2019 World Athletics Championships – Men's 400 metres

Men's 400 metres
at the 2019 World Championships
The home straight.
VenueKhalifa International Stadium
Dates1 October (heats)
2 October (semi-finals)
4 October (final)
Competitors42 from 31 nations
Winning time43.48
Medalists
gold medal    Bahamas
silver medal    Colombia
bronze medal    United States
Video on YouTube
Official Video

The men's 400 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha on 1, 2 and 4 October 2019.[1] The winning margin was 0.67 seconds which as of 2024 is the greatest winning margin in the men's 400 metres at these championships since the retirement of Michael Johnson.

Summary

Kirani James had the pedigree -- a World Championship and an Olympic gold medal -- but those were back in 2011 and 2012. He finished second behind Wayde van Niekerk's world record at the last Olympics. Van Niekerk couldn't compete because he injured his knee in a celebrity rugby game and James was battling Graves' disease, the same ailment that affected Gail Devers. With a faster personal best, American champion Fred Kerley had been anticipated as USA's next golden boy until Michael Norman came on the scene with a relaxed, early season personal best that only equalled the #4 time in history. But Norman took himself out of the final, jogging home the second half of his semi-final. The other sub-44 qualifiers were Steven Gardiner, who had run his on this track in May and Akeem Bloomfield, who was the last time qualifier to get in. Gardiner led the qualifying, while Anthony Zambrano had to set a Colombian national record to get in.

In the final, James went out hard, passing Zambrano to his outside as they entered the backstretch. Inside of James, Machel Cedenio, James, Gardiner and Demish Gaye were running true to the stagger. James held that lead until midway through the final turn when he began to fade back as Gardiner was emerging slightly ahead. Coming onto the home straight, Gardiner held a 2 metre lead over James and Kerley, with Cedenio just slightly behind them. A further 2 metres back was Zambrano and Gaye. Down the stretch, Gardiner widened his lead, with Kerley the next best to chase. From far back, Zambrano was in another gear, speeding past Cedenio, James and a metre before the line, Kerley.[2]

Gardiner's win in 43.48 is the sixth fastest time in history. Zambrano's 44.15 set the South American record, beating Sanderlei Parrela's record from the World Championships 20 years earlier.

Records

Before the competition records were as follows:[3]

Record Athlete Perf. Location Date
World Record  Wayde van Niekerk (RSA) 43.03 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 14 August 2016
Championship Record  Michael Johnson (USA) 43.18 Sevilla, Spain 26 August 1999
World Leading  Michael Norman (USA) 43.45 Torrance, United States 20 April 2019
African Record  Wayde van Niekerk (RSA) 43.03 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 14 August 2016
Asian Record  Youssef Ahmad Masrahi (KSA) 43.93 Beijing, China 23 August 2015
North, Central American and Caribbean Record  Michael Johnson (USA) 43.18 Seville, Spain 26 August 1999
South American Record  Sanderlei Claro Parrela (BRA) 44.29
European Record  Thomas Schönlebe (GDR) 44.33 Rome, Italy 3 September 1987
Oceanian Record  Darren Clark (AUS) 44.38 Seoul, South Korea 26 September 1988

The following records were set at the competition:

Record Perf. Athlete Nat. Date
Malagasy 46.80 Todiasoa Rabearison MAD 1 Oct 2019
Gibraltarian 47.41 Jessy Franco GIB
Colombian 44.55 Anthony Zambrano COL 2 Oct 2019
Bahamian 43.48 Steven Gardiner BAH 4 Oct 2019
South American 44.15 Anthony Zambrano COL
Colombian

Qualification standard

The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 45.30.[4]

Schedule

The event schedule, in local time (UTC+3), was as follows:[5]

Date Time Round
1 October 16:35 Heats
2 October 20:35 Semi-finals
4 October 22:20 Final

Results

Heats

The first three in each heat (Q) and the next six fastest (q) qualified for the semifinal.[6]

