400Meters: Indonesia VS Malaysia VS Philippines VS Thailand (All-Time Top Performers)

In this post we will look at the 400m performances among the top four nations in Southeast Asia (SEA) which has produced a bunch of top 400m athletes in the SEA history.

The table above shows the most consistent country in producing the quarter mile athletes is Thailand. Out of 8 top 400m athletes, all of them have dipped below 47s, strengthening the fact that they're good in all sprint events.

Malaysia has been consistent to produce the top 400m athletes since 1960's. Started from 1960's, M.Jegathesan (who won 5 gold medals at the Asian Games) has consistently run 46.3s - 46.5s (not counted on the lists due to HT marks), and followed by the excellent performances of Nordin Jadi (two-times Olympian) in 1980's and the recent SEA Games gold medalist, Zafril Zuslaini.

Meanwhile, the Philippines has the fastest 400m athlete in Southeast Asia. Isidro del Prado (two-times Olympian) set a 45.57s back in 1984 in Manila and remain as the only athlete in SEA history who has broken the 46s barrier. His time is still considered a world class performance until at the moment.

In spite of the fact that Indonesian are not quite consistent in the one-lap event (on the table), but they have the 3rd fastest quarter miler in the SEA history, Elieser Wettebosi (46.37s). Also remember, the first two fastest sprinters in Southeast Asia, Suryo Agung Wibowo (10.17s) and Mardi Lestari (10.20s) are belong to Indonesia.

In the SEA Games history, Malaysia has won the men's 400m 11 times, Philippines won 7 times, Thailand won 5 times. Malaysia tied with Thailand as the most dominants team in the men's 4x400m with a 10 winning each.

* Hand-timing and 440y marks does not included.

*Credits:
1) Heinrich Hubbeling, ATFS for IAAF (MAS all-time lists)
2) Andrew Pirie (useful info on the all-time lists)
3) tracksun.com
4) gbrathletics.com