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Men's 400 metres at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
Venue	Athens Olympic Stadium
Dates	August 20 to August 23
Competitors	63 from TBD nations
Medalists
Jeremy Wariner   United States   Otis Harris   United States   Derrick Brew   United States
«2000	2008»

Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m		men		women
200 m		men		women
400 m		men		women
800 m		men		women
1500 m		men		women
5000 m		men		women
10,000 m		men		women
100 m hurdles				women
110 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men		women
3000 m steeplechase		men
4×100 m relay		men		women
4×400 m relay		men		women
Road events
Marathon		men		women
20 km walk		men		women
50 km walk		men
Field events
Long jump		men		women
Triple jump		men		women
High jump		men		women
Pole vault		men		women
Shot put		men		women
Discus throw		men		women
Javelin throw		men		women
Hammer throw		men		women
Combined events
Heptathlon				women
Decathlon		men

The 400 m. at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium August 20 to August 23.

For the first round competitors were split into eight heats with the first two finishers in each gaining automatic qualification and the next eight fastest runners from across all heats also qualifying for the semifinals. There were three semifinals, with the fastest two runners in each semifinal and the next two fastest runners from any of the semifinals qualifying for the final.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:

World record	Michael Johnson (USA)	43.18 s	Seville, Spain	26 August 1999
Olympic record	Michael Johnson (USA)	43.49 s	Atlanta, United States	29 July 1996

Qualification

The qualification period for Athletics was 1 January 2003 to 9 August 2004. For the men's 400 metres, each National Olympic Committee was permitted to enter up to three athletes that had run the race in 45.55 seconds or faster during the qualification period. If an NOC had no athletes that qualified under that standard, one athlete that had run the race in 45.95 seconds or faster could be entered.

Results

All times shown are in seconds. Q denotes qualification by place. q denotes qualification by time. DNS denotes did not start. DNF denotes did not finish. NR denotes national record. PB denotes personal best. SB denotes season best.

Round 1

Qualification: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 8 fastest (q) advance to the Round 2.

Heat 1

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	Alleyne Francique	Grenada	45.32	Q
2	Davian Clarke	Jamaica	45.54	Q
3	Marcus la Grange	South Africa	45.95
4	Piotr Klimczak	Poland	46.23
5	Jun Osakada	Japan	46.39
6	Lloyd Zvasiya	Zimbabwe	47.19
7	David Canal	Spain	47.23
8	Danilson Ricciuli	Guinea-Bissau	49.27

Clarke and la Grange led from the start but la Grange tired considerably in the final straight to let Alleyne, who ran a more even paced race, ease to a win with Clarke strong enough to hold onto second place.

Heat 2

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	Chris Brown	Bahamas	45.09	Q, SB
2	Otis Harris	United States	45.11	Q
3	Eric Milazar	Mauritius	45.34	q
4	Casey Vincent	Australia	46.09
5	Vincent Mumo Kiilu	Kenya	46.31
6	Andres Silva	Uruguay	46.48
7	Stilianos Dimotsios	Greece	46.51	SB
8	Abdulla Mohamed Hussein	Somalia	51.52

Dimotsios got a huge cheer from the home crowd, searching for a new sprint star, when his name was announced but unfortunately could not live up to their hopes trailing in seventh albeit in a seasons best time. Melizar led from the gun and forced Brown, who also ran a season's best, to work harder than he would have liked in the last 100 m but it was Harris who looked more relaxed than the others.

Heat 3

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	Anton Galkin	Russia	45.43	Q
2	Geyman Lopez	Cuba	45.44	Q
3	Alejandro Cardenas	Mexico	45.46	q
4	Gary Kikaya	DR Congo	45.57	q
5	Ato Modibo	Trinidad and Tobago	46.29
6	Mitsuhiro Sato	Japan	46.70
7	Takeshi Fujiwara	El Salvador	48.46
8	Youba Hmeida	Mauritania	49.18

This was by far the closest of the heats. Cardenas went off hard from the start and led into the home straight ahead of Galkin and Kinlaya who were battling for second. Kinlaya started to tire but not as much as Cardenas whose 5 metre lead soon disappeared with the fastest finisher, Lopez, pouncing at the last moment to cross the line in a photofinish with Galkin and Cardenas. Some recompense for Cardenas getting beaten on the line was his fastest loser qualification along with Kikaya.

