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2009 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 400 metres

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The women's 400 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 15, 16 and 18 August. The world-leader prior to the competition, Sanya Richards, was regarded as the favourite in the event, although her previous failure to convert circuit dominance to major championship success raised some doubts. Reigning Olympic and world champion Christine Ohuruogu entered the championships as only the 25th fastest in the world that year, although a low-key run up also preceded her previous victories. Jamaicans Shericka Williams and Novlene Williams-Mills were predicted as possible medallists, while Russian Antonina Krivoshapka held the second fastest time in the world prior to the tournament.[1]

All the favoured athletes made it through the heats and Motswana Amantle Montsho, a 2008 Olympic finalist, had the fastest time of the day with 50.65 seconds. Unusually, two of the race favourites, Richards and Ohuruogu, faced each other in the first round, with the Richards taking first place.[2] The two faced each other again in the semi-finals, and Richards again beat the defending champion. The other two semi-finals were much faster, however, with five athletes breaking 50 seconds. Shericka Williams and Debbie Dunn set personal bests to qualify in the second final, and Montsho and Williams-Mills had run season's best to qualify – Aliann Pompey's national record was not enough to reach the final.[3]

In the final, Richards started the race quickly, leading the first 100 m. Krivoshapka pulled slightly ahead of her at the halfway, but Richards regained the lead on the final bend. She remained in front through the home straight and won in a world-leading 49 seconds flat. Williams overtook Krivoshapka on the final stretch to take silver with a personal best of 49.32 seconds, and the Russian retained third place for the bronze. Williams-Mills was close behind for fourth place, but it was Ohuruogu's fifth-place finish that drew more attention.[4]

Richards, often the fastest 400 m runner on the athletics circuit, won her first major gold medal of her career with the 38th sub-50 clocking of her career – the most of any athlete.[5] After a lacklustre season, the 2007 World Champion Ohuruogu could not repeat the performance that had made her Olympic champion the previous year.[6] Shericka Williams had twice lowered her personal best, and her silver medal-winning performance was 0.02 seconds outside of Lorraine Fenton's Jamaican record.[7] Krivoshapka's bronze was Russia's first medal in the event in the post-Soviet era.[4]

Medalists

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Gold Silver Bronze
Sanya Richards
 United States (USA)
Shericka Williams
 Jamaica (JAM)
Antonina Krivoshapka
 Russia (RUS)

Records

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World record  Marita Koch (GDR) 47.60 Canberra, Australia 6 October 1985
Championship record  Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH) 47.99 Helsinki, Finland 10 August 1983
World Leading  Sanya Richards (USA) 49.23 Oslo, Norway 3 July 2009
African record  Falilat Ogunkoya (NGR) 49.10 Atlanta, United States 29 July 1996
Asian record  Ma Yuqin (CHN) 49.81 Beijing, China 11 September 1993
North American record  Sanya Richards (USA) 48.70 Athens, Greece 16 September 2006
South American record  Ximena Restrepo (COL) 49.64 Barcelona, Spain 5 August 1992
European record  Marita Koch (GDR) 47.60 Canberra, Australia 6 October 1985
Oceanian Record  Cathy Freeman (AUS) 48.63 Atlanta, United States 29 July 1996

Qualification standards

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A time B time
51.50 52.30

Schedule

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Date Time Round
August 15, 2009 13:05 Heats
August 16, 2009 19:40 Semifinals
August 18, 2009 19:35 Final

Results

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Heats

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Qualification: First 3 in each heat(Q) and the next 6 fastest(q) advance to the semifinals.

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes
1 3 Amantle Montsho  Botswana (BOT) 50.65 Q
2 6 Antonina Krivoshapka  Russia (RUS) 51.03 Q
3 5 Sanya Richards  United States (USA) 51.06 Q
4 4 Debbie Dunn  United States (USA) 51.13 Q
5 4 Anastasiya Kapachinskaya  Russia (RUS) 51.17 Q
6 3 Shericka Williams  Jamaica (JAM) 51.23 Q
7 5 Christine Ohuruogu  Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) 51.30 Q
8 1 Lyudmila Litvinova  Russia (RUS) 51.31 Q
9 5 Aliann Pompey  Guyana (GUY) 51.38 Q
10 1 Libania Grenot  Italy (ITA) 51.45 Q
11 2 Novlene Williams-Mills  Jamaica (JAM) 51.55 Q
12 3 Solen Désert-Mariller  France (FRA) 51.63 Q, SB
13 6 Nicola Sanders  Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) 51.64 Q
14 3 Folasade Abugan  Nigeria (NGR) 51.70 q
15 2 Jessica Beard  United States (USA) 51.72 Q
16 2 Sorina Nwachukwu  Nigeria (NGR) 51.74 Q
17 5 Norma González  Colombia (COL) 51.86 q, PB
18 1 Indira Terrero  Cuba (CUB) 51.98 Q
19 2 Kineke Alexander  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (VIN) 52.44 q, SB
20 1 Tiandra Ponteen  Saint Kitts and Nevis (SKN) 52.54 q
21 6 Amy Mbacké Thiam  Senegal (SEN) 52.79 Q
22 4 Amaka Ogoegbunam  Nigeria (NGR) 52.85 Q
23 2 Joy Nakhumicha Sakari  Kenya (KEN) 52.88 q
24 1 Christine Day  Jamaica (JAM) 53.13 q
25 3 Racheal Nachula  Zambia (ZAM) 53.21
25 6 Esther Akinsulie  Canada (CAN) 53.21
27 6 Asami Tanno  Japan (JPN) 53.30
28 4 Chandrika Rasnayake  Sri Lanka (SRI) 53.68
29 1 Marina Maslenko  Kazakhstan (KAZ) 54.38
30 4 Fatou Bintou Fall  Senegal (SEN) 54.46
31 5 Makelesi Bulikiobo  Fiji (FIJ) 54.65 SB
32 5 Trish Bartholomew  Grenada (GRN) 54.89
33 6 Sharolyn Scott  Costa Rica (CRC) 55.63 PB
34 2 Kia Davis  Liberia (LBR) 56.85
35 5 Claudine Yemalin  Benin (BEN) 58.82
36 1 Khin Phyo Thet  Myanmar (MYA) 1:00.35 PB
37 4 Rozina Shafqat  Pakistan (PAK) 1:00.72 SB
38 6 Rania Alqebali  Jordan (JOR) 1:00.90 SB
2 Khoury Keita  Mauritania (MTN) DQ
4 Christine Amertil  Bahamas (BAH) DQ
3 Nawal El Jack  Sudan (SUD) DNF
3 Evodie Lydie Saramandji  Central African Republic (CAF) DNS

