The 2024 men's final was the fastest 400-meter race in Olympic history, collectively: five of the eight men ran under 43.87 seconds, with these five times ranking among the top 15 fastest Olympic times.

Steven Gardiner was a reigning champion in Tokyo 2021, but he did not start in the fourth heat.

The entire podium from Tokyo returned, Steven Gardiner, Anthony Zambrano and Kirani James.

World record holder Wayde van Niekerk has been on the comeback trail after a devastating injury in 2017 but instead elected to run 200 metres.

Onto the back stretch, on the far outside Jereem Richards accelerated to take the lead, splitting 20.46 at the 200, with James, Hudson-Smith and Samukonga.

Coming off the turn Hudson-Smith assumed the lead barely ahead of Richards and James.

With his head shaking and arms pumping, Hall was moving faster than all of them, with Samukonga also sprinting home.

The men's 400 metres has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since the inaugural edition in 1896.