| Landmarks |
First under 50 sec: 49.2 Lon
Myers USA 1879
First official world record: 47.8 Maxey Long USA 1900
First under 47 sec: 46.4 Ben Eastman USA 1932
First under 46 sec: 45.9 Herb McKenley JAM 1948
First under 45 sec: 44.9 Otis Davis USA & Carl Kaufmann GER 1960
First under 44 sec: 43.86 Lee Evans USA 1968Subsequent
record progression:
43.29 Butch Reynolds USA 1988
43.18 Michael Johnson USA 1999
Most durable world record: 43.86 Lee Evans (19 years)
Most times under 44.00: Michael Johnson 22 (as at 16 Aug 2000) |
| Superlatives |
Most Olympic titles: 1 by 24
men; gold/silver by Wyndham Halswelle GBR 1908/1906 & Steve Lewis USA 1988/1992
Most World titles: 4 Michael Johnson 1993/1995/1997/1999
Youngest Olympic/World champion: Steve Lewis 1988 (19) Oldest: Michael Johnson 1999 (31) |
Three all time greats |
| Herb McKenley (JAM):
Twice second in Olympic 400m but made history by running first sub-46 time in 1948 and a
phenomenal 44.6 relay leg at 1952 Olympics. |
Lee Evans (USA): World's no 1 for several years, his greatest achievement was
winning 1968 Olympic title in 43.86, a time which was not surpassed for nearly 20 years. |
 Michael
Johnson (USA): Has run most sub-44 sec times, and his winning margin of 0.92 sec
in Atlanta in 1996 was the widest in Olympic 400m history for 100 years. He broke the
world record at the 1999 World Championships in Seville to add to his stunning 200m record
in Atlanta. |
