angeles Aug 05, 1932
• 46.1 Archibald Williams USA Chicago Jun 19, 1936
• 46.0 Rudolf Harbig GER Frankfurt/Main Aug 12, 1939
• 46.0* Grover Klemmer USA Philadelphia Jun 29, 1941
• 46.0y Herbert McKenley JAM Berkeley Jun 05, 1948
• 45.9 Herbert McKenley JAM Milwaukee Jul 02, 1948
• 45.8 George Rhoden JAM Eskilstuna Aug 22, 1950
• 45.4 Louis Jones USA Mexico City Mar 18, 1955
• 45.2 Louis Jones USA Los Angeles Jun 30, 1956
• 44.9 Carl Kaufmann GER Rome Sep 06, 1960
• 44.9 Otis Davis USA Rome Sep 06, 1960
• 44.9y Adolph Plummer USA Tempe May 25, 1963
• 44.9 Mike Larrabee USA Los Angeles Sep 12, 1964
• 44.5 Tommie Smith USA San José May 20, 1967
  44.1* Lee Evans USA Echo Summitt Sep 14, 1968
• 44.1 Larry James USA Echo Summitt Sep 14, 1968
• 43.8 Lee Evans USA Mexico City Oct 18, 1968
Electronic Timing
  44.82 Wendell Mottley TRI Kingston Aug 11, 1966
  44.19 Larry James USA Echo Summit Sep 14, 1968
• 43.86 Lee Evans USA Mexico City Oct 18, 1968
• 43.29 Harry Reynolds USA Zürich Aug 17, 1988
• 43.18 Michael Johnson USA Sevilla Aug 26, 1999
• 43.03 van Niekerk Wayde RSA Rio de Janeiro Aug 14, 2016