2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 400 metres hurdles

The men's 400 metres hurdles at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 15, 16 and 18 August.

Men's 400 metres hurdles
at the 2009 World Championships
VenueOlympic Stadium
Dates15 August (heats)
16 August (semifinals)
18 August (final)
Competitors32
Winning time47.91
Medalists
gold medal 
silver medal 
bronze medal 
← 2007
2011 →

The United States hurdling team was by far the strongest entered by any country, comprising defending champion Kerron Clement, two-time Olympic champion Angelo Taylor, 2005 World Champion Bershawn Jackson, and the emerging Johnny Dutch. The world-leading 400 m hurdler L.J. van Zyl, veterans Danny McFarlane and Félix Sánchez, and the improving Isa Phillips and Javier Culson were also identified as possible medal contenders.[1]

In the heats, Briton Dai Greene completed an unexpected and comfortable win, while seventeen-year-old Jehue Gordon of Trinidad and Tobago surprised with a senior national record to qualify for the semis.[2] In the semi-finals, van Zyl failed to qualify, following his pattern of poor performances at the biggest races of the season. Dutch and Phillips also failed to make the cut. Clement and Sánchez lead the way in the first semi, while Jackson and Greene (who set a personal best) took the top two spots in the other final.[3]

In the final, Clement, Jackson and Culson all started the race well. However, it was the favourite, Clement, who took the gold medal: he was ahead at the final straight and did not relinquish his position, recording a world-leading time to win. Culson set a Puerto Rican record to take the silver, while Jackson fended off a challenge from national-record-breaking Gordon to keep third and win the bronze.[4]

Although Clement's winning time was the second slowest in the history of the Championships, it remained a close race for the silver and bronze medals, with just 0.6 seconds between the silver medallist and seventh-placed Greene. The race had a breadth of ages, with Trinidadian Gordon becoming the youngest ever finalist of any men's sprint event at the Championships, and 37-year-old McFarlane being the oldest ever to do the same feat. Clement became the third man to win two consecutive world titles in the event, after Ed Moses and Félix Sánchez.[4]

Medalists edit

 
Kerron Clement retained his world title.
Gold Silver Bronze
Kerron Clement
  United States (USA)
Javier Culson
  Puerto Rico (PUR)
Bershawn Jackson
  United States (USA)

Records edit

Prior to the competition, the following records were as follows.

World record   Kevin Young (USA) 46.78 Barcelona, Spain 6 August 1992
Championship record   Kevin Young (USA) 47.18 Stuttgart, Germany 19 August 1993
World leading   L. J. van Zyl (RSA) 47.94 Monaco 28 July 2009
African record   Samuel Matete (ZAM) 47.10 Zürich, Switzerland 7 August 1991
Asian record   Hadi Soua'an Al-Somaily (KSA) 47.53 Sydney, Australia 27 September 2000
North American record   Kevin Young (USA) 46.78 Barcelona, Spain 6 August 1992
South American record   Bayano Kamani (PAN) 47.84 Helsinki, Finland 7 August 2005
European record   Stéphane Diagana (FRA) 47.37 Lausanne, Switzerland 5 July 1995
Oceanian record   Rohan Robinson (AUS) 48.28 Atlanta, United States 31 July 1996

Qualification standards edit

A time B time
49.25 49.80

Schedule edit

Date Time Round
August 15, 2009 20:20 Heats
August 16, 2009 20:15 Semifinals
August 18, 2009 20:50 Final

Results edit

Heats edit

Qualification: First 3 in each heat(Q) and the next 4 fastest(q) advance to the semifinals.

