Butch Reynolds

American 400m runner who held the world record for 11 years with his 1988 time of 43.29 seconds, and successfully overturned a false doping ban all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Born Harry Lee Reynolds Jr. in Akron, Ohio, on 8 June 1964, Butch Reynolds began as a 48.1-second single-lapper in high school before starring at Ohio State University. In 1987 he stunned the athletics world with a low-altitude world record of 44.10 in the 400m at the Jesse Owens Classic and went on to win the NCAA title that year. Reynolds's defining performance came in Zurich in August 1988, where he ran 43.29 seconds to shatter Lee Evans's 20-year-old 400m world record from the 1968 Mexico City Olympics — a mark that would stand for 11 years, the longest-lived record in the event's modern history. That same year, he won 400m silver at the Seoul Olympics, finishing 0.06 seconds behind fellow American Steve Lewis, and took relay gold in the 4x400m. In 1990, Reynolds was falsely accused of a doping violation by the IAAF and banned for two years despite a flawed testing procedure. He fought the case through the U.S. court system all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled in his favour; he was awarded $27.3 million in damages, though he never received the money. On his return, Reynolds became the 1993 World Indoor champion and won two further 400m World Championship silvers (1993, 1995), along with three World Championship 4x400m relay golds (1987, 1993, 1995). His relay team's 1993 time of 2:54.29 remains a world record. He remains the third-fastest 400m runner in history behind only Michael Johnson and Wayde van Niekerk.

Explosive, front-running 400m specialist

One of the greatest 400m runners in history and a pivotal figure in the reform of doping-testing procedures