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400m Records

The 400m is the shortest distance to not require a wind reading. It has been contested at the Olympics since 1896 for men and 1964 for women.

It has been run in every IAAF World Championships and every World Masters Championships. Whereas an outdoor 400m is run entirely in separate lanes, the indoor version features a break of lane after the second bend.

Notes on records

For 400m, electronic times are required. Some historical times that predate this requirement may be hand-times (h). Where it is not readily evident that a historical hand timed record or electronic time is faster, both will be listed. [I believe any time given with a single decimal is hand timed but unless marked it is not explicitly expressed.]

WellingtonNorth Island
Champs
South Island
Champs
NZMA ChampsNZ NationalNZ IndoorOceania ChampsWorldWorld Indoor
M3554.30
R Ward
51.23
Brayden Grant (2023*)

*2022 Champs held in calendar year 2023
54.4
A Pollock (1990)
50.16
Brayden Grant  (2021)
50.16
Brayden Grant  (2021)
no record50.80
Max Warlow AUS (1984)
44.54
Christopher Brown BAH (2015)
47.45
Pierre-Mariew Hilaire FRA (2001)
M4052.77
Brian Turnbull
53.24
Hayden Robinson (2014)
54.4
Malcolm Fraser (1983)
52.79
Brian Turnbull (1996)
52.38
W Holroyd(2018)
no record51.70
Brendon Wilson AUS (1984)
47.81
Enrico Saraceni ITA (2005)
48.83
Ricardo Menendez  ESP (2022)
M4555.40
Ashley McLaughlin
54.14
Laurie Malcolmson (1998)
54.7
Malcolm Fraser (1985)
54.00
Lee Fairclough (2018)
52.1
Bruce McPhail (1983)
no record52.75
Peter Crombie AUS (1990)
49.09
Allen Woodward USA (2017)
49.89
Fred Sowerby USA (1994)
M5052.95
Alessandro Pinna (2017)
56.01
Paul Daborn (2016)
54.2
Bruce McPhail (1987)
55.4
Bruce McPhail (1990)
Malcolm Fraser (1990)
52.95
Alessandro Pinna (2017)
no record54.85
Gary Parkinson  AUS (2019)
50.51
Juan Luis Lopez Anaya ESP (2021)
50.55
Juan Luis Lopez Anaya ESP (2022)
M551:00.02
Peter Stevens (2022)
1:00.5
D Hilton (1990)
59.38
Mike Weddell (2004)
56.6
Alan Hill (1981)
55.73
Bruce McPhail (1992)
no record56.02
Rob Mayston AUS (2014)
52.24
Charles Allie USA (2003)
53.20
Alston Brown JAM (2004)

Charles Allie USA (2004)
M601:02.44
Richard Brent (2011)
1:02.1
Ian Babe (1996)
1:02.05
Bruce Thomson (2019)
1:00.87
Bruce Thomson (2020)
58.11
Frank Evans (1985)
1:05.10
A Deleiros (2010)
58.32
John Lamb AUS (2012)
53.88
Ralph Romain TRI (1995)
55.62
Harold Morioka CAN (2003)
M651:07.98
Richard Brent (2016)
1:05.37
Laurie Malcolmson (2015)
1:03.82
Malcolm Fraser (2004)
1:03.53
Malcolm Fraser (2007)
1:01.75
Frank Evans (1990)
1:06.29
Alan Dougall (2017)
1:01.15
Hugh Coogan AUS (2004)
56.09
Charles Allie USA (2013)
56.63
Guido Muller GER (2004)
M701:15.31
Richard Brent (2021)
1:11.02
Hector Mein (2000)
1:11.4
Max Wood (2003)
1:08.95
Ian Carter (2021)
1:06.29
Max Wood (2003)
1:08.48
A Deleiros (2017)
1:02.28
Hugh Coogan AUS (2006)
57.26
Charles Allie USA (2018)
59.43
Charles Allie USA (2018)
M751:16.52
Bernie Kaiser
1:19.90
Eric de Lautour (1996)
1:16.14
Malcolm Fraser (2015)
1:14.27
Max Wood (2010)
1:11.96
Max Wood (2008)
no record1:14.12
 Colin Woods AUS (2012)
1:02.40
 Guido Muller GER (2014)
1:03.12
 Guido Muller GER (2014)
M801:18.34
David Reade (2017)
1:25.60
Eric de Lautour (2001)
1:37.29
Max Wood (2013)
1:23.77
Eric de Lautour (2002)
1:18.34
David Reade (2017)
no record1:15.64
Mike Johnston AUS (2002)
1:10.01
Hisamitsu Hijiya JPN (2012)
1:10.20
Robert Lida USA (2017)
M852:03.72
Peter Hanson (2022)
1:40.53
Eric de Lautour (2007)
no record1:32.86
Jim Jones (2010)
1:29.82
Eric de Lautour (2006)
no record1:29.82
Eric de Lautour NZL (2006)
1:17.12
Earl Fee CAN (2014)
1:20.65
Radnaa Tseren MGL (2019)
M90no record2:14.66
Eric de Lautour (2012)
no record3:05.26
Frank Cox (2002)
2:14.66
Eric de Lautour (2012)
no record2:04.37
James Sinclair AUS (2015)
1:29.15
Earl Fee CAN (2019)
1:30.75
Earl Fee CAN (2019)
M95no recordno recordno recordno recordno recordno record2:44.23
Eric de Lautour NZL (2015)
2:21.82
Orville Rogers USA (2013)
2:24.51
Orville Rogers USA (2013)
M100no recordno recordno recordno recordno recordno recordno record3:41.00
Erwin Jaskulski AUT (2003)
4:16.90
Orville Rogers USA (2018)
WellingtonNorth Island
Champs
South Island
Champs
NZMA ChampsNZ NationalNZ IndoorOceania ChampsWorldWorld Indoor
W351:04.87
Pam Graham
1:02.64
Vanessa Story (2010)
1:02.26
Joeline Jones (2020)
58.3h
Chris Turner (1984)
56.98
M Stephen (2002)
no record58.50
Marge Allison AUS (1984)
49.46
Allyson Felix USA (2021)
51.99
Helena Fuchsova CZE (2001)
W401:00.35
 Vanessa Story (2016)
1:00.5
C Turner (1987)
1:02.52
Joeline Jones  (2021)
1:00.1h
Chris Turner (1992)
58.9h
C Mills (1975)
1:00.22
 Vanessa Story (2017)
59.13
Suzy Cole AUS (2012)
53.68
Sara Montecinos CHI (1994)
54.63
Aneta Lemiesz POL (2022)
W451:05.87
 Vanessa Story (2020)
1:03.68
Vanessa Hodge (2023*)

