400 metre AO1

400 metres

400 m is part of the track and field sports made up of various competitive athletic contests. These are some of the oldest of all sports and took place in the Ancient Olympic Games (see ancient Greek pot on left that show runners).

In 1912, the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) was formed and is the governing body for the sport. In the 1990’s the sport became more professional with over two hundred countries as member and The World Championships in Athletics started in 1997.

400m takes place in a stadium and this has an oval running track.  It is an individual sport and the athletes compete against each other to decide the winner.

The 400m is one of the sprinting events held at the Olympics and outdoor World Championships. The others are 100m and 200m. These originally were done in imperial measurements and the 400m used to be the 440 yard dash or the quarter mile race

The 400 metres or sometimes known as the 400 metre dash is a running race which both men and women run in. There are 8 runners in a race and they all start in different lanes. The circuit is usually one lap of an oval running track so the runners are staggered; the lane on the outside is the furthest forward and the lane on the inside is the furthest back so that all the competitors run the same distance.

400 metres is considered as one of the hardest sprint races because you have to have very good stamina and endurance to be able to sprint that far.

The athletes start from a starting block which gives them the momentum to go really fast.

 

The Americans have dominated the record book for 400 metres, all of the current top 10 are American and Michael Johnson (right) has the record for the fastest time ever with 43.18, which he set in 1999. The women’s world record is 47.60 and that was set by Marita Koch (below) of East Germany in 1985.

Famous British 400m runners

Iwan Thomas is the current British record holder. He is also a European and Commonwealth Games Champion and holds the Commonwealth Games record. His personal best is 44.35 which he got in Birmingham in 1997.

Roger Black got silver at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 just behind Michael Johnson and two gold medals at the European Championships in 1986 and 1990. His best is 44.37.

Kathy Cook has the UK record for a bronze medal place at the 1984 Olympics where she ran in 49.43

Kit

400 metre racers wear trainers that have spikes on them to help grip into the track more. The spikes are on the balls of the shoes because that is the best place on your feet to run on.

They also wear tight elasticated clothes to reduce air resistance and so they are more streamlined so they go faster.