| Final 19:45 | time | L | 200m | 400m | | 1. Michael Johnson |  USA | 43.65s | 3 | 21.65s | 22.00s | | 2. Harry Reynolds | USA | 44.13s | 7 | 21.39s | 22.74s | | 3. Samson Kitur |  KEN | 44.54s | 4 | 21.83s | 22.71s | | 4. Quincy Watts | USA | 45.05s | 5 | 21.85s | 23.20s | | 5. Sunday Bada |  NGR | 45.11s | 6 | 21.02s | 24.09s | | 6. Gregory Haughton |  JAM | 45.63s | 2 | 21.88s | 23.75s | | 7. Simon Kemboi | KEN | 45.65s | 1 | 22.42s | 23.23s | | 8. Kennedy Ochieng | KEN | 45.68s | 8 | 22.30s | 23.38s |
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A very strong American trio comprised world record holder Reynolds – returning from a doping suspension – Olympic Champion Watts and Tokyo 200 winner Johnson, who had yet to lose a 400 final.
All three qualified comfortably for the final in which the Nigerian Bada set the pace. He led at 200m, but by 300m it was Johnson from Reynolds with Watts fifth. Reynolds was running one of the best races of his comeback, but was no match for Johnson who had clocked 10.47 for his third 100. He pulled further away in the straight to win with the third-quickest time ever. Kitur was a distant third. Watts’s poor run was explained when it became known that the sole of his left shoe broke in the middle of the race.
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| | | First 4 from each Semi-Final advanced to Final. |
| Semi 1 19:20 | time | L | Rk. | | 1. Quincy Watts | USA | 44.63s | 5 | 3. | | 2. Harry Reynolds | USA | 44.82s | 4 | 6. | | 3. Simon Kemboi | KEN | 44.94s | 3 | 8. | | 4. Kennedy Ochieng | KEN | 45.01s | 6 | 9. | | 5. Evon Clarke | JAM | 45.19s | 2 | 10. | | 6. Norberto Tellez |  CUB | 46.17s | 1 | 14. | | 7. Du'aine Ladejo |  GBR | 46.33s | 8 | 15. | | -. Ian Morris |  TRI | DNS | 7 | |
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| Semi 2 19:27 | time | L | Rk. | | 1. Samson Kitur | KEN | 44.34s | 6 | 1. | | 2. Michael Johnson | USA | 44.39s | 4 | 2. | | 3. Sunday Bada | NGR | 44.63s | 3 | 3. | | 4. Gregory Haughton | JAM | 44.78s | 7 | 5. | | 5. Ibrahim Ismail |  QAT | 44.85s | 5 | 7. | | 6. Solomon Amegatcher |  GHA | 45.58s | 2 | 11. | | 7. Neil De Silva | TRI | 45.66s | 8 | 12. | | 8. Rico Lieder |  GER | 45.75s | 1 | 13. |
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| | | First 4 from each Quarter-Final advanced to Semi-Finals. |
| Quarter 1 19:50h | time | L | | 1. Quincy Watts | USA | 45.07s | 6 | | 2. Simon Kemboi | KEN | 45.22s | 4 | | 3. Neil De Silva | TRI | 45.50s | 5 | | 4. Rico Lieder | GER | 45.66s | 2 | | 5. Jean-Louis Rapnouil |  FRA | 45.69s | 3 | | 6. Sadek Boumendil |  ALG | 45.91s | 1 | | 7. Cayetano Cornet |  ESP | 46.46s | 8 | | -. Francis Ogola |  UGA | DQ | 7 |
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| Quarter 2 19:55 | time | L | | 1. Samson Kitur | KEN | 45.02s | 4 | | 2. Sunday Bada | NGR | 45.21s | 6 | | 3. Gregory Haughton | JAM | 45.48s | 2 | | 4. Solomon Amegatcher | GHA | 45.59s | 5 | | 5. Dmitriy Golovastov |  RUS | 46.00s | 3 | | 6. Ade Mafe | GBR | 46.03s | 1 | | 7. Jean-Claude Yekpe |  BEN | 47.09s | 7 | | 8. Shigekazu Omori |  JPN | 47.42s | 8 |
