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.^[1]

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.^[1]

Progression 1912–76

Time	Auto	Athlete	Date	Location
55.0		Charles Bacon (USA)	July 22, 1908[1]	London
54.0		Frank Loomis (USA)	August 16, 1920[1]	Antwerp
53.8		Sten Pettersson (SWE)	October 4, 1925[1]	Paris
52.6y		John Gibson (USA)	July 2, 1927[1]	Lincoln
52.0		Morgan Taylor (USA)	July 4, 1928[1]	Philadelphia
51.9	51.85	Glenn Hardin (USA)	August 1, 1932[1]	Los Angeles
51.8		Glenn Hardin (USA)	June 30, 1934[1]	Milwaukee
50.6		Glenn Hardin (USA)	July 26, 1934[1]	Stockholm
50.4		Yuriy Lituyev (USSR)	September 20, 1953[1]	Budapest
49.5		Glenn Davis (USA)	June 29, 1956[1]	Los Angeles
49.2		Glenn Davis (USA)	August 6, 1958[1]	Budapest
49.2		Salvatore Morale (ITA)	September 14, 1962[1]	Belgrade
49.1		Rex Cawley (USA)	September 13, 1964[1]	Los Angeles
48.8	48.94	Geoff Vanderstock (USA)	September 11, 1968[1]	Echo Summit
48.1	48.12	David Hemery (GBR)	October 15, 1968[1]	Ciudad de México
47.8	47.82	John Akii-Bua (UGA)	September 2, 1972[1]	Munich

"y" denotes time for 440 yards (402.34 m) 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.^[1]

John Akii-Bua's 1972 Olympic gold medal run was the fastest recorded fully electronic 400 metre race to that time, at 47.82.^[1]

Time	Athlete	Date	Location
47.82	John Akii-Bua (UGA)	September 2, 1972[1]	Munich
47.64	Edwin Moses (USA)	July 25, 1976[1]	Montreal
47.45	Edwin Moses (USA)	June 11, 1977[1]	Westwood, Los Angeles
47.13	Edwin Moses (USA)	July 3, 1980[1]	Milan
47.02	Edwin Moses (USA)	August 31, 1983[1]	Koblenz
46.78	Kevin Young (USA)	August 6, 1992[1]	Barcelona

See also

• Women's 400 metres hurdles world record progression
• Hurdling

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z} "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009." (pdf). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. Pages 546, 554. http://www.iaaf.org/mm/document/competitions/competition/05/15/63/20090706014834_httppostedfile_p345-688_11303.pdf. Retrieved August 4, 2009. 

External links

• 400 Metres Hurdles All Time List from the IAAF