Heat 4

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	Derrick Brew	United States	45.41	Q
2	Brandon Simpson	Jamaica	45.61	Q
3	Sofiane Labidi	Tunisia	46.04
4	Daniel Caines	Great Britain	46.15
5	Rohan Pradeep Kumara	Sri Lanka	46.20
6	Evans Marie	Seychelles	48.23	PB
99 	Lezin Christian Elongo Ngoyikonda	Congo	DNS

With lane one empty and the Congolese athlete failing to start just six competitors challenged for the two automatic qualifying places. Caines, the 2001 World Indoor Champion went stride for stride with Brew on his outside but, not fully fit after a knee injury, lost form after 250 m. leaving Brew free to accelerate away and pass Simpson who had taken the lead at the last bend and finished second. The fast finishing Labidi came from nowhere to take third.

Heat 5

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	Carlos Santa	Dominican Republic	45.31	Q
2	Lewis Banda	Zimbabwe	45.37	Q
3	K. Mathews Binu	India	45.48	q, NR
4	Cedric van Branteghem	Belgium	45.70	q
5	California Molefe	Botswana	45.88
6	Chris Lloyd	Dominica	47.98
7	Fawzi Al Shammari	Kuwait	48.25
8	Saeed Al Adhreai	Yemen	49.39

If the race had been over 300 m. van Branteghem might have stood a chance as he went out like a bullet before tiring very quickly in the final straight. This let in Santa and Banda to relatively easy qualification. An improving Binu broke his national record in placing third and gained a fastest losers place along with Molefe and van Branteghem who must work on his pacing if he is to reach the final.

Heat 6

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	Jeremy Wariner	United States	45.56	Q
2	Ingo Schultz	Germany	45.88	Q
3	Young Talkmore Nyongani	Zimbabwe	46.03
4	Zsolt Szeglet	Hungary	46.16
5	Malachi Davis	Great Britain	46.28
6	Oleg Mishukov	Russia	46.41
7	Dadi Denis	Haiti	47.57
99 	Victor Kibet	Kenya	DNF

Michael Johnson's successor looked like coming from this round in the shape of Jeremy Wariner who eased down to nearly walking pace in the last ten metres such was the difference in class. Schultze took second but had to work quite hard.

Heat 7

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	Michael Blackwood	Jamaica	45.23	Q
2	Hamdan O Al Bishi	Saudi Arabia	45.31	Q
3	Saul Weigopwa	Nigeria	45.59	q
4	Matija Sestak	Slovenia	45.88	q
5	Yuki Yamaguchi	Japan	46.16
6	Nagmeldin Ali Abubakr	Sudan	46.32
7	Sajid Muhammad	Pakistan	47.45	SB
8	Moses Kamut	Vanuatu	48.14	SB

Blackwood's class told as he and Al Bishi controlled the race, easing down the nearer they got to the line. Weigopwa and Sestak both maintained their form and ran through the line which gave them both a place in the next round. Muhammad and Kamut though someway back both ran their season's best.

Heat 8

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	Leslie Djhone	France	45.40	Q
2	Ezra Sambu	Kenya	45.59	Q
3	Timothy Benjamin	Great Britain	45.69	q
4	Clinton Hill	Australia	45.89
5	Adem Hecini	Algeria	46.50
6	Luis Luna	Venezuela	47.92
7	Jonni Lowe	Honduras	48.06
8	Anderson Jorge Oliveira dos Santos	Brazil	48.77

After a false start by Santos and then a prolonged delay before the restart the race was relatively straightforward. Sambu led for the first ninety percent of the race before Djhine eased past him with an out of form Tim Benjamin back in third.

