Men's 400 metres hurdles world record progression


The first world record in the men's 400 metres hurdles was recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1912. That inaugural record was the performance by Charles Bacon at the 1908 Olympics.
Three athletes, all from the United States, have had long-standing records. Glenn Hardin broke the world record three times and was the record holder for over 21 years, between 1932 and 1953. Edwin Moses set his first record in 1976 and improved his own world record three times. He held the record from 1976 until 1992, when it was beaten by the current record holder Kevin Young with a time of 46.78 seconds at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
As of June 21, 2009, 21 world records have been ratified by the IAAF in the event.

Progression 1912–76

TimeAutoAthleteDateLocation
55.0July 22, 1908London
54.0August 16, 1920Antwerp
53.8October 4, 1925Paris
52.6yJuly 2, 1927Lincoln
52.0July 4, 1928Philadelphia
52.051.85August 1, 1932Los Angeles
51.8June 30, 1934Milwaukee
50.6July 26, 1934Stockholm
50.4September 20, 1953Budapest
49.5June 29, 1956Los Angeles
49.2August 6, 1958Budapest
49.2September 14, 1962Belgrade
49.1September 13, 1964Los Angeles
48.848.94September 11, 1968Echo Summit
48.148.12October 15, 1968Mexico City
47.847.82September 2, 1972Munich

"y" denotes time for 440 yards which was ratified as a world record in this event

Progression post-1976

From 1975, the IAAF accepted separate automatically electronically timed records for events up to 400 metres. Starting January 1, 1977, the IAAF required fully automatic timing to the hundredth of a second for these events.
John Akii-Bua's 1972 Olympic gold medal run was the fastest recorded fully electronic 400 metre race to that time, at 47.82.
TimeAthleteDateLocation
47.82September 2, 1972Munich
47.64July 25, 1976Montreal
47.45June 11, 1977Westwood, Los Angeles
47.13July 3, 1980Milan
47.02August 31, 1983Koblenz
46.78August 6, 1992Barcelona