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 2 2 Kirani James  Grenada 44.94 Q
2 4 7 Michael Norman  United States 45.00 Q
3 4 5 Demish Gaye  Jamaica 45.02 Q
4 6 7 Emmanuel Korir  Kenya 45.08 Q
5 3 4 Davide Re  Italy 45.08 Q
6 4 3 Leungo Scotch  Botswana 45.10 Q, PB
7 2 8 Julian Walsh  Japan 45.14 Q, PB
8 3 3 Fred Kerley  United States 45.19 Q
9 1 3 Machel Cedenio  Trinidad and Tobago 45.26 Q
10 6 6 Jonathan Sacoor  Belgium 45.32 Q
11 1 4 Akeem Bloomfield  Jamaica 45.34 Q
12 6 5 Rabah Yousif  Great Britain & N.I. 45.40 Q
13 1 8 Thapelo Phora  South Africa 45.45 Q
14 3 7 Abbas Abubakar Abbas  Bahrain 45.47 Q
15 2 3 Vernon Norwood  United States 45.59 Q
16 6 8 Jhon Perlaza  Colombia 45.62 q
17 1 5 Alphas Kishoyian  Kenya 45.65 q
18 5 3 Steven Gardiner  Bahamas 45.68 Q
19 3 8 Mazen Al-Yassin  Saudi Arabia 45.70 q
20 6 3 Nathan Strother  United States 45.71 q
21 4 4 Yousef Karam  Kuwait 45.74 q
22 2 7 Steven Solomon  Australia 45.82 q
23 2 6 Derrick Mokaleng  South Africa 45.87
24 5 5 Philip Osei  Canada 45.87 Q
25 4 2 Alonzo Russell  Bahamas 45.91
26 5 6 Anthony Zambrano  Colombia 45.93 Q
27 1 6 Lucas Carvalho  Brazil 46.01
28 5 7 Ditiro Nzamani  Botswana 46.19
29 5 2 Rusheen McDonald  Jamaica 46.21
30 3 2 Mikhail Litvin  Kazakhstan 46.28
31 6 4 Taha Hussein Yaseen  Iraq 46.58
32 4 6 Todiasoa Rabearison  Madagascar 46.80 NR
33 2 4 Luka Janežič  Slovenia 46.84
34 5 4 Brandon Parris  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 47.39
35 6 2 Jessy Franco  Gibraltar 47.41 NR
36 3 5 Bachir Mahamat  Chad 47.65
37 1 2 Abdalelah Haroun  Qatar 47.76 SB
38 3 6 Jovan Stojoski  North Macedonia 47.92
39 4 8 Moussa Zaroumeye  Niger 48.13
40 5 8 Mohammad Jahir Rayhan  Bangladesh 48.48
41 2 5 Tikie Terry Mael  Vanuatu 48.52 PB
1 7 Matthew Hudson-Smith  Great Britain & N.I. DNF

Semi-finals

The first two in each heat (Q) and the next two fastest (q) qualified for the final.[7]

Rank Heat Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1 2 6 Steven Gardiner  Bahamas 44.13 Q, SB
2 2 5 Kirani James  Grenada 44.23 Q, SB
3 1 4 Fred Kerley  United States 44.25 Q
4 1 5 Emmanuel Korir  Kenya 44.37 Q, SB
5 3 7 Machel Cedenio  Trinidad and Tobago 44.41 Q, SB
6 3 8 Anthony Zambrano  Colombia 44.55 Q, NR
7 2 7 Demish Gaye  Jamaica 44.66 q, SB
8 3 6 Akeem Bloomfield  Jamaica 44.77 q
9 1 7 Davide Re  Italy 44.85
10 2 9 Vernon Norwood  United States 45.00
11 2 8 Leungo Scotch  Botswana 45.00 PB
12 1 6 Jonathan Sacoor  Belgium 45.03 =PB
13 3 5 Julian Walsh  Japan 45.13 PB
14 3 9 Rabah Yousif  Great Britain & N.I. 45.15 PB
15 2 3 Jhon Perlaza  Colombia 45.17
16 1 9 Thapelo Phora  South Africa 45.24
17 1 8 Abbas Abubakar Abbas  Bahrain 45.26
18 1 2 Nathan Strother  United States 45.34
19 2 4 Philip Osei  Canada 45.44
20 2 2 Steven Solomon  Australia 45.54 SB
21 3 2 Alphas Kishoyian  Kenya 45.55
22 3 4 Michael Norman  United States 45.94
23 1 3 Mazen Al-Yassin  Saudi Arabia 46.11
3 3 Yousef Karam  Kuwait DNF

Final

The final was started on 4 October at 22:20.[8]

Rank Lane Name Nationality Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 Steven Gardiner  Bahamas 43.48 NR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 8 Anthony Zambrano  Colombia 44.15 AR
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 5 Fred Kerley  United States 44.17
4 3 Demish Gaye  Jamaica 44.46 PB
5 7 Kirani James  Grenada 44.54
6 9 Emmanuel Korir  Kenya 44.94
7 6 Machel Cedenio  Trinidad and Tobago 45.30
8 2 Akeem Bloomfield  Jamaica 45.36

References

  1. ^ "400 Metres Men − Round 1 − Start List" (PDF). IAAF. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Gardiner powers away to win dramatic 400 meters". Reuters. 4 October 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  3. ^ "100 Metres Men − Records". IAAF. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Competitions Entry Standards 2019 – IAAF World Championships – PDF title, Qualification Standards for the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019". iaaf.org. 2 August 2019.
  5. ^ "400 Metres Men − Timetable". IAAF. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  6. ^ "Heats results" (PDF).
  7. ^ "Semi-finals results" (PDF).
  8. ^ "Final results" (PDF).