2023 Men’s 400 World Rankings

At 31, World Record holder Wayde van Niekerk is back on top as in ’15, ’16 & ’17. (JIRO MOCHIZUKI/IMAGE OF SPORT)

THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NOBODY with a flawless case for the preeminent position: surprise world champ Antonio Watson didn’t compete in any international invitationals and was only 2nd in the Jamaican Champs; DL winner Kirani James lost his first 3 races of the year and was DQed in the Budapest final; yearly list leader Steven Gardiner came to Hungary undefeated, but pulled up injured in the semis…

THAT LEFT US WITH Wayde van Niekerk, whose blemish was a WC 7th. Other than that, however, he was undefeated, was the only winner of 3 DL races and with 5 sub-44.5s had the best collection of times. That gave him his first No. 1 since ’17…

REIGNING NO. 1 Michael Norman, preferring to prep for the Olympics, ran only a handful of races, none of them 400s.

JUMP TO U.S. RANKINGS VIEW WORLD TOP 50 LIST VIEW U.S. TOP 50 LIST
1. WAYDE VAN NIEKERK (South Africa) (7/15/92, 6-0/161) (1.83/73)
44.17(A) 1)SA Ch 4/01
(45.99Ah, 44.95Asf)
44.21 1)Kingston 6/03
44.38 1)Oslo DL 6/15
44.08 1)Chorzów DL 7/16
44.36 1)London DL 7/23
45.11 7)World Ch 8/24 1. Watson; 2. Hudson-Smith; 3. Hall; 4. Norwood; 5. Bailey;
6. Ingvaldsen
(44.57h, 44.65sf)
2. ANTONIO WATSON (Jamaica) (9/11/01, 5-9¼/141) (1.76/64)
46.63 1)Kingston 2/11
45.78 1)Kingston 3/18
44.75 1B)Kingston 6/03
44.54 2)Jam Ch 7/09 1. Bailey
(46.38h, 45.00sf)
44.69 1)Murphey Cl 8/04
44.22 1)World Ch 8/24
(44.77h, 44.13sf)
3. KIRANI JAMES (Grenada) (9/1/92, 6-¾/163) (1.85/74)
44.76 2)Gaborone CT 4/29 1. Samukonga
44.50 2)Los Angeles CT 5/27 1. Bailey
44.92 2)Murphey Cl 8/04 1. Watson
dq[44.52] “8”)World Ch 8/24 1. Watson; 2. Hudson-Smith; 3. Hall; 4. Norwood; 5. Bailey;
6. Ingvaldsen; 7. van Niekerk
(44.91h, 44.58sf)
44.38 1)Xiamen DL 9/02
44.30 1)Eugene DL 9/16
4. QUINCY HALL (US) (7/31/98, 6-2/165) (1.88/75)
45.40 1)Tallahassee 3/24
45.36 2)Florida R 4/01 1. Benjamin
45.30 5)Jones Mem 4/15 1. Richards; 2. Russell; 3. Williams; 4. Stewart
46.09 1)Penn R 4/29
45.09 3)Los Angeles CT 5/27 1. Bailey; 2. James
dnf –)Music City 6/03 1. Deadmon; 2. Francis; 3. Miller; 4. Jewett; 5. Dedewo
45.06 1)Atlanta ATL 6/17
44.41 3)USATF 7/08 1. Deadmon; 2. Norwood
(45.21h, 44.86sf)
44.37 3)World Ch 8/24 1. Watson; 2. Hudson-Smith
(44.86h, 44.43sf)
44.38 2)Xiamen DL 9/02 1. James
44.44 2)Eugene DL 9/16 1. James
5. VERNON NORWOOD (US) (4/10/92, 6-1½/170) (1.87/77)
(45.92i, 45.92i)
44.80 1)Baton Rouge 4/22
44.68(A) 2)Nairobi CT 5/13 1. Samukonga
45.11 2)Rabat DL 5/28 1. Gardiner
45.05 2)Hengelo 6/04 1. Kebinatshipi
44.51 3)Oslo DL 6/15 1. van Niekerk; 2. Samukonga
44.39 2)USATF 7/08 1. Deadmon
(45.06h, 44.43sf)
44.88 7)Chorzów DL 7/16 1. van Niekerk; 2. Ndori; 3. dos Santos; 4. Nene; 5. Willie;
6. Deadmon
44.63 3)Gyulai Mem 7/18 1. Gardiner; 2. McDonald
44.46 3)London DL 7/23 1. van Niekerk; 2. Deadmon
44.39 4)World Ch 8/24 1. Watson; 2. Hudson-Smith; 3. Hall
(44.87h, 44.26sf)
44.99 4)Xiamen DL 9/02 1. James; 2. Hall; 3. McDonald
44.61 3)Eugene DL 9/16 1. James; 2. Hall
6. MATTHEW HUDSON-SMITH (Great Britain) (10/26/94, 6-4¼/172) (1.94/78)
dnf –)Miramar Inv 4/08 1. Russell; 2. Scotch; 3. Ito; 4. McDonald; 5. Ngozi;
6. Cedenio
45.28 2)Baton Rouge 4/22 1. Norwood
dnf –)Rabat DL 5/28 1. Gardiner; 2. Norwood; 3. McDonald; 4. Nene; 5. Ndori;
6. Haydock-Wilson
44.92 5)Oslo DL 6/15 1. van Niekerk; 2. Samukonga; 3. Norwood; 4. Ingvaldsen
45.57 3)Stockholm DL 7/02 1. Nene; 2. Bamidele
dnf –)GB Ch 7/09 1. Haydock-Wilson…
(46.31h)
44.72 4)London DL 7/23 1. van Niekerk; 2. Deadmon; 3. Norwood
44.31 2)World Ch 8/24 1. Watson
(44.69h, 44.26sf)
dnf –)Eugene DL 9/16 1. James; 2. Hall; 3. Norwood; 4. Deadmon; 5. McDonald;
6. Scotch; 7. Biron
7. BRYCE DEADMON (US) (3/26/97, 6-2/181) (1.88/82)
(46.34i)
44.72 1)Music City 6/03
44.75 1)Windsor 6/24
44.22 1)USATF 7/08
(45.12h, 44.70sf)
44.81 6)Chorzów DL 7/16 1. van Niekerk; 2. Ndori; 3. dos Santos; 4. Nene; 5. Willie
44.40 2)London DL 7/23 1. van Niekerk
46.20 7h)World Ch 8/20 1. Ndori; 2. Doom; 3. Barnes
44.90 4)Eugene DL 9/16 1. James; 2. Hall; 3. Norwood
8. STEVEN GARDINER (Bahamas) (9/12/95, 6-4¾/181) (1.95/82)
44.42 1)USATF Bermuda 5/21
44.70 1)Rabat DL 5/28
44.64 1)Bah Ch 7/06
(44.95h)
43.74 1)Gyulai Mem 7/18
dnf-sf –)World Ch 8/22 1. Hall; 2. Bailey
(44.65h)
9. SEAN BAILEY (Jamaica) (7/15/97, 6-0/161) (1.83/73)
44.70 1)Lubbock 3/25
44.93 1)Tucson 4/29
44.43 1)Los Angeles CT 5/27
44.48 1)Jam Ch 7/09
(45.15h, 44.90sf)
44.96 5)World Ch 8/24 1. Watson; 2. Hudson-Smith; 3. Hall; 4. Norwood
(44.98h, 44.94sf)
10. MUZALA SAMUKONGA (Zambia) (12/9/02, 5-11½/161) (1.82/73)
45.16(A) 1)Ndola 1/29
(46.00Ah)
44.80(A) 1)Ndola 3/12
(45.28h)
43.91 1)Gaborone CT 4/29
44.25(A) 1)Nairobi CT 5/13
44.49 2)Oslo DL 6/15 1. van Niekerk
45.05 1)Ostrava CT 6/27
dnf –)Chorzów DL 7/16 1. van Niekerk; 2. Ndori; 3. dos Santos; 4. Nene; 5. Willie;
6. Deadmon; 7. Norwood; 8. Zalewski