Key: PB = Personal best, Q = qualification by place in heat, q = qualification by overall place, SB = Seasonal best

Semifinals

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Qualification: First 2 in each semifinal(Q) and the next 2 fastest(q) advance to the final.

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes
1 2 Shericka Williams  Jamaica (JAM) 49.51 Q, PB
2 2 Antonina Krivoshapka  Russia (RUS) 49.67 Q
3 1 Novlene Williams-Mills  Jamaica (JAM) 49.88 Q, SB
4 1 Amantle Montsho  Botswana (BOT) 49.89 Q, SB
5 2 Debbie Dunn  United States (USA) 49.95 q, PB
6 3 Sanya Richards  United States (USA) 50.21 Q
7 1 Anastasiya Kapachinskaya  Russia (RUS) 50.30 q
8 3 Christine Ohuruogu  Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) 50.35 Q, SB
9 2 Nicola Sanders  Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) 50.45 SB
10 3 Lyudmila Litvinova  Russia (RUS) 50.52
11 1 Aliann Pompey  Guyana (GUY) 50.71 NR
12 3 Libania Grenot  Italy (ITA) 50.85
13 1 Jessica Beard  United States (USA) 51.20
14 2 Amy Mbacké Thiam  Senegal (SEN) 51.70
15 2 Folasade Abugan  Nigeria (NGR) 51.75
16 3 Indira Terrero  Cuba (CUB) 51.87
17 1 Norma González  Colombia (COL) 51.91
18 3 Sorina Nwachukwu  Nigeria (NGR) 51.98
19 2 Joy Nakhumicha Sakari  Kenya (KEN) 52.69
20 3 Tiandra Ponteen  Saint Kitts and Nevis (SKN) 53.22
21 2 Solen Désert-Mariller  France (FRA) 53.26
22 1 Kineke Alexander  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (VIN) 53.43
23 1 Christine Day  Jamaica (JAM) 53.46
1 Amaka Ogoegbunam  Nigeria (NGR) DNF

Key: DNF = Did not finish, NR = National record, PB = Personal best, Q = qualification by place in heat, q = qualification by overall place, SB = Seasonal best

Final

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Sanya Richards won her first major championships in Berlin
Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Sanya Richards  United States (USA) 49.00 WL
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Shericka Williams  Jamaica (JAM) 49.32 PB
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Antonina Krivoshapka  Russia (RUS) 49.71
4 Novlene Williams-Mills  Jamaica (JAM) 49.77 SB
5 Christine Ohuruogu  Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) 50.21 SB
6 Debbie Dunn  United States (USA) 50.35
7 Anastasiya Kapachinskaya  Russia (RUS) 50.53
8 Amantle Montsho  Botswana (BOT) 50.65

Key: PB = Personal best, SB = Seasonal best, WL = World leading (in a given season)

References

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General
Specific
  1. ^ Landells, Steve (2009-08-09). Women's 400m - PREVIEW. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-16. Archived 2009-09-08.
  2. ^ Landells, Steve (2009-08-15). Event Report - Women's 400m - Heats Archived 2009-08-18 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-19.
  3. ^ Landells, Steve (2009-08-16). Event Report - Women's 400 Metres - Semi-Final Archived 2012-04-07 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-19.
  4. ^ a b Landells, Steve (2009-08-18). Event Report - Women's 400m - Final Archived 2009-09-21 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-19.
  5. ^ Brown, Matthew (2009-08-18). Richards – ‘I enjoyed every step of my race’ Archived 2009-08-21 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-19.
  6. ^ Kessel, Anna (2009-08-18). No miracle for Christine Ohuruogu as Sanya Richards takes gold. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2009-08-20.
  7. ^ Reid, Paul A. (2009-08-19). Former coach lauds Williams' silver at World Championships Archived 2009-08-22 at the Wayback Machine. Jamaica Observer. Retrieved on 2009-08-20.