*2022 Champs held in calendar year 2023
1:04.84
Elizabeth Wilson (2011)
1:03.0h
Ann Hathaway (1993)
59.68
C Mills (1981)
no record59.27
Marie Kay AUS (2006)
56.14
Angela Henry-Nott USA (2021)
56.99
Marie Kay AUS (2008)
W501:09.15
Petra Stoeveken (2018)
1:06.49
Meghann Stewart(2018)
1:03.88
 Elizabeth Wilson (2014)
1:00.83
Gail Kirkman (2002)
1:00.83
Gail Kirkman (2002)
no record1:02.62
Gianna Mogentale AUS (2014)
57.55
Sally Cooke GBR (2022)
1:00.11
Sharon Wilkinson GBR (2022)
W551:13.90
Judy Hammond
1:08.18
Chris Waring (1998)
1:14.35
Claire Giles (2011)
1:06.50
Elizabeth Wilson(2019)
1:03.98
Elizabeth Wilson(2018)
no record1:05.54
Elizabeth Wilson NZL (2018)
59.36
Julie Brims AUS (2021)
1:02.11
Caroline Powell GBR (2013)
W601:14.30
Judy Hammond
1:14.77
Chris Waring (2005)
1:19.69
Alison Newall (2021)
1:08.93
Gail Kirkman (2013)
1:07.93
Gail Kirkman (2013)
no record1:08.94
Jeanette Flynn AUS (2014)
1:04.31
 Caroline Powell GBR (2015)
1:04.76
Caroline Powell GBR (2014)
W651:25.44
Judy Hammond
1:16.63
Chris Waring (2010)
1:13.69
Gail Kirkman (2018)
1:17.40
L Laban (2017)
1:11.83
Gail Kirkman (2018)
no record1:09.01
Jeanette Flynn AUS (2018)
1:08.08
Karla Del Grande CAN (2019)
1:08.39
Karla Del Grande CAN (2019)
W701:28.51
Judy Hammond (2009)
1:23.19
Chris Waring (2013)
1:25.52
Loris Reed (2017)
1:19.53
Gail Kirkman (2022)
1:17.76
Sheryl Gower(2018)
1:22.55
Sheryl Gower (2019)
1:19.76
Marge Allison AUS (2015)
1:11.78
Barbara Blurton AUS (2020)
1:17.74
Riet Jonkers NED (2013)
W751:37.02
Judy Hammond (2013)
1:37.02
Judy Hammond (2013)
2:00.40
Glenyss Jones (2018)
1:28.54
Chris Waring (2019)
1:27.2
Margaret Peters (2009)
1:32.10
Chris Waring (2019)
1:27.97
Chris Waring NZL (2019)
1:19.53
Christa Bortignon CAN (2013)
1:21.28
Jeanne Daprano USA (2012)
W80no record1:53.05
Marcia Petley (2009)
no record2:00.21
Marcia Petley (2010)
1:31.1
Marcia Petley (2009)
no record1:45.66
Corinne Collins AUS (2019)
1:29.84
Rietje Dijkman NED (2019)
1:30.37
Kathleen Stewart GBR (2020)
W85no recordno recordno record2:49.00
Clasina van der Veeken (2018)
2:17.54
Clasina van der Veeken (2016)
no recordno record1:41.63
Emiko Saito JPN (2017)
1:51.89
Emma Mazzenga ITA (2019)
W90no recordno recordno recordno recordno recordno recordno record2:12.71
Emiko Saito JPN (2022)
2:20.76
Melitta Czerwenka-Nagel GER (2022)
W95no recordno recordno recordno recordno recordno recordno record3:10.21
Heather Lee AUS (2022)
no record