The event was won by 0.23 seconds by Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas, with Anthony Zambrano of Colombia taking silver.

Wayde van Niekerk's world record in Rio put this event in the spotlight.

This year, van Niekerk was back to defend, but he was not the same after a 2017 ACL injury during a celebrity rugby match.

Silver medalist and 2012 Olympic Champion Kirani James was back from the podium on Rio.

Starting fast, Norman, Michael Cherry, James and Isaac Makwala made up most of the stagger on the athletes to their outside, Christopher Taylor, Gardiner, Zambrano and Liemarvin Bonevacia respectively.

Coming onto the home straight, James had the edge, with Makwala and Gardiner next, with Norman and Zambrano a metre behind them.

James began to strain, Norman and Makwala were losing ground as Gardiner cruised past him into the lead.

For the first time in Olympic history, no nations made their men's 400 metres debut this Games.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the period was suspended from 6 April 2020 to 30 November 2020, with the end date extended to 29 June 2021.

Prior to this competition, the existing global and area records were as follows: The following national records were established during the competition: All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) The men's 400 metres took place over three separate days.