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