Ultimate preview: men's 400m

Collen Kebinatshipi wins the 400m at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 (© Getty Images)

Semifinals: Friday 11 Sep, 19:19Final: Saturday 12 Sep, 18:18

Contenders:Collen Kebinatshipi (BOT) 🌍 💎Zakithi Nene (RSA)Jacory Patterson (USA)Rai Benjamin (USA)Jereem Richards (TTO)Matthew Hudson-Smith (GBR)Khaleb McRae (USA)Muzala Samukonga (ZAM)Bayapo Ndori (BOT)Chris Bailey (USA)Lee Eppie (BOT)Attila Molnár (HUN)Christopher Morales Williams (CAN)Jonas Phijffers (NED)Yuki Joseph Nakajima (JPN)Muhammad Abdallah Kounta (FRA)Patrik Simon Enyingi (HUN)

World lead: 43.38 Samuel Ogazi (NGR) Eugene, 12 Jun2026 world list | world rankings

World record: 43.03 Wayde van Niekerk (RSA) Rio de Janeiro, 14 Aug 2016world all-time list | world record progression

Botswana’s Collen Kebinatshipi has been the dominant force in the men’s 400m this year. The 22-year-old followed his 400m and 4x400m world title wins in Tokyo by becoming the Diamond League champion – at the end of a season during which he revised the Diamond League record three times.

The most recent of those record-breaking performances – 43.40 in Brussels – was a national record that moved him to joint fifth on the world all-time list. He now owns four of the five fastest times of the season and lines up in Budapest as the only man in history to have broken 44.00 five times in one year.

But he is not – yet – the fastest man of 2026, although that is his aim. “I hope to finish this season as the world leader and for that I will need to find 0.02 next week at the Ultimate Championship,” he said in Brussels, referring to the world lead of 43.38 set by Samuel Ogazi at the NCAA Championships in June. “The main part that needs to improve is my back straight. That will be the focus in Budapest: not being too relaxed in the first part.”

He’ll need to be near that top form if he is to beat some strong rivals. Trinidad and Tobago's Jereem Richards, the world 200m bronze medallist in 2017, continues to improve over twice the distance and the 32-year-old finished second in the Diamond League final in 43.68 – beating his own national record set when securing world silver behind Kebinatshipi in Tokyo.

And then there’s Rai Benjamin, the Olympic and world 400m hurdles champion who switched his focus to the 400m flat for 2026. He intends to contest both events in Budapest and the 400m is up first. The US 29-year-old took his PB to 43.83 when finishing second to Kebinatshipi during the Diamond League meeting in Silesia, beating Zakithi Nene, Jacory Patterson, home star Attila Molnár and Richards, who will all be among his rivals again at the Ultimate.

Matthew Hudson-Smith is the sole member of the Budapest podium from the 2023 World Championships returning and he’ll also want to make an impact again on the major stage having gone on to get an Olympic medal of the same colour in Paris.

Multiple other global medallists are in action including world bronze medallist Bayapo Ndori, Olympic bronze medallist Muzala Samukonga, world indoor champion Christopher Morales Williams, world indoor silver medallist Khaleb McRae and 2025 world indoor champion Chris Bailey, so reaching the final will be a battle in itself.

Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Title key: 🏅 Olympic champion, 🌍 world champion, 💎 Diamond League champion