Steven Gardiner (born 12 September 1995) is a Bahamian track and field sprinter competing in the 400 metres and 200 metres. He is the 2020 Olympic and 2019 world champion in the 400 m, and also won the silver medal at the 2017 World Championships in that event. His winning time of 43.48 s from the 2019 World Championships is the Bahamian record and makes him the eighth‑fastest man in the history of the event. Gardiner also owns the Bahamian records in the outdoor 300 m and 200 m, with times of 31.83 s and 19.75 s respectively, and the world best in the indoor 300 m at 31.56 s.
Early life
Gardiner was born in Murphy Town, Central Abaco, in the Bahamas. During his teenage years Gardiner was a competitive volleyball player, but also ran track and field. Gardiner wanted to transition to track and field in the shorter sprints, but his high school coach said he was too tall, so he became a 400 m runner. He went to Moores Island All-Age School, where he was a part of the Exterminators Track and Field Club, Coached by Pastor Anthony Williams. Moore's Island is a small island off the coast of mainland Abaco Islands.
Career
Gardiner competed in the sport in his teenage years and ran in the 400 m at the national championships in 2013. He entered three events at the 2014 CARIFTA Games: he only managed fourth in the individual 200 m but claimed a silver in the 4 × 100 m relay and a bronze in the 4 × 400 m relay. He marked himself as one of the Bahamas' top young athletes with a win at the Bahamian junior championships in June of that year. An appearance at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics resulted in a semi-final run in the 200 m and a sixth-place finish in the 4 × 400 m.
His first senior medal came at the 2015 IAAF World Relays, held on home turf, where he gave American competitor Jeremy Wariner a close run in the 4 × 400 m relay, helping the Bahamas to the silver medal alongside Ramon Miller, Michael Mathieu and Chris Brown. He began to focus on the 400 m in the 2015 season, which proved a successful transition. He rapidly improved to become the youngest Bahamian ever, at 19 years old, to run the distance in under 45 seconds and moved up to fourth on the Bahamian all-time list with a best of 44.64 seconds. He set the time at the Bislett Games, which brought him victory on his debut on the IAAF Diamond League circuit, finishing ahead of Matthew Hudson-Smith and Pavel Maslák.
In 2019, he won the 400 m at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, finishing ahead of American favorite Fred Kerley in a national record of 43.48 s, which also made him the sixth fastest man in history after the race.
He won the 400 m at the 2020 Olympic Games in a time of 43.85. This was the joint fastest time in the world for the 2021 season.
In January 2022, he ran the fastest indoor 300 m of all time with a time of 31.56. He was unable to defend his World Championship 400 m title due to injury.
In April 2025, he signed as a racer in the Long Sprints event category for the 2025 Grand Slam Track season, replacing Quincy Hall.
Statistics
All information from World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.
Personal bests
| Event | Time | Venue | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 m | 19.75 | Coral Gables, Florida, U.S. | 7 April 2018 | (+0.3 m/s wind) NR |
| 300 m | 31.56 | Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. | 28 January 2022 | WR |
| 400 m | 43.48 | Doha, Qatar | 4 October 2019 | NR |
| 4 × 400 m relay | 2:57.72 | Gainesville, Florida, U.S. | 16 April 2022 |
International competitions
The two highlighted times are track records. Gardiner also holds the track record for Székesfehérvár in Hungary where he ran 43.74 seconds in July 2023.
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Representing the Bahamas | |||||
| 2014 | CARIFTA Games (U20) | Fort-de-France, Martinique | 4th | 200 m | 20.87 (+1.3 m/s wind) |
| 2nd | 4 × 100 m relay | 40.35 | |||
| 3rd | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:11.32 | |||
| World Junior Championships | Eugene, United States | 12th (sf) | 200 m | 20.89 (+1.8 m/s wind) | |
| 6th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:08.08 | |||
| 2015 | World Relays | Nassau, Bahamas | 2nd | 4 × 400 m relay | 2:58.91 |
| World Championships | Beijing, China | 16th (sf) | 400 m | 44.98 | |
| DQ | 4 × 400 m relay | Lane violation | |||
| 2016 | Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 11th (sf) | 400 m | 44.72 |
| 3rd | 4 × 400 m relay | 2:58.49 | |||
| 2017 | World Relays | Nassau, Bahamas | 9th (sf) | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:05.37 |
| 1st | 4 × 400 m relay mixed | 3:14.42 | |||
| World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 2nd | 400 m | 44.41 | |
| 2019 | World Championships | Doha, Qatar | 1st | 400 m | 43.48 NR |
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 1st | 400 m | 43.85 |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 3rd (h) | 400 m | 44.651 |
| 2026 | Commonwealth Games | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 19th (h) | 200 m | 20.85 |
1Did not finish in the semifinals
Circuit performances
| Grand Slam Track results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slam | Race group | Event | Pl. | Time | Prize money |
| 2025 Miami Slam | Long sprints | 200 m | 4th | 20.37 | US$12,500 |
| 400 m | DNF | ||||
| 2025 Philadelphia Slam | Long sprints | 400 m | 8th | 46.88 | US$15,000 |
| 200 m | 3rd | 20.49 | |||