U.S. RANKINGS
1. *Quincy Hall (adidas) 6. Justin Robinson (Arizona State)
3)USATF, 3)World Ch, 2)Eugene DL 3)Pac-12, 4)NCAA, 4)USATF
2. *Vernon Norwood (New Balance) 7. Emmanuel Bynum (Tennessee)
2)USATF, 4)World Ch, 3)Eugene DL 1)Jones Mem, 3)SEC, 3)NCAA
3. *Bryce Deadmon (Nike) 8. Christopher Bailey (Arkansas)
1)USATF, 7h)World Ch, 4)Eugene DL 4sf)NCAA, 1)Trackwired GP, 7)USATF
4. Rai Benjamin (Nike) 9. Matthew Boling (Georgia)
1)Florida R, 1)Trojan Inv 2)NYC GP, 6)USATF, 2B)Murphey
5. Ryan Willie (Florida) 10. William Jones (USC)
1)SEC, 2)NCAA, 5)USATF 1)Pac-12, 3sf)NCAA, 4sf)USATF

Subscription Options

Digital Only Subscription

  • Access to Current Articles
  • Access to Current Issues
  • eTrack Results Newsletter
  • Unlimited Content from our Technique Journal, Track Coach

$88 per year (recurring)

Digital Only Premium Archive

  • Unlimited Articles
  • Access to Archived Issues
  • eTrack Results Newsletter
  • Unlimited Content from our Technique Journal, Track Coach

$138 per year (recurring)

Print + Digital Subscription

  • Access to Current Articles
  • Access to Current Issues
  • eTrack Results Newsletter
  • Unlimited Content from our Technique Journal, Track Coach
  • 12 Monthly Print Issues

$125.00 USA per year (recurring)
$173.00 Canada per year (recurring)
$223.00 Foreign per year (recurring)

Print + Digital Premium Archive

  • Unlimited Articles
  • Access to Archived Issues
  • eTrack Results Newsletter
  • Unlimited Content from our Technique Journal, Track Coach
  • 12 Monthly Print Issues

$175.00 USA per year (recurring)
$223.00 Canada per year (recurring)
$273.00 Foreign per year (recurring)

Print Only Subscription

  • 12 Monthly Print Issues
  • Does not include online access or eTrack Results Newsletter

$89.00 USA per year (recurring)
$137.00 Canada per year (recurring)
$187.00 Foreign per year (recurring)

Track Coach
(Digital Only)

  • Track Coach Quarterly Technique Journal
  • Access to Track Coach Archived Issues

Note: Track Coach is included with all Track & Field News digital subscriptions. If you are a current T&FN subscriber, purchase of a Track Coach subscription will terminate your existing T&FN subscription and change your access level to Track Coach content only. Track & Field News print only subscribers will need to upgrade to a T&FN subscription level that includes digital access to read Track Coach issues and articles online.

$19.95 every 1 year (recurring)

*Every 30 days