Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics is scheduled to take place between 1 and 5 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium.[1] Approximately fifty athletes are expected to compete; the exact number will depend on how many nations use universality places to enter athletes in addition to the 48 qualifying through time or ranking (3 universality places were used in 2016).[2]

Men's 400 metres at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Olympic Athletics
Venue	Japan National Stadium
Dates	1 August 2021 (round 1) 2 August 2021 (semifinals) 5 August 2021 (final)[1]
Competitors	~50 from ~35 nations

Background

This will be the 29th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics.

Qualification

Main article: Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 3 qualified athletes in the men's 400 metres event if all athletes meet the entry standard or qualify by ranking during the qualifying period. (The limit of 3 has been in place since the 1930 Olympic Congress.) The qualifying standard is 44.90 seconds. This standard was "set for the sole purpose of qualifying athletes with exceptional performances unable to qualify through the IAAF World Rankings pathway." The world rankings, based on the average of the best five results for the athlete over the qualifying period and weighted by the importance of the meet, will then be used to qualify athletes until the cap of 48 is reached.[2][3]

The qualifying period was originally from 1 May 2019 to 29 June 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the period was suspended from 6 April 2020 to 30 November 2020, with the end date extended to 29 June 2021. The world rankings period start date was also changed from 1 May 2019 to 30 June, 2020; athletes who had met the qualifying standard during that time were still qualified, but those using world rankings would not be able to count performances during that time. The qualifying time standards could be obtained in various meets during the given period that have the approval of the IAAF. Both indoor and outdoor meets are eligible. The most recent Area Championships may be counted in the ranking, even if not during the qualifying period.[2][4]

NOCs can also use their universality place—each NOC can enter one male athlete regardless of time if they had no male athletes meeting the entry standard for an athletics event—in the 400 metres.[2]

Competition format

The event will continue to use the three-round format introduced in 2004.[5]

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records are as follows.

World record	Wayde van Niekerk (RSA)	43.03	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	14 August 2016
Olympic record	Wayde van Niekerk (RSA)	43.03	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	14 August 2016

Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

Date	Time	Round
Sunday, 1 August 2021	9:10	Round 1
Monday, 2 August 2021	19:00	Semifinals
Thursday, 5 August 2021	19:00	Final

References

1. "Athletics Competition Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
2. "Qualification System – Games of the XXXI Olympiad – Athletics" (PDF). IAAF. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
3. "IAAF to follow other sports with world ranking system for athletes". BBC Sport. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
4. "Olympic qualification period suspended until 1 December 2020". World Athletics. 6 April 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
5. "Athletics Explanatory Guide". Tokyo 2020. August 2019.