Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metres

The women's 400 metres competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place between 3–5 August at the Olympic Stadium.[1]

Women's 400 metres
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
VenueOlympic Stadium
Date3–5 August
Competitors49 from 40 nations
Winning time49.55
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Sanya Richards-Ross  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Christine Ohuruogu  Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) DeeDee Trotter  United States
← 2008
2016 →
Official Video

London rains became a part of the qualifying round, where the favorites tried to make the final with minimum effort. 52.11 was the slowest time qualifier, though Tjipekapora Herunga managed a 52.31 for the slowest automatic qualifier.

In the semi-final, the weather was better. In the first semi, Sanya Richards-Ross was matched with the defending champion Christine Ohuruogu, with only two automatic qualifiers. At the gun, Richards-Ross took off, making up most of the stagger on Krivoshapka to her immediate outside. Relaxing the backstretch but exploding on the second turn, Richards-Ross had built up a huge lead, then slowed considerably on the home stretch letting Ohuruogu gain almost all the lead back. The second semi turned into a match race between Francena McCorory and world champion Amantle Montsho, running stride for stride together far ahead of the others until Montsho dipped to place first. The third semi was a much faster affair. 2012 World leader Antonina Krivoshapka took the race out as if it were the final, making up the stagger during the first turn and coming off the turn with a huge lead. She also slowed on the homestretch and looked to struggle to hold off DeeDee Trotter and Novlene Williams-Mills. Third place Williams-Mills became a time qualifier faster than the previous two heats.

In the final, unlike the memorable race four years earlier, where Richards-Ross burned herself out building a huge lead, this time Krivoshapka had the large lead through the halfway mark and held it to the home stretch, with the three Americans spread across the track a step behind. McCorory and Krivoshapka began to struggle as first Trotter, then Richards-Ross seized the lead which she would not relinquish, winning by 0.15 seconds. Before the home crowd, Ohuruogu approached the finish line with a trademark late surge, coming from several steps off the pace to catch Deedee Trotter for the silver medal, Trotter holding on for the bronze.[2]

Competition format

edit

The women's 400m competition consisted of heats (Round 1), Semifinals and a Final.[3]

Records

edit

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record   Marita Koch (GDR) 47.60 Canberra, Australia 6 October 1985
Olympic record   Marie-José Pérec (FRA) 48.25 Atlanta, United States 29 July 1996
2012 World leading   Antonina Krivoshapka (RUS) 49.16 Cheboksary, Russia 5 July 2012

Schedule

edit

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Friday, 3 August 2012 12:00 Round 1
Saturday, 4 August 2012 20:05 Semifinals
Sunday, 5 August 2012 21:10 Finals

Heats

edit
 
Official video of First Round
  • Entrants as of 27 July 2012.[4]

Qual. rule: first 3 of each heat (Q) plus the 3 fastest times (q) qualified.

Heat 1

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Francena McCorory   United States 50.78 Q
2 Christine Ohuruogu   Great Britain 50.80 Q
3 Joy Nakhumicha Sakari   Kenya 51.85 Q, SB
4 Joanne Cuddihy   Ireland 52.09 q
5 Geisa Aparecida Coutinho   Brazil 53.43
6 Marina Maslenko   Kazakhstan 53.66
7 Zamzam Mohamed Farah   Somalia 1:20.48

Heat 2

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Amantle Montsho   Botswana 50.40 Q
2 Christine Day   Jamaica 51.05 Q
3 Shana Cox   Great Britain 52.01 Q
4 Aliann Pompey   Guyana 52.10 q, =SB
5 Afia Charles   Antigua and Barbuda 54.25
6 Ingrid Yahoska Narvaez   Nicaragua 59.55 =SB
Shaunae Miller   Bahamas DNF

Heat 3

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 DeeDee Trotter   United States 50.87 Q
2 Rosemarie Whyte   Jamaica 50.90 Q
3 Jenna Martin   Canada 51.98 Q
4 Omolara Omotosho   Nigeria 52.11 q
5 Raysa Sánchez   Dominican Republic 52.47
6 Aauri Bokesa   Spain 53.67
7 Zourah Ali   Djibouti 1:05.37