Heats summary

Rank	Heat	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	2	Chris Brown	Bahamas	45.09	Q, SB
2	2	Otis Harris	United States	45.11	Q
3	7	Michael Blackwood	Jamaica	45.23	Q
4	5	Carlos Santa	Dominican Republic	45.31	Q
4	7	Hamdan O Al Bishi	Saudi Arabia	45.31	Q
6	1	Alleyne Francique	Grenada	45.32	Q
7	2	Eric Milazar	Mauritius	45.34	q
8	5	Lewis Banda	Zimbabwe	45.37	Q
9	8	Leslie Djhone	France	45.40	Q
10	4	Derrick Brew	United States	45.41	Q
11	3	Anton Galkin	Russia	45.43	Q
12	3	Geyman Lopez	Cuba	45.44	Q
13	3	Alejandro Cardenas	Mexico	45.46	q
14	5	K. Mathews Binu	India	45.48	q, NR
15	1	Davian Clarke	Jamaica	45.54	Q
16	6	Jeremy Wariner	United States	45.56	Q
17	3	Gary Kikaya	DR Congo	45.57	q
18	7	Saul Weigopwa	Nigeria	45.59	q
18	8	Ezra Sambu	Kenya	45.59	Q
20	4	Brandon Simpson	Jamaica	45.61	Q
21	8	Timothy Benjamin	Great Britain	45.69	q
22	5	Cedric van Branteghem	Belgium	45.70	q
23	5	California Molefe	Botswana	45.88
23	6	Ingo Schultz	Germany	45.88	Q
23	7	Matija Sestak	Slovenia	45.88	q
26	8	Clinton Hill	Australia	45.89
27	1	Marcus la Grange	South Africa	45.95
28	6	Young Talkmore Nyongani	Zimbabwe	46.03
29	4	Sofiane Labidi	Tunisia	46.04
30	2	Casey Vincent	Australia	46.09
31	4	Daniel Caines	Great Britain	46.15
32	6	Zsolt Szeglet	Hungary	46.16
32	7	Yuki Yamaguchi	Japan	46.16
34	4	Rohan Pradeep Kumara	Sri Lanka	46.20
35	1	Piotr Klimczak	Poland	46.23
36	6	Malachi Davis	Great Britain	46.28
37	3	Ato Modibo	Trinidad and Tobago	46.29
38	2	Vincent Mumo Kiilu	Kenya	46.31
39	7	Nagmeldin Ali Abubakr	Sudan	46.32
40	1	Jun Osakada	Japan	46.39
41	6	Oleg Mishukov	Russia	46.41
42	2	Andres Silva	Uruguay	46.48
43	8	Adem Hecini	Algeria	46.50
44	2	Stilianos Dimotsios	Greece	46.51	SB
45	3	Mitsuhiro Sato	Japan	46.70
46	1	Lloyd Zvasiya	Zimbabwe	47.19
47	1	David Canal	Spain	47.23
48	7	Sajid Muhammad	Pakistan	47.45	SB
49	6	Dadi Denis	Haiti	47.57
50	8	Luis Luna	Venezuela	47.92
51	5	Chris Lloyd	Dominica	47.98
52	8	Jonni Lowe	Honduras	48.06
53	7	Moses Kamut	Vanuatu	48.14	SB
54	4	Evans Marie	Seychelles	48.23	PB
55	5	Fawzi Al Shammari	Kuwait	48.25
56	3	Takeshi Fujiwara	El Salvador	48.46
57	8	Anderson Jorge Oliveira dos Santos	Brazil	48.77
58	3	Youba Hmeida	Mauritania	49.18
59	1	Danilson Ricciuli	Guinea-Bissau	49.27
60	5	Saeed Al Adhreai	Yemen	49.39
61	2	Abdulla Mohamed Hussein	Somalia	51.52
99 	4	Lezin Christian Elongo Ngoyikonda	Congo	DNS
99 	6	Victor Kibet	Kenya	DNF

Semifinals

Qualification: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the Final.

Semifinal 1

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	Jeremy Wariner	United States	44.87	Q
2	Michael Blackwood	Jamaica	45.00	Q
3	Leslie Djhone	France	45.01	q
4	Lewis Banda	Zimbabwe	45.23
5	Eric Milazar	Mauritius	45.23
6	Gary Kikaya	DR Congo	45.58
7	Ezra Sambu	Kenya	45.84
8	Cedric van Branteghem	Belgium	46.03

Wariner was fastest away and immediately closed down on Banda in the lanes outside him but Djhone ran a very fast second and third hundreds to take the lead round the final bend. With Djhone tiring Wariner eased into the lead when they entered the home straight and although not as comfortable as in the first round he held on to cross the line first with the fastest semi-final time. Blackwood stayed on well to catch the very tired Djhone on the line and claim the second automatic qualifying spot by 1/100th of a second.

