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World Championships: Women s 400mPublished by
We focus on the women’s 400m as part of our event-by-event look back at the IAAF World ChampionshipsThe championship best remains the winning time from 1983. In fact only one other winner has come close. The day before, Jarmila Kratochvilova had won the 800m final in 1:54.68 despite having won the 400m semi-final just 30 minutes before. She had a good excuse then not to run fast in the 400m final but if she was tired from the previous six races in three days, it didn t show as she stormed to a historic barrier-breaking world record of 47.99. Though she dominated and won by five metres, Tatyana Kocembova held her in the last 100 metres and, suggesting that all Czechoslovakians were using the same training techniques, she became the third fastest woman in history and no future world championships winner has ever bettered her 48.59. Bronze medallist Mariya Pinigina of the Soviet Union went fourth all-time with 49.19, which would have won more than half the later championships. The standard dipped in Rome in 1987. Third at halfway in 23.87 behind two East German athletes, the Soviet Union s Olga Bryzgina had the much stronger finish to win easily in 49.38. Bryzgina, who was Ukrainian and whose husband Viktor won a sprint relay medal in 1983, returned in Tokyo in 1991 and just missed out on a medal in fourth. It was a pity that, though the entry was well below 40, the organisers deciding there should be four rounds as times were undoubtedly affected. Despite the previous races, long-legged Marie Jose Perec of France stormed through 200m in 22.82 and 300m in 35.39 and, though she was slowing, her 49.13 was the fastest time in the world for four years. Germany s Grit Breuer broke the world junior record with 49.42 in second. Perec decided to focus on the sprints in Stuttgart in 1993 and the result was the slowest winning global time for more than 20 years. Jearl Miles was only sixth at 200m in 23.95, but powered through the second half to win in 49.82 from USA team-mate Natasha Kaiser-Brown. Perec was back in Gothenburg in 1995 and had also entered the 400m hurdles but because of a hamstring problem, decided to focus on the flat event. Australian Cathy Freeman, who had beaten Perec in Monaco the previous month, led at 200m in 23.3 to the Frenchwoman s 23.5. Perec was level at 300m in 35.7 and eased away to win in 49.28, the fastest time in the world for three years. Pauline Davis and Miles eased past a badly-fading Freeman to take the other medals. Perec won Olympic gold in 1996 and retired, leaving Olympic silver medallist Freeman the marginal favourite for Athens in 1997. By finishing third in her semi-final, albeit with the third overall fastest time, she unluckily drew lane one in the final. Freeman started slowly and was last at 100m and seventh at 200m but moved up to second at 300m, winning in 49.77 but only by two hundredths of a second from Jamaican training partner Sandie Richards, who had been third in 1993. With this victory, Freeman became the first ever Aboriginal world champion and the first 400m runner to win a world title from an unseeded lane. Now married, Jearl Miles-Clark won her third successive medal. Freeman defended her title successfully in Seville in 1999. After being third at 200m in 23.79, she finished strongly to win in her best time for two years of 49.67. Germany s Anja Rucker, who had a pre-Seville best of 50.64, pushed her close with 49.74. Katharine Merry, in her first serious year at 400m, achieved the best ever British result at that time with fifth in 50.52 after a 50.21 semi-final. Freeman famously won gold in the Sydney Olympics, with Merry third but neither were in Edmonton in 2001 and gold went to Senegal s Amy Mbacke Thiam in 49.86 from 1999 bronze medallist Lorraine Fenton s 49.88. Ana Guevara had led into the straight in Canada but finished third and the Mexican then went unbeaten in 21 finals and was a clear favourite for Paris in 2003. She shot through 200m in 23.2 and held on to win in 48.89, the world s quickest for seven years and the second fastest ever world championship-winning time. Fenton, who had previously won bronze in 49.92 and then silver in 49.88, improved to 49.43 but had to be content with another silver. Thiam finished third and Britain s Lee McConnell was seventh. In Helsinki in 2005, the young American Sanya Richards was a marginal favourite, having run a pre-Championship 49.28 and she led through 200m in 23.5. However, the powerful Olympic champion Tonique Williams-Darling proved strongest and passed her in the last 30 metres to win in 49.55 with Richards last 100m of 14.2 just holding off Guevara for second. The latter won her third successive medal. In Osaka in 2007, the favourite was Novlene Williams, who ran 49.66 in her semi-final. Commonwealth champion Christine Ohuruogu, who had served a one year ban for missing three drugs tests and only returned to racing on the eve of the championships, won one of the other semis. The third was won by European indoor champion Nicola Sanders in a big PB of 49.77. In the final, Williams had a four-metre lead at halfway in 23.37 which was halved at 300m in 35.73 by Russian Natalya Antyukh but both Ohuruogu (36.13) and Sanders (36.17) still had four metres to make up. However, in the straight they passed the Russian and closed on the leader. With five metres to go, all three appeared level but it was Ohuruogu who dipped the best to win in 49.61 from Sanders 49.65 and Williams 49.66. Guevara signed off her international career with fourth. Richards, who had competed in the 200m in Osaka and narrowly lost out on 400m Olympic gold in 2008 to the Briton, won her first world title at the age of 24 in Berlin in 2009. The American was narrowly ahead at 200m in 23.50 and held her form well to win in 49.00. Jamaican Shericka Williams became one of the quickest silver medallists with a time of 49.32. Defending champion Ohuruogu wasn t at her very best but characteristically finished strongly and ran 50.21 for fifth. Moving on to Daegu in 2011, Botswana s Amantle Montsho, who finished last in the final in Germany, was the fastest in her semi-final. Now married, Sanya Richards-Ross wasn t fully fit as three-time world 200m champion and fellow American Allyson Felix also won a semi final in 50.36. In the final Montsho led at 200m in 23.3 from Felix s 23.4 and pulled a metre further clear on the last bend. Though Felix closed up in the straight, she fell just short with 49.59 to the winner s 49.56. Richards-Ross was seventh, which was better than the previous champion Ohuruogu, who was disqualified for a false start in her heat. In the 2012 Olympics, Richards-Ross won the 400m from the Briton but Ohuruogu was in even better form in Moscow in 2013. In a classic race, Montsho had a clear lead at 200m as Ohurugu was only in fifth, entering the home straight. However, a fantastic finishing drive and dip saw her catch the African virtually on the line, her cause aided by Montsho inexplicably not dipping herself. Regaining the title was impressive enough, but the bonus was that her time of 49.41 finally erased Kathy Cook s British record set in 1984 from the books. Antonina Krivoshapka, who had been third in 2009 and fifth in 2011, again took the bronze medal. 400mYear | Winner | Time | GB position and mark Points table (8 for 1st etc) Find other event-by-event history features here The post World Championships: Women’s 400m appeared first on Athletics Weekly. Read the full article at: www.athleticsweekly.com
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