2013 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 400 metres
The men's 400 metres at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Luzhniki Stadium on 11–13 August.
The [|final] had the 2008 Olympic Champion/2009 World Champion LaShawn Merritt and current defending champion and Olympic champion Kirani James in lanes 6 and 5 respectively. At the gun, Merritt took it out hard, passing Luguelín Santos to his outside and leaving him a couple meters behind at the halfway mark. James worked hard along the backstretch and into the turn to keep up with Merritt reaching the final straight two meters back, Jonathan Borlée one meter further back while the rest of the field almost 5 meters back with Santos the last out of the turn. Then the long striding James began to flail in quicksand. As Merritt charged home for the personal best 43.74 win, James fell back through the field. In lane 4, Tony McQuay asserted himself against the rest of the field, the first to pass James and run home for the silver. Borlée was clearly the next but Santos came from dead last to catch him just before the line to take the bronze.
Records
Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:| World record | 43.18 |  Sevilla, Spain | 26 August 1999 | |
| Championship record | 43.18 | Sevilla, Spain | 26 August 1999 | |
| World Leading | 43.96 |  Saint-Denis, France | 6 July 2013 | |
| African Record | 44.10 |  Stuttgart, Germany | 9 September 2006 | |
| Asian Record | 44.56 |  Budapest, Hungary | 12 August 1988 | |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | 43.18 | Sevilla, Spain | 26 August 1999 | |
| South American Record | 44.29 | Sevilla, Spain | 26 August 1999 | |
| European Record | 44.33 |  Rome, Italy | 3 September 1987 | |
| Oceanian record | 44.38 |  Seoul, South Korea | 26 September 1988 |
Qualification standards
Schedule
Results
Heats
Qualification: First 4 in each heat and the next 4 fastest advanced to the [|semifinals].| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | 6 | LaShawn Merritt | 44.92 | Q | |
| 2 | 5 | 7 | Kirani James | 45.00 | Q | |
| 3 | 1 | 4 | Tony McQuay | 45.06 | Q | |
| 4 | 2 | 5 | Anderson Henriques | 45.13 | Q, PB | |
| 5 | 3 | 8 | Deon Lendore | 45.17 | Q | |
| 6 | 5 | 2 | Jarrin Solomon | 45.19 | Q, PB | |
| 7 | 5 | 8 | Javere Bell | 45.20 | Q | |
| 8 | 4 | 8 | Luguelín Santos | 45.23 | Q | |
| 9 | 1 | 2 | Jonathan Borlée | 45.24 | Q | |
| 10 | 4 | 7 | Kevin Borlée | 45.32 | Q | |
| 11 | 2 | 7 | Javon Francis | 45.37 | Q | |
| 12 | 2 | 6 | Matteo Galvan | 45.39 | Q, PB | |
| 12 | 2 | 2 | Yousef Masrahi | 45.39 | Q | |
| 12 | 4 | 5 | Chris Brown | 45.39 | Q | |
| 15 | 4 | 2 | Nigel Levine | 45.41 | Q | |
| 16 | 3 | 3 | Pavel Maslák | 45.44 | Q | |
| 17 | 2 | 3 | Arman Hall | 45.45 | q | |
| 18 | 1 | 3 | Nick Ekelund-Arenander | 45.50 | Q | |
| 19 | 3 | 5 | José Meléndez | 45.82 | Q, PB | |
| 20 | 5 | 3 | Gustavo Cuesta | 45.93 | Q | |
| 21 | 4 | 3 | Omar Johnson | 45.97 | q | |
| 22 | 2 | 4 | Brian Gregan | 46.04 | q | |
| 23 | 1 | 5 | Nery Brenes | 46.16 | Q | |
| 24 | 4 | 4 | Yuzo Kanemaru | 46.18 | q | |
| 25 | 3 | 7 | Vladimir Krasnov | 46.23 | ||
| 26 | 5 | 4 | Wayde van Niekerk | 46.37 | ||
| 27 | 3 | 4 | LaToy Williams | 46.65 | ||
| 28 | 5 | 5 | Kevin Moore | 47.52 | ||
| 29 | 1 | 6 | Ramon Miller | 47.53 | ||
| 30 | 5 | 6 | Angelo Garland | 48.65 | ||
| 31 | 3 | 2 | Ak Hafiy Tajuddin Rositi | 49.98 | ||
| 32 | 2 | 8 | Hamdinou Cheikh El Wely | 52.33 | PB | |
| 1 | 7 | Yoandys Lescay | R 163.3 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Daniel Aleman | R 163.3 | |||
| 1 | 8 | Zaw Win Thet | R 163.3 |
Semifinals
Qualification: First 2 in each heat and the next 2 fastest advanced to the final.| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | 6 | LaShawn Merritt | 44.60 | Q | |
| 2 | 1 | 8 | Yousef Masrahi | 44.61 | Q, NR | |
| 3 | 1 | 3 | Tony McQuay | 44.66 | Q | |
| 4 | 3 | 4 | Kirani James | 44.81 | Q | |
| 5 | 3 | 6 | Luguelín Santos | 44.83 | Q | |
| 6 | 3 | 7 | Pavel Maslák | 44.84 | q, NR | |
| 7 | 2 | 3 | Jonathan Borlée | 44.85 | Q | |
| 8 | 1 | 5 | Anderson Henriques | 44.95 | q, PB | |
| 9 | 1 | 4 | Kevin Borlée | 45.03 | ||
| 10 | 2 | 8 | Chris Brown | 45.18 | SB | |
| 11 | 3 | 5 | Jarrin Solomon | 45.43 | ||
| 12 | 2 | 4 | Deon Lendore | 45.47 | ||
| 13 | 3 | 2 | Arman Hall | 45.54 | ||
| 14 | 3 | 8 | Nigel Levine | 45.60 | ||
| 15 | 1 | 6 | Javon Francis | 45.62 | ||
| 16 | 2 | 5 | Matteo Galvan | 45.69 | ||
| 17 | 3 | 3 | Javere Bell | 45.77 | ||
| 18 | 1 | 7 | Nick Ekelund-Arenander | 45.89 | ||
| 19 | 2 | 1 | Omar Johnson | 45.89 | ||
| 20 | 2 | 2 | Gustavo Cuesta | 45.93 | ||
| 21 | 1 | 2 | Brian Gregan | 45.98 | ||
| 22 | 2 | 7 | José Meléndez | 46.22 | ||
| 23 | 1 | 1 | Yuzo Kanemaru | 46.28 | ||
| 24 | 3 | 1 | Nery Brenes | 46.34 |
Final
The final was held at 21:50.| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 6 | LaShawn Merritt | 43.74 | PB, WL | ||
| 4 | Tony McQuay | 44.40 | PB | ||
| 7 | Luguelín Santos | 44.52 | SB | ||
| 4 | 8 | Jonathan Borlée | 44.54 | SB | |
| 5 | 1 | Pavel Maslák | 44.91 | ||
| 6 | 3 | Yousef Masrahi | 44.97 | ||
| 7 | 5 | Kirani James | 44.99 | ||
| 8 | 2 | Anderson Henriques | 45.03 |