Semifinal 2

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	Derrick Brew	United States	45.05	Q
2	Davian Clarke	Jamaica	45.27	Q
3	Chris Brown	Bahamas	45.31
4	Geyman Lopez	Cuba	45.52
5	Alejandro Cardenas	Mexico	45.64
6	K. Mathews Binu	India	45.97
7	Matija Sestak	Slovenia	46.54
99 	Anton Galkin	Russia	DSQ

Brown of The Bahamas, the fastest qualifier from round one, again started very quickly and held a metre advantage over the field entering the final 100m. Brew then took control and eased to a relatively easy first place with Brown paying for his initial effort to be run down by the fast finishing Clarke.

Semifinal 3

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	Brandon Simpson	Jamaica	44.97	Q
2	Otis Harris	United States	44.99	Q
3	Alleyne Francique	Grenada	45.08	q
4	Carlos Santa	Dominican Republic	45.58
5	Hamdan O Al Bishi	Saudi Arabia	45.59
6	Saul Weigopwa	Nigeria	45.67
7	Ingo Schultz	Germany	46.23
8	Tim Benjamin	Great Britain	46.28

The erratically long holds on the blocks by the starter once again upset the athletes and they all rose to compose themselves for another attempt at the start. It was a very even break but at 200 m. Francique began to pull away. Harris of the United States soon closed him down and ran on for first with Simpson, finishing strongly, taking second ahead of the very tired Francique who was coming to a standstil as he crossed the line.

Semifinals summary

Rank	Heat	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	1	Jeremy Wariner	United States	44.87	Q
2	3	Brandon Simpson	Jamaica	44.97	Q
3	3	Otis Harris	United States	44.99	Q
4	1	Michael Blackwood	Jamaica	45.00	Q
5	1	Leslie Djhone	France	45.01	q
6	2	Derrick Brew	United States	45.05	Q
7	3	Alleyne Francique	Grenada	45.08	q
8	1	Lewis Banda	Zimbabwe	45.23
8	1	Eric Milazar	Mauritius	45.23
10	2	Davian Clarke	Jamaica	45.27	Q
11	2	Chris Brown	Bahamas	45.31
12	2	Geyman Lopez	Cuba	45.52
13	1	Gary Kikaya	DR Congo	45.58
13	3	Carlos Santa	Dominican Republic	45.58
15	3	Hamdan O Al Bishi	Saudi Arabia	45.59
16	2	Alejandro Cardenas	Mexico	45.64
17	3	Saul Weigopwa	Nigeria	45.67
18	1	Ezra Sambu	Kenya	45.84
19	2	K. Mathews Binu	India	45.97
20	1	Cedric van Branteghem	Belgium	46.03
21	3	Ingo Schultz	Germany	46.23
22	3	Tim Benjamin	Great Britain	46.28
23	2	Matija Sestak	Slovenia	46.54
99 	2	Anton Galkin	Russia	DSQ

Final

Rank	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1 	Jeremy Wariner	United States	44.01	PB
2 	Otis Harris	United States	44.16	PB
3 	Derrick Brew	United States	44.42	PB
4	Alleyne Francique	Grenada	44.66
5	Brandon Simpson	Jamaica	44.76	PB
6	Davian Clarke	Jamaica	44.83	PB
7	Leslie Djhone	France	44.94
8	Michael Blackwood	Jamaica	45.55

Wariner looked older than his twenty years as he ran a near perfect race. Prior to the race he had been advised by his mentor Michael Johnson that there would be nobody setting a fast pace and that he was not to panic finding himself in the lead entering the final straight.

Otis Harris blew the plans out of the water as he went off hard and Wariner would not close on him until the last hundred meters. Harris held on strongly to take silver with Brew giving the United States a clean sweep as they had also previously managed at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and 1988 Seoul Olympics.

The winning time of 44.00 seconds was the fastest time recorded for the event since Michael Johnson's gold medal winning time at the Sydney Olympics. Seven athletes ran under 45 seconds and five personal bests were recorded.

This was the third consecutive Summer Olympiad where the gold medal winner in the 400m was a present or former member of the Baylor University track team.

References

• Official Olympic Report