Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metres hurdles

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Women's 400 metres hurdles
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Olympic Athletics.png
Olympic Athletics
VenueJapan National Stadium
Dates31 July 2021 (round 1)
2 August 2021 (semifinals)
4 August 2021
(final)
Competitors39 from 25 nations
Winning time51.46 s WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Sydney McLaughlin  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Dalilah Muhammad  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Femke Bol  Netherlands
← 2016
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Athletics at the
2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic Athletics.png
Qualification
Track events
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mmenwomen
1500 mmenwomen
5000 mmenwomen
10,000 mmenwomen
100 m hurdleswomen
110 m hurdlesmen
400 m hurdlesmenwomen
3000 m
steeplechase		menwomen
4 × 100 m relaymenwomen
4 × 400 m relaymenmixedwomen
Road events
Marathonmenwomen
20 km walkmenwomen
50 km walkmen
Field events
High jumpmenwomen
Pole vaultmenwomen
Long jumpmenwomen
Triple jumpmenwomen
Shot putmenwomen
Discus throwmenwomen
Hammer throwmenwomen
Javelin throwmenwomen
Combined events
Heptathlonwomen
Decathlonmen
  • v
  • t

The women's 400 metres hurdles event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place between 31 July and 4 August 2021 at the Japan National Stadium.[1] 39 athletes from 25 nations competed.[2]

At the U.S. Olympic trials in June 2021, Sydney McLaughlin became the first woman to run the event in under 52 seconds, improving Dalilah Muhammad's world record of 52.16 secs to 51.90. In Tokyo, both women ran inside the world record, with McLaughlin winning the gold medal with a new world record time of 51.46, while 2016 Olympic champion Muhammad ran 51.58 for the silver medal. Dutch athlete Femke Bol broke the European record with 52.03 for the bronze, to move to third on the world all-time list. Another three national records (for Colombia, Belgium and Panama) were set during the competition.

Summary[]

2021 was a dynamic year for the women's 400 metres hurdles. Returning gold medalist and reigning world champion Dalilah Muhammad began the year with the world record from that world championship race. But she was pushed to that record and her previous world record by her American teammate Sydney McLaughlin. McLaughlin was also in the Rio Olympics, but then she made news for qualifying for the semi final round a few days after her seventeenth birthday. In 2019 McLaughlin matured to be a few steps off the world record while gaining the world championship silver medal. In 2021 at the United States Olympic Trials, she reversed that picture by winning with a new world record of 51.90. A week later, another hurdler, 6 months younger than McLaughlin, Femke Bol improved her personal best to 52.37, to become the #4 performer of all time, behind #1 McLaughlin and #2 Muhammad. A new world record was predicted for this event. Those same three athletes were the three individual semi-final winners qualifying for the final.

Knowing she had to run a world record, Muhammad was out fast clearing the first hurdle just ahead of McLaughlin and Bol. By the third hurdle, she had passed the athletes staggered to her outside. Muhammad kept the pressure up over each hurdle, with McLaughlin three lanes inside of her, watching her. Keeping pace, Bol was touching down just a fraction of a step behind McLaughlin. Those three separated from the rest of the field but kept the same pattern, Muhammad, McLaughlin, Bol over all ten hurdles. When she crossed the finish line, Muhammad had bettered the 6 week old world record by almost a third of a second, 51.58. And McLaughlin had run faster from the last hurdle home to win, setting a new world record in 51.46. Bol was just barely behind the previous world record in 52.03, the #3 performer and #4 performance ever all in the same race.[3]

Background[]

This was the 10th appearance of the event, having appeared at every Olympics since 1984.

Qualification[]

Main article: Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 3 qualified athletes in the women's 400 metres hurdles event if all athletes meet the entry standard or qualify by ranking during the qualifying period. (The limit of 3 has been in place since the 1930 Olympic Congress.) The qualifying standard is 55.40 seconds. This standard was "set for the sole purpose of qualifying athletes with exceptional performances unable to qualify through the IAAF World Rankings pathway." The world rankings, based on the average of the best five results for the athlete over the qualifying period and weighted by the importance of the meet, will then be used to qualify athletes until the cap of 40 is reached.[2][4]

