Who set a men’s 400m hurdles world record of 46.78 seconds at the 1992 Olympics? Kevin Young set it in the Olympic final in Barcelona.
Young won the race on August 6, 1992, at Barcelona’s Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. His 46.78-second performance won gold, with Jamaica’s Winthrop Graham taking silver in 47.66 and Great Britain’s Kriss Akabusi earning bronze in 47.82.
Young’s run was remarkable partly because he recovered from a slow start. He used a controlled stride pattern between the hurdles, pulled away during the middle stages, and still had enough advantage to win after clipping the final hurdle. His mark took nearly a quarter-second from Edwin Moses’s nine-year-old world record.
The 400m hurdles requires athletes to manage speed, hurdle clearance, and stride rhythm over ten barriers. Young’s record remained the global standard for 29 years, until Karsten Warholm ran 45.94 seconds at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Rai Benjamin also went under 46 seconds in that race.