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| Quarter 3 20:00 | time | L | | 1. Michael Johnson | USA | 44.72s | 3 | | 2. Ibrahim Ismail | QAT | 44.95s | 6 | | 3. Evon Clarke | JAM | 45.32s | 4 | | 4. Norberto Tellez | CUB | 45.51s | 5 | | 5. Troy Douglas |  BER | 45.57s | 1 | | 6. Patrick Delice | TRI | 45.70s | 8 | | 7. Anton Ivanov |  BUL | 45.93s | 7 | | 8. Andrea Nuti |  ITA | 46.77s | 2 |
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| Quarter 4 20:05 | time | L | | 1. Harry Reynolds | USA | 44.71s | 6 | | 2. Kennedy Ochieng | KEN | 44.90s | 5 | | 3. Ian Morris | TRI | 45.90s | 3 | | 4. Du'aine Ladejo | GBR | 46.51s | 8 | | 5. Roger Jordan |  BAR | 46.89s | 7 | | 6. Benyounes Lahlou |  MAR | 47.83s | 2 | | -. Ibrahim Hassan | GHA | DNS | 1 | | -. Roberto Hernandez | CUB | DNS | 4 |
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| Heat 1 13:15 | time | L | | 1. Michael Johnson | USA | 45.60s | 2 | | 2. Norberto Tellez | CUB | 45.79s | 5 | | 3. Ian Morris | TRI | 45.80s | 3 | | 4. Dmitriy Golovastov | RUS | 45.97s | 4 | | 5. Du'aine Ladejo | GBR | 46.17s | 8 | | 6. Gholamreza Sistani |  IRN | 48.27s | 7 | | 7. Livingstone Roach |  STK | 48.72s | 6 |
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| Heat 2 13:22 | time | L | | 1. Jean-Louis Rapnouil | FRA | 45.63s | 8 | | 2. Kennedy Ochieng | KEN | 45.68s | 5 | | 3. Roberto Hernandez | CUB | 46.01s | 2 | | 4. Andrea Nuti | ITA | 46.59s | 4 | | 5. Keteng Baloseng |  BOT | 47.93s | 7 | | -. Slobodan Brankovic |  IWP | DNS | 3 | | -. Ilir Xhani |  ALB | DNS | 6 |
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| Heat 3 13:29 | time | L | | 1. Sunday Bada | NGR | 45.98s | 3 | | 2. Gregory Haughton | JAM | 46.10s | 5 | | 3. Patrick Delice | TRI | 46.16s | 2 | | 4. Sadek Boumendil | ALG | 46.37s | 7 | | 5. Shigekazu Omori | JPN | 47.17s | 4 | | 6. Roger Jordan | BAR | 47.75s | 6 | | 7. Francisco Flores |  HON | 50.86 | 8 |
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| Heat 4 13:36 | time | L | | 1. Simon Kemboi | KEN | 45.91s | 8 | | 2. Quincy Watts | USA | 45.94s | 2 | | 3. Ibrahim Hassan | GHA | 46.61s | 4 | | 4. Benyounes Lahlou | MAR | 46.64s | 3 | | 5. Jean-Claude Yekpe | BEN | 46.92s | 6 | | 6. Raymundo Escalante |  MEX | 48.03s | 5 | | 7. Stephen Lugor |  SUD | 48.72s | 7 |
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| Heat 5 13:43 | time | L | | 1. Harry Reynolds | USA | 45.34s | 4 | | 2. Ibrahim Ismail | QAT | 45.48s | 2 | | 3. Solomon Amegatcher | GHA | 45.68s | 6 | | 4. Ade Mafe | GBR | 46.25s | 7 | | 5. Francis Ogola | UGA | 46.53s | 5 | | 6. Anton Ivanov | BUL | 46.84s | 8 | | -. Baobo Neuendorf |  PNG | DNF | 3 |
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| Heat 6 13:50 | time | L | | 1. Samson Kitur | KEN | 45.71s | 6 | | 2. Neil De Silva | TRI | 45.74s | 4 | | 3. Evon Clarke | JAM | 45.92s | 8 | | 4. Rico Lieder | GER | 46.06s | 3 | | 5. Troy Douglas | BER | 46.17s | 7 | | 6. Cayetano Cornet | ESP | 46.57s | 2 | | 7. Kossi Akoto |  TOG | 47.91s | 5 |
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