browsing through the history of the 400
meters it becomes obvious that the race
may well be described as one of the most
American of all events American athletes
have won 19 gold medals out of 28 in the
Olympics and 10 out of 16 in the world
of championships the 400 meter dash made
its debut in the first-ever modern
Olympic Games held in Athens in 1896 the
inaugural champion was Thomas Burke who
won a unique 100 meter
400 meter double finishing in 12 point O
and 54 point two seconds respectively in
1912 Charles Reid Pass won the gold
medal at Stockholm Olympics setting a
new world record of forty eight point
two seconds the first 400 meter world
record recognized by the IAAF in 1916
Ted Meredith said the first official
world record for 440 yards in 47 point
four seconds Meredith who had won the
1912 Olympic 800 meter gold medal
strongly influenced 400 meter training
methods and competition for several
decades all coaching books printed
during this time include the 400 meter
race under middle-distance events and
training the 400 meter race only became
a sprint race following the victory of
Erich little in the 1924 Olympics little
who was best known for his
accomplishments in the 100-meter and
200-meter sprinted all out to a clear
lead at the 200 meter with a split time
of 22 point 2 and ripped through the
tape in a new world record of 47 point
six seconds in the 1930s most American
coaches believed that the 400 meter
specialists should set a pace fast
enough to kill off the Sprinter both
this judgment and the close relationship
between the 400 meter and the 800 meter
races was strongly supported when Rudolf
Harbach
set new world records for 400 meters in
46 seconds and 800 meters in 1 46.6
within three weeks herb McKenley was the
first person to break the four
six second barrier in 1947 McKinley was
a terrible judge of pace early in his
career he ran for world record times in
the 1940s and 1950s all of which
consisted of splits of around 21 and 25
not surprisingly he was caught on near
the finish line in the Olympic file in
1948 curiously Arthur went the winner in
1948 followed McKinley's tactics in
Helsinki in 1952 and
uncharacteristically blasted through 200
meters in a personal best and then faded
badly to fifth the 44 second barrier was
broken in 1968 thanks partly to Mexico's
altitude and because Lee Evans was
pushed all the way by Larry James Evans
time was the groundbreaking 43 point 86
and James also ran inside the old record
with 40 3.97 Lee Evans believed there
should be only one second differential
between the first 200 meters and the
second 200 meters in a quality 400 meter
race he knew the value of even pace
racing for the 400 meters his
world-record splits were twenty one
point four and twenty two point four the
cuban runner alberto Juantorena
also proved a close connection between
the one and two lap races he won the
gold medals of both the 400 meters and
800 meters at the 1976 Olympics in
Montreal a feat that has remained
unmatched his 44 point 26 victory was
the fastest ever sea level clocking at
that time while in 1987 butch Reynolds
ran 44 point 10 improving quanta Ranas
mark run at sea level
Reynolds knew he was finally ready for
the assault and Lee Evans's long
standing 400 meter world record in 1988
butch Reynolds said a 400 meters - world
record with 40 three-point 29 seconds
smashingly Evans's 20 years old world
record by an astounding point 57 seconds
his - sub 22 seconds
200 meters set a new standard of running
the 400
this near-perfect performance consisted
of 21.4 and 21.9 t splits and 11.20
homestretch which is still the fastest
finish in history up-to-date michael
johnson history's greatest 400-meter
specialists broke 44 seconds 22 times
more than twice as many times as any
other athlete and the exciting part is
that he never ran the first half under
21 seconds his 43 point 66 race in 1996
with negative splits of twenty one point
nine and twenty one point eight was the
most striking hint of his potential to
break reynolds unbreakable world record
he broke Reynolds's record three years
later in one spectacular circuit of the
olympic stadium and samir johnson
confirmed his status as the greatest 400
meter runner by taking the gold with the
world record of 43 point 18 for the
first 200 meters which he ran in twenty
one point twenty two seconds it seemed
as if Johnson was contenting himself
with a win simply matching the speed of
those running outside him but on the
final turn he pushed harder and by the
time he entered this straight his rivals
were in another race the race execution
was very similar to that of Reynolds
with both halves under 22 seconds after
wait van nica's win at the 2015 World
Championships in forty three point 48
there was a prevailing feeling that
Michael Johnson's 20 year old Olympic
record which was just one hundredths shy
of that mark might be in danger in Rio
instead it was his world record that
fell van Niekerk attacked a race hard
from the start he reached 100 meters in
ten point seven a time only bettered
during a 400 meter by Tyson Gay during
40 5.05 in 2010 his 20.5 for the 200
meter is the second fastest split in
history only merits 20 point 44 from
this very race is quicker manic then
started to pull away at about 250 meter
and crossed a 300 meter mark in 31.0 4
by far the fastest in history it should
be noted that Merritt and James were
also under Johnson's world
called pace at 300 meter but they
decelerated dramatically more than van
niekirk who is able to maintain his
sprint with a world record of 40 3.0 3
seconds wait van niekirk is also one of
the two sub 44 sprinters who managed to
run the 400 meters with negative splits
it was an even race with 11.3 at 100
meters 21.9 and 200 meters an eleven
point four for the last 100 meters
finishing his first sub 44 race in forty
three point 96 seconds since nobody can
run the 400 meters all-out from the
beginning to the end
being able to distribute speed and
energies in the most effective way over
the total distance is at rate only the
best athletes possess thus good pace
judgment and distribution of effort are
the primary means to achieve success in
the 400 meters one interesting stat is
that every single world-record from the
60 meters to the marathon was set with
negative splits except 400 and 800
meters it is obvious that the hardest
races to master at a 400 meter and 800
meter races but this also means that
there's great room for improvement with
proper training