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes
1 3 Kerron Clement   United States (USA) 48.39 Q
2 3 Danny McFarlane   Jamaica (JAM) 48.65 Q
3 3 Jehue Gordon   Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) 48.66 Q, NR
4 4 Dai Greene   Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) 48.76 Q
5 3 Félix Sánchez   Dominican Republic (DOM) 48.76 q, SB
6 1 Isa Phillips   Jamaica (JAM) 48.99 Q
7 1 Periklis Iakovakis   Greece (GRE) 49.12 Q, SB
8 2 Javier Culson   Puerto Rico (PUR) 49.27 Q
9 3 Omar Cisneros   Cuba (CUB) 49.27 q
10 2 Bershawn Jackson   United States (USA) 49.34 Q
11 1 Johnny Dutch   United States (USA) 49.38 Q
12 2 Kazuaki Yoshida   Japan (JPN) 49.45 Q, PB
13 4 L. J. van Zyl   South Africa (RSA) 49.48 Q
14 1 Andrés Silva   Uruguay (URU) 49.51 q, NR
15 2 Tristan Thomas   Australia (AUS) 49.53 q
16 1 Kenji Narisako   Japan (JPN) 49.60
17 4 Brendan Cole   Australia (AUS) 49.63 Q
18 4 Angelo Taylor   United States (USA) 49.64
19 3 Michaël Bultheel   Belgium (BEL) 49.67 PB
20 4 Fadil Bellaabouss   France (FRA) 49.73
21 4 Aleksandr Derevyagin   Russia (RUS) 49.83
22 2 Rhys Williams   Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) 49.88
23 1 Stanislav Melnykov   Ukraine (UKR) 50.41
24 1 Mahau Suguimati   Brazil (BRA) 51.05
25 1 Jussi Heikkilä   Finland (FIN) 51.42
26 2 Ibrahima Maïga   Mali (MLI) 51.70
27 3 Jonathan Williams   Belize (BIZ) 52.41
2 Josef Robertson   Jamaica (JAM) DQ
2 Héni Kechi   France (FRA) DQ
3 Joseph G. Abraham   India (IND) DQ
4 Kurt Couto   Mozambique (MOZ) DQ
4 Ali Obaid Shirook   United Arab Emirates (UAE) DNF

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

Semifinals edit

Qualification: First 3 in each semifinal(Q) and the next 2 fastest(q) advance to the final.

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes
1 1 Kerron Clement   United States (USA) 48.00 Q, SB
2 2 Bershawn Jackson   United States (USA) 48.23 Q
3 2 Dai Greene   Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) 48.27 Q, PB
4 1 Félix Sánchez   Dominican Republic (DOM) 48.34 Q, SB
5 1 Javier Culson   Puerto Rico (PUR) 48.43 Q
6 1 Danny McFarlane   Jamaica (JAM) 48.49 q
7 2 Periklis Iakovakis   Greece (GRE) 48.73 Q, SB
8 1 Jehue Gordon   Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) 48.77 q
9 1 L. J. van Zyl   South Africa (RSA) 48.80
10 2 Isa Phillips   Jamaica (JAM) 48.93
11 2 Omar Cisneros   Cuba (CUB) 49.21
12 2 Johnny Dutch   United States (USA) 49.28
13 1 Andrés Silva   Uruguay (URU) 49.34 NR
14 2 Tristan Thomas   Australia (AUS) 49.76
15 1 Brendan Cole   Australia (AUS) 49.92
16 2 Kazuaki Yoshida   Japan (JPN) 50.34

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

Final edit

 
Clement beat Javier Culson to the gold.
Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
  Kerron Clement   United States (USA) 47.91 WL
  Javier Culson   Puerto Rico (PUR) 48.09 NR
  Bershawn Jackson   United States (USA) 48.23
4 Jehue Gordon   Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) 48.26 NR
5 Periklis Iakovakis   Greece (GRE) 48.42 SB
6 Danny McFarlane   Jamaica (JAM) 48.65
7 Dai Greene   Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) 48.68
8 Félix Sánchez   Dominican Republic (DOM) 50.11

Key: NR = National record, SB = Seasonal best, WL = World leading (in a given season)

References edit

General
Specific
  1. ^ Mulkeen, Jon (2009-08-09). Men's 400m Hurdles - PREVIEW. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-15. Archived 2009-09-08.
  2. ^ Mulkeen, Jon (2009-08-15). Event Report - Men's 400m Hurdles - Heats Archived 2009-08-18 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-15.
  3. ^ Mulkeen, Jon (2009-08-16). Event Report - Men's 400m Hurdles - Semi-Final Archived 2012-03-25 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-18.
  4. ^ a b Mulkeen, Jon (2009-08-18). Event Report - Men's 400m Hurdles - Final. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-22. Archived 2009-09-08.