2011 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on August 28, 29 and 30.

The ban was still in effect during the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, so Merritt was unable to compete.

In qualifying, ordinarily athletes try to use the minimum effort to advance to the next round, but Merritt ran the year's world leading time of 44.35 in heat 3.

The media focused on double amputee Oscar Pistorius, who ran 45.39 to qualify into the semi-finals.

[1][2] At 18 years, 363 days old, James became the youngest ever world medallist for the men's 400 m.[3] Prior to the competition, the established records were as follows.