The qualifying period was originally from 1 May 2019 to 29 June 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the period was suspended from 6 April 2020 to 30 November 2020, with the end date extended to 29 June 2021. The world rankings period start date was also changed from 1 May 2019 to 30 June 2020; athletes who had met the qualifying standard during that time were still qualified, but those using world rankings would not be able to count performances during that time. The qualifying time standards could be obtained in various meets during the given period that have the approval of the IAAF. Both indoor and outdoor meets are eligible. The most recent Area Championships may be counted in the ranking, even if not during the qualifying period.[2][5]

NOCs can also use their universality place—each NOC can enter one female athlete regardless of time if they had no female athletes meeting the entry standard for an athletics event—in the 400 metres hurdles.[2]

Competition format[]

The event continued to use the three-round format introduced in 2012.[6]

Records[]

Prior to this competition, the existing world, Olympic, and area records were as follows.

World record  Sydney McLaughlin (USA) 51.90 Eugene, Oregon 27 June 2021
Olympic record  Melaine Walker (JAM) 52.64 Beijing, China 20 August 2008
Area Time (s) Athlete Nation
Africa (records) 52.90 Nezha Bidouane  Morocco
Asia (records) 53.96 Han Qing  China
Song Yinglan  China
Europe (records) 52.34 Yuliya Pechonkina  Russia
North, Central America
and Caribbean (records)		 51.90 WR Sydney McLaughlin  United States
Oceania (records) 53.17 Debbie Flintoff-King  Australia
South America (records) 55.60 Gianna Woodruff  Panama

New records[]

The following new World and Olympic records were set during this competition:

World record  Sydney McLaughlin (USA) 51.46 Tokyo, Japan 04 August 2021
Olympic record  Sydney McLaughlin (USA) 51.46 Tokyo, Japan 04 August 2021

The following national records were set during this competition:

Nation Athlete Round Time Notes
Belgium Paulien Couckuyt Heat 2 54.90
Colombia Melissa González Heat 1 55.32
Semifinals 54.47
Netherlands Femke Bol Final 52.03 AR
Panama Gianna Woodruff Semifinals 54.22 AR
United States Sydney McLaughlin Final 51.46 WR, OR, AR

Schedule[]

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

The women's 400 metres hurdles took place over three separate days.[1]

Date Time Round
Saturday, 31 July 2021 9:00 Round 1
Monday, 2 August 2021 19:00 Semifinals
Wednesday, 4 August 2021 9:00 Final

Results[]

Round 1[]

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

Heat 1[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 9 Viktoriya Tkachuck  Ukraine 0.256 54.80 Q
2 3 Melissa González  Colombia 0.146 55.32 Q, NR
3 7 Anna Cockrell  United States 0.213 55.37 Q
4 8 Sage Watson  Canada 0.176 55.54 Q
5 6 Yadisleidis Pedroso  Italy 0.186 55.57 q, SB
6 5 Amalie Iuel  Norway 0.129 55.65 q
7 2 Aminat Yusuf Jamal  Bahrain 0.208 55.90 SB
8 4 Hanne Claes  Belgium 0.174 56.38 SB

Heat 2[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 2 Anna Ryzhykova  Ukraine 0.191 54.56 Q
2 7 Janieve Russell  Jamaica 0.159 54.81 Q
3 9 Paulien Couckuyt  Belgium 0.182 54.90 Q, NR
4 8 Linda Olivieri  Italy 0.130 55.54 Q, =PB
5 6 Viivi Lehikoinen  Finland 0.155 55.67
6 3 Noelle Montcalm  Canada 0.197 55.85 SB
7 5 Meghan Beesley  Great Britain 0.165 55.91
8 4 Chayenne da Silva  Brazil 0.165 57.55

Heat 3[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 5 Sydney McLaughlin  United States 0.180 54.65 Q
2 7 Gianna Woodruff  Panama 0.268 55.49 Q
3 9 Sara Slott Petersen  Denmark 0.161 55.52 Q
4 8 Quách Thị Lan  Vietnam 0.150 55.71 Q, SB
5 3 Eleonora Marchiando  Italy 0.166 56.82
6 4 Mariya Mykolenko  Ukraine 0.200 57.86 TR 16.5.3
— 6 Leah Nugent  Jamaica 0.240 DQ TR 17.3.1
_ 2 Jessie Knight  Great Britain 0.160 DNF

