The following table shows the European record progression in the men's 400 metres , as ratified by the EAA ^{[1] [2]}

Hand timing [ edit ]

Time	Athlete	Nationality	Venue	Date
47.8*	Beauchamp Day	United Kingdom	Perth , Australia	April 1, 1907
47.6	Eric Liddell	United Kingdom	Paris , France	July 12, 1924
46.7	Godfrey Brown	United Kingdom	Berlin , Germany	August 7, 1936
46.0	Rudolf Harbig	Germany	Frankfurt , Germany	August 12, 1939
46.0	Ardalion Ignatyev	Soviet Union	Moscow , Russia	June 25, 1955
45.8	Carl Kaufmann	West Germany	Cologne , Germany	September 19, 1959
45.7	Carl Kaufmann	West Germany	Cologne , Germany	June 15, 1960
45.4	Carl Kaufmann	West Germany	Berlin , Germany	July 24, 1960
44.9	Carl Kaufmann	Germany	Rome , Italy	September 6, 1960
44.9	Martin Jellinghaus	Germany	Mexico City , Mexico	October 17, 1968
44.7	Karl Honz	West Germany	Munich , Germany	July 21, 1972

* Performance timed over 440 yards

Automatic timing [ edit ]

Time	Athlete	Nationality	Venue	Date
44.70	Karl Honz	West Germany	Munich , Germany	July 21, 1972
44.60	Viktor Markin	Soviet Union	Moscow , Russia	July 30, 1980
44.50	Erwin Skamrahl	West Germany	Munich , Germany	July 26, 1983
44.48	Thomas Schonlebe	East Germany	Potsdam , Germany	August 21, 1987
44.33	Thomas Schonlebe	East Germany	Rome , Italy	September 3, 1987
44.26	Matt Hudson-Smith	United Kingdom	Budapest , Hungary	August 22, 2023

References [ edit ]