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

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

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

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

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

A time B time
49.25 49.80

Schedule

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

Results

Heats

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

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

Clement beat Javier Culson to the gold.
Rank Name Nationality Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Kerron Clement  United States (USA) 47.91 WL
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Javier Culson  Puerto Rico (PUR) 48.09 NR
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 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

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.