How the Mens 400m Completely Changed in a Decade | Wayde Van Niekerk, Kirani James & LaShawn Merritt

At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, Lee Evans became the first man to break the 44 second barrier in the 400m with a time of 43.86. He was joined by Larry James who finished 2nd in 43.97.

In the 42 years between 1968 to 2010, seven other men joined Evans and James under the 44 second barrier bringing the total to nine. All of those nine men were also from the United States of America.

In just 10 years since 2010, nine new men have run under 44 seconds in the event, bringing the total to 18. Whats most notable is that 7 of those men in the last decade are from countries other than the United States, including the world record of 43.03, ran by Wayde Van Niekerk in 2016.

The major advances in the past decade has shown how much the men's 400m has progressed since that first sub 44 second run in 1968.