Kim Batten  (left) and Tonja Buford-Bailey (below) both surpassing the women's 400m hurdles world record at the 1995 World Outdoor Championships was honored by USA Track & Field as the 11^th greatest moment in U.S. track and field history in the last 25 years.

The women's 400m hurdles final at the 1995 World Outdoor Championships was not considered a premiere event due to the absence of such stars as world record holder Sally Gunnell, Sandra Farmer-Patrick and Marie-Jose Perec, who ended the 1995 season ranked #4 in the world in that event by Track & Field News. Ignoring the lowered expectations,

U.S. stars Kim Batten and Tonja Buford-Bailey provided a race for the ages.

Due to the windy conditions, the Americans decided to go out hard and take command of the race. Buford-Bailey held the early lead out of lane three, but was later overtaken by Batten (lane five) on the backstretch. Buford-Bailey staged a comeback over the final turn before chopping her steps at the ninth hurdle. She recovered well and the two met the final hurdle together.

They hit the finish at the same time, with Batten winning the race with a better lean in the new world record time of 52.61 seconds. Buford-Bailey finished a mere 0.01 behind, also under Gunnell's previous world record of 52.74 set in 1993. Batten went on to win the silver medal, while Buford-Bailey captured the bronze medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

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