The men's 400 metres hurdles

Hurdling

Hurdling is a type of track and field race.- Distances :There are sprint hurdle races and long hurdle races. The standard sprint hurdle race is 110 meters for men and 100 meters for women. The standard long hurdle race is 400 meters for both men and women...

was one of 23 track events of athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics

At the 2004 Summer Olympics, the athletics events were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 18 to August 29, except for the marathons , the race walks , and the shot put...

, in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

. It was contested at the Athens Olympic Stadium, from August 23 to August 26, by a total of 35 athletes from 24 nations.

In a first round, the first four runners from each of the five heats, together with the four fastest losing runners from all heats (5×4+4=24), automatically qualified for the semifinals. In the semifinals, these 24 runners competed in three heats, with the first two from each heat and the two fastest losing runners advancing to the final (3×2+2=8).

Qualification

The Olympic qualification period for the athletics ran from January 1, 2003 to August 9, 2004. For this event, each National Olympic Committee

National Olympic Committee

National Olympic Committees are the national constituents of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, they are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games...

 (NOC) was permitted to enter up to three athletes, provided they had run below 49.20 seconds during this period in IAAF

International Association of Athletics Federations

The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded in 1912 at its first congress in Stockholm, Sweden by representatives from 17 national athletics federations as the International Amateur Athletics Federation...

-sanctioned meetings or tournaments. If an NOC had no athletes qualified under this standard, it could enter up to one athlete that had run below 49.50 seconds.

Records

These are the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 2004 Summer Olympics.

World Record	46.78	Kevin Young Kevin Young (athlete) Kevin Curtis Young is a former American athlete. He was the winner of the 400 meter hurdles at the 1992 Summer Olympics...	Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...  (ESP Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... )	6 August 1992
Olympic Record	46.78	Kevin Young Kevin Young (athlete) Kevin Curtis Young is a former American athlete. He was the winner of the 400 meter hurdles at the 1992 Summer Olympics...	Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...  (ESP Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... )	6 August 1992

Results

All times shown are in seconds. The following abbreviations are used:

• Q denotes qualification by place
• q denotes qualification by time
• DSQ denotes disqualification
• NR denotes "national record"
• PB denotes "personal best"
• SB denotes "season best"

First round

The first round was held on August 23. The first four runners of each heat plus the four overall fastest losing runners qualified for the semifinals.

Heat	Athlete	Nation	Time	Rank
1			48.79		9	Q
1			48.85	SB	12	Q
1			48.94		14	Q
1			49.25		18	Q
1			49.43		22	q
1			50.95		29
1			51.18	NR	31
2			48.53	SB	2	Q
2			48.57		3	Q
2			48.67	SB	6	Q
2			48.70		8	Q
2			49.44		23	q
2			51.97		33
2
3			48.64		4	Q
3			48.69	SB	7	Q
3			48.80		10	Q
3			49.25		19	Q
3			49.37		20	q
3			50.63		28
3			51.21		32
4			48.51		1	Q
4			48.84		11	Q
4			49.00		15	Q
4			49.15	SB	17	Q
4			49.41		21	q
4			49.44		24
4			50.97	NR	30
5			48.66	SB	5	Q
5			48.88		13	Q
5			49.12		16	Q
5			49.53		25	Q
5			49.64		26
5			49.77		27
5			52.62		34

Semifinals

The first round was held on August 24. The first two runners of each heat plus the two fastest losing runners qualified for the final.

Heat	Athlete	Nation	Time	Rank
1			47.93		1	Q
1			48.16	NR	3	Q
1			48.21	SB	6	q
1			48.72		13
1			48.98	SB	15
1			49.10		17
1			49.26		18
1			49.51		21
2			48.00	PB	2	Q
2			48.19		5	Q
2			48.46	SB	10
2			48.47	SB	11
2			48.57		12
2			49.77		22
2			49.87		23
2			50.89		24
3			48.18		4	Q
3			48.23	NR	7	Q
3			48.24		8	q
3			48.25	SB	9
3			48.88		14
3			49.01		16
3			49.46		19
3			49.48		20

Final

The final was held on August 26.

Rank	Athlete	Time
		47.63	SB
		48.11
		48.26
4		48.58
5		48.74
6		49.00
7		49.07
8		49.51