Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres
| Men's 400 metres at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad
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Interior view of the Estádio Olímpico João Havelange, where the Men's 400m took place.
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| Venue | Olympic Stadium | ||||||||||||
| Dates | 12 August 2016 (Heats) 13 August 2016 (semi-final) 14 August 2016 (final) |
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| Competitors | 53 from 33 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 43.03 WR | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
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Wayde van Niekerk |
 South Africa
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Kirani James |
 Grenada
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LaShawn Merritt |
 United States
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The men's 400 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 12–14 August at the Olympic Stadium.
Kirani James was the Olympic champion in 2012 and was in good form before the competition with a run of 44.08 seconds placing him second on the global rankings. The 2008 Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt topped the lists for the season as the only man under 44 seconds. Wayde van Niekerk ranked third and was the 2015 World Championships winner. At that competition the trio had all run under 44 seconds for medals (a first for the sport) and were the principal challengers to the Olympic title. Two younger athletes, Baboloki Thebe and Machel Cedenio, were the next fastest athletes to enter. James was the fastest in the first round with 44.93 and Cedenio was the other heat winner under 45 seconds. The 2016 World Indoor Champion Pavel Maslák, David Verburg and Rafał Omelko qualified as fastest losers. Former European champions Martyn Rooney and Kevin Borlée were eliminated.
In the semi-finals, James had a season's best time of 44.02 to win the round nearly two tenths ahead of Merritt. Cedenio won the 2nd semi final ahead with van Niekerk second. Bralon Taplin won the third semi final. Fastest loser qualifiers Karabo Sibanda, Matthew Hudson-Smith and Ali Khamis all set personal bests.
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