Heat 4

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Sanya Richards-Ross   United States 51.78 Q
2 Carol Rodríguez   Puerto Rico 52.19 Q
3 Tjipekapora Herunga   Namibia 52.31 Q
4 Pınar Saka   Turkey 52.38
5 Sviatlana Usovich   Belarus 52.40
6 Phumlile Ndzinisa   Swaziland 53.95
7 Hristina Risteska   Macedonia 1:00.86

Heat 5

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
DSQ Antonina Krivoshapka   Russia 50.75 Q
2 Alina Lohvynenko   Ukraine 52.08 Q
3 Lee McConnell   Great Britain 52.23 Q
4 Moa Hjelmer   Sweden 52.86
5 Ambwene Simukonda   Malawi 54.20 NR
6 Danielle Alakija   Fiji 56.77
Kanika Beckles   Grenada DNS

Heat 6

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Novlene Williams-Mills   Jamaica 50.88 Q
2 Nataliya Pyhyda   Ukraine 51.09 Q, PB
3 Libania Grenot   Italy 52.13 Q
4 Joelma Sousa   Brazil 52.69
5 Bianca Răzor   Romania 52.83
6 Maziah Mahusin   Brunei 59.28 NR
Kineke Alexander   Saint Vincent and the Grenadines DNF

Heat 7

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Regina George   Nigeria 51.24 Q
2 Yuliya Gushchina   Russia 51.54 Q
3 Marlena Wesh   Haiti 51.98 Q
4 Amy Mbacké Thiam   Senegal 53.23
5 Olesea Cojuhari   Moldova 53.64
6 Graciela Martins   Guinea-Bissau 58.30
Jennifer Padilla   Colombia DQ
  • Jennifer Padilla originally finished in third place with a time of 51.74, but was disqualified due to lane infringement. As a result, Marlena Wesh moved up to third position to qualify for the semi-finals.
 
Official Video of Semifinal Round

Semi-finals

edit

Qual. rule: first 2 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) qualified.

Heat 1

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Sanya Richards-Ross   United States 50.07 Q
2 Christine Ohuruogu   Great Britain 50.22 Q, SB
3 Rosemarie Whyte   Jamaica 50.98 q
4 Yuliya Gushchina   Russia 51.66
5 Joanne Cuddihy   Ireland 51.88
6 Tjipekapora Herunga   Namibia 52.53
7 Jenna Martin   Canada 52.83
8 Joy Nakhumicha Sakari   Kenya 52.95

Heat 2

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Amantle Montsho   Botswana 50.15 Q
2 Francena McCorory   United States 50.19 Q
3 Libania Grenot   Italy 51.18
4 Christine Day   Jamaica 51.19
5 Regina George   Nigeria 51.35
6 Alina Lohvynenko   Ukraine 51.38
7 Aliann Pompey   Guyana 52.58
8 Shana Cox   Great Britain 52.58

Heat 3

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
DSQ Antonina Krivoshapka   Russia 49.81 Q
2 DeeDee Trotter   United States 49.87 Q, SB
3 Novlene Williams-Mills   Jamaica 49.91 q
4 Omolara Omotosho   Nigeria 51.41
5 Nataliya Pyhyda   Ukraine 51.41
6 Carol Rodríguez   Puerto Rico 52.08
7 Lee McConnell   Great Britain 52.24
8 Marlena Wesh   Haiti 52.49

Final

edit
Rank Lanes Athlete Nation Time Notes
  6 Sanya Richards-Ross   United States 49.55
  8 Christine Ohuruogu   Great Britain 49.70 SB
  4 DeeDee Trotter   United States 49.72 SB
4 7 Amantle Montsho   Botswana 49.75
5 2 Novlene Williams-Mills   Jamaica 50.11
6 9 Francena McCorory   United States 50.33
7 3 Rosemarie Whyte   Jamaica 50.79
N/A 5 Antonina Krivoshapka   Russia 50.17 DSQ

References

edit
  1. ^ "Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics". Archived from the original on 2012-09-05. Retrieved 2012-05-11.
  2. ^ Women's 400m Final - London 2012 Olympics, retrieved 2021-09-02
  3. ^ "Women's 400m". London 2012 Organising Committee. Archived from the original on 6 December 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  4. ^ Entry List by Event. IAAF (2012-07-27). Retrieved on 2012-07-29.