History
The ‘diaulos’, one of the original events of the Ancient Olympics, was a race around two marks, roughly comparable to the modern day 400m.
The 400m or ‘one-lap race’ has been contested at every Olympics since the inaugural modern day Games in 1896. Women first contested the 400m at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
The event has provided a kaleidoscope of great Olympic memories, from Eric Liddell’s ‘Chariots of Fire’ victory at the 1924 Paris Olympics to Wayde van Niekerk’s stunning gold medal success at the 2016 Rio Games. On the women’s side, Australia’s Cathy Freeman provided the iconic moment of the 2000 Sydney Olympics by striking 400m gold in front of a record TV audience of 7 million people in her homeland. Only two athletes in history have won back-to-back Olympic 400m titles; US great Michael Johnson in 1996 and 2000 and Marie-Jose Perec in 1992 and 1996.
