Women's 400 metres world record progression

The first world record in the 400 m for women (athletics) was recognized by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, now known as the International Association of Athletics Federations, in 1957.

To June 21, 2009, the IAAF has ratified 27 world records in the event. Their 2009 record progression list, however, lists 26 records.^[1]

Record progression 1957-76

Time	Auto	Athlete	Nationality	Location of race	Date
57.0y		Marlene Mathews	Australia	Sydney, Australia	6 January 1957[1]
57.0y		Marise Chamberlain	New Zealand	Christchurch, New Zealand	16 February 1957[1]
56.3y		Nancy Boyle	Australia	Sydney, Australia	24 February 1957[1]
55.2		Polina Lazareva	Soviet Union	Moscow, Soviet Union	10 May 1957[1]
54.0		Mariya Itkina	Soviet Union	Minsk, Soviet Union	8 June 1957[1]
53.6		Mariya Itkina	Soviet Union	Moscow, Soviet Union	6 July 1957[1]
53.4+		Mariya Itkina	Soviet Union	Krasnodar, Soviet Union	12 September 1959[1]
53.4		Mariya Itkina	Soviet Union	Belgrade, Yugoslavia	14 September 1962[1]
51.9		신금단 Shin Geum-Dan	North Korea	Pyongyang, North Korea	23 October 1962[1]
51.7	51.72	Nicole Duclos	France	Athens, Greece	18 September 1969[1]
51.7	51.74	Colette Besson	France	Athens, Greece	18 September 1969[1]
51.0	51.02	Marilyn Neufville	Jamaica	Edinburgh, Scotland	23 July 1970[1]
51.0	51.08	Monika Zehrt	East Germany	Paris, France	4 July 1972[1]
49.9		Irena Szewińska	Poland	Warsaw, Poland	22 June 1974[1]

(y) indicates time for 440 yards (402.34 metres), ratified as a record for this event
(+) plus sign denotes en route time during longer race

Record progression from 1975

From 1975, the IAAF accepted separate automatically electronically timed records for events up to 400 metres. Starting January 1, 1977, the IAAF required fully automatic timing to the hundredth of a second for these events.^[1]

Riitta Salin's 50.14 from 1974 was the fastest recorded result to that time.

Time	Athlete	Nationality	Location of race	Date
50.14	Riitta Salin	Finland	Rome, Italy	4 September 1974[1]
49.77	Christina Brehmer	East Germany	Dresden, East Germany	9 May 1976[1]
49.75	Irena Szewińska	Poland	Bydgoszcz, Poland	22 June 1976[1]
49.29	Irena Szewińska	Poland	Montreal, Canada	29 July 1976[1]
49.19	Marita Koch	East Germany	Leipzig, East Germany	2 July 1978[1]
49.03	Marita Koch	East Germany	Potsdam, East Germany	19 August 1978[1]
48.94	Marita Koch	East Germany	Prague, Czechoslovakia	31 August 1978[1]
48.89	Marita Koch	East Germany	Potsdam, East Germany	29 July 1979[1]
48.60	Marita Koch	East Germany	Turin, Italy	4 August 1979[1]
48.16	Marita Koch	East Germany	Athens, Greece	8 September 1982[1]
47.99	Jarmila Kratochvílová	Czechoslovakia	Helsinki, Finland	10 August 1983[1]
47.60	Marita Koch	East Germany	Canberra, Australia	6 October 1985[1]

References