Heat 4[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 8 Femke Bol  Netherlands 0.194 54.43 Q
2 7 Tia-Adana Belle  Barbados 0.166 55.69 Q, SB
3 3 Wenda Nel  South Africa 0.194 56.06 Q
4 5 Jessica Turner  Great Britain 0.186 56.83 Q
5 6 Sarah Carli  Australia 0.167 56.93 SB
6 9 Yasmin Giger  Switzerland 0.165 57.03
— 2 Ronda Whyte  Jamaica — DQ TR 16.8
— 4 Sparkle McKnight  Trinidad and Tobago — DNS —

Heat 5[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 3 Dalilah Muhammad  United States 53.97 Q
2 5 Carolina Krafzik  Germany 0.189 54.72 Q, PB
3 9 Lea Sprunger  Switzerland 0.186 54.74 Q, SB
4 8 Joanna Linkiewicz  Poland 0.130 54.93 Q, PB
5 6 Zurian Hechavarría  Cuba 0.181 54.99 q, PB
6 7 Emma Zapletalová  Slovakia 0.166 55.00 q
7 2 Line Kloster  Norway 0.151 56.45
8 4 Loubna Benhadja  Algeria 0.200 57.19 PB

Semi finals[]

Qualification Rules: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the Final

Semi final 1[]

Dalilah Muhammad in the 400m hurdles semi-finals at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games
Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 7 Dalilah Muhammad  United States 0.186 53.30 Q
2 6 Janieve Russell  Jamaica 0.151 54.10 Q
3 5 Paulien Couckuyt  Belgium 0.164 54.47 NR
4 4 Carolina Krafzik  Germany 0.172 54.96
5 8 Sage Watson  Canada 0.163 55.51
6 3 Quách Thị Lan  Vietnam 0.188 56.78
7 9 Linda Olivieri  Italy 0.120 57.03
8 2 Amalie Iuel  Norway 0.121 57.61

Semi final 2[]

Sydney McLaughlin in the 400m hurdles semi-finals at the 2020 Olympic Games
Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 5 Sydney McLaughlin  United States 0.204 53.03 Q
2 4 Gianna Woodruff  Panama 0.207 54.22 Q, AR
3 6 Anna Ryzhykova  Ukraine 0.162 54.23 q
4 3 Zurian Hechavarría  Cuba 0.167 55.21
5 9 Joanna Linkiewicz  Poland 0.157 55.67
6 2 Emma Zapletalová  Slovakia 0.136 55.79
7 8 Wenda Nel  South Africa 0.189 56.35
8 7 Tia-Adana Belle  Barbados 0.146 59.26

Semi final 3[]

Femke Bol in the 400m hurdles semi-finals at the 2020 Olympic Games
Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 5 Femke Bol  Netherlands 0.215 53.91 Q
2 8 Anna Cockrell  United States 0.174 54.17 Q
3 7 Viktoriya Tkachuk  Ukraine 0.224 54.25 q
4 6 Lea Sprunger  Switzerland 0.140 55.12
5 2 Yadisleidis Pedroso  Italy 0.181 55.80
6 4 Melissa González  Colombia 0.191 57.47
7 3 Jessica Turner  Great Britain 0.185 1:00.36
— 9 Sara Slott Petersen  Denmark 0.165 DQ TR 22.6

Final[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 Sydney McLaughlin  United States 0.163 51.46 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 Dalilah Muhammad  United States 0.200 51.58 PB
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 5 Femke Bol  Netherlands 0.165 52.03 AR
4 6 Janieve Russell  Jamaica 0.136 53.08 PB
5 2 Anna Ryzhykova  Ukraine 0.177 53.48
6 3 Viktoriya Tkachuk  Ukraine 0.206 53.79 PB
7 9 Gianna Woodruff  Panama 0.235 55.84
— 8 Anna Cockrell  United States 0.167 DQ TR 17.3.1

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Athletics Competition Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d "Qualification System – Games of the XXXI Olympiad – Athletics" (PDF). IAAF. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  3. ^ Chavez, Chris. "McLaughlin Breaks Own World Record in 400m Hurdles". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 6 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  4. ^ "IAAF to follow other sports with world ranking system for athletes". BBC Sport. 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Olympic qualification period suspended until 1 December 2020". World Athletics. 6 April 2020. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Athletics Explanatory Guide" (PDF). Tokyo 2020. August 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
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