List of all Olympics Women's 400 Meter winners including gold, silver and bronze medalists.

Women's 400 Meter

400 meter sprint for women is an event which demands excellent speed and stamina. The sprinters have to employ running tactic and just running fast is not enough.

Debut in Olympics
The 400 meter sprint event for women made its debut at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games. Thereafter, the event has been the part of every Olympics schedule.

Rules
  • The length and width of the track and lanes within it has been specified by the International Association of Athletics Federations.
  • At the first false start, the sprinter is issued a warning. Another false start attracts disqualification.
  • Stepping on the inner line of the track could attract disqualification.
  • An athlete who steps outside the track when a race is on is out of the event. She is prohibited from joining the race again.
  • Maximum radius of the outside lane of the track has been set to 50 meter.
  • If the number of participants is more than ten, preliminary heat events are organized. The top ten of these events enter the next round.
  • The track should be made of the substance which is capable of enduring the spiked shoes.
  • A standard automatic timing device recognized by the IAAF should be used for measurement of time in the event.
  • Any athlete who obstructs the path of her fellow athlete will be disqualified from the competition. In this case, the event will be organized again.
  • Any athlete who fails to reach the finishing line is not given any credit, even if she has run faster than the winner.
Running Technique
Athletes participating in the 400 meter sprint event apply a different type of technique. Usually, after the start, the athletes run hard up to the first curve. Then, they slow down a bit and run comparatively slower till the second curve of the track. Once they cross it, they take their maximum speed to reach the finishing line.

Great Sprinters
Famed sprinters in 400 meter sprint for women are Colette Besson, Monika Zehrt, Irena Szewinska, Marita Koch, Valerie Brisco-Hooks, Ann Packer, Lillian Board, Rita Wilden, Christina Brehmer, Jarmila Kratochvilova, Olga Bryzgina, Marie-Jose Perec, Cathy Freeman, Tonique Williams-Darling, Chandra Cheeseborough, Petra Schersing, Lorraine Fenton, Betty Cuthbert, Ana Guevara and Sanya Richards.

Women's 400 Meter Winners at Olympics

Year
Gold Silver Bronze
1964 Betty Cuthbert
Australia
Ann Packer
Great Britain
Judith Pollock
Australia
1968 Colette Besson
France
Lillian Board
Great Britain
Natalya Pechenkina
Soviet Union
1972 Monika Zehrt
East Germany
Rita Wilden
West Germany
Kathy Hammond
United States
1976 Irena Szewinska
Poland
Christina Brehmer
East Germany
Ellen Streidt
East Germany
1980 Marita Koch
East Germany
Jarmila Kratochvílová
Czechoslovakia
Christina Lathan
East Germany
1984 Valerie Brisco-Hooks
United States
Chandra Cheeseborough
United States
Kathy Smallwood-Cook
Great Britain
1988 Olga Bryzgina
Soviet Union
Petra Müller
East Germany
Olga Nazarova
Soviet Union
1992 Marie-José Pérec
France
Olga BRYZGINA
Unified Team
Ximena Restrepo
Colombia
1996 Marie-José Pérec
France
Cathy Freeman
Australia
Falilat Ogunkoya
Nigeria
2000 Cathy Freeman
Australia
Lorraine Graham
Jamaica
Katharine Merry
Great Britain
2004 Tonique Williams-Darling
Bahamas
Ana Guevara
Mexico
Natalya Antyukh
Russia
2008 Christine Ohuruogu
Great Britain
Shericka Williams
Jamaica
Sanya Richards
United States
2012 Sanya Richards-Ross
United States
Christine Ohuruogu
Great Britain
DeeDee Trotter
United States
2016 Shaunae Miller
Bahamas
Allyson Felix
United States
Shericka Jackson
Jamaica