The women's

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

at the

2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held betw ...

was held at the

Khalifa International Stadium Khalifa International Stadium (, , ) is a multi-purpose stadium located in Al Rayyan, Qatar, around west from the centre of Doha. Its ground comprises a running track and a grass pitch. Opened in 1976, the stadium was named after then-Emir of ...

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

, Qatar, from 1 to 4 October 2019.

Summary

Throughout the 2019 season two names topped the 400 hurdles list. The same two topped the semi-final round.

Dalilah Muhammad Dalilah Muhammad (born February 7, 1990) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters hurdles. She is the 2016 Rio Olympics champion and 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medalist, becoming at the latter the second-fastest ...

and

Sydney McLaughlin Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (, born August 7, 1999) is an American hurdler and sprinter who competes in the 400 meters hurdles. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion with the Games record, and 2022 World champion with a world record time of 50 ...

, but which one would be the favorite? McLaughlin had more superior times and had beaten Muhammad 2 to 1. The 1, Muhammad had to set the world record to beat McLaughlin and win the USA Championships on a rain soaked track in

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

. And McLaughlin was still improving. She ran those fast times while still a teenager, turning 20 late in the season. In the final, Muhammad did what she had to do, she went out hard. She was first over the first hurdle and continued to pull ahead, making up the stagger on

Sage Watson Sage Watson (born 20 June 1994) is a Canadian athlete specializing in the 400 metres hurdles. Competing internationally for Canada, she is the reigning Pan American champion in the 400 m hurdles, having also won Pan American medals in 2015 and ...

to her outside before the end of the turn. But McLaughlin was not giving up too much ground, two lanes to the inside, passing Rushell Clayton between them just after entering the backstretch. Before the end of the backstretch, Muhammad had made up another stagger on two time World Champion Zuzana Hejnová. Through the final turn, both were well in front, Muhammad taking the hurdles about a full stride ahead of McLaughlin. When they hit the home straight, Muhammad had about a 3 metre lead. That gap stayed consistent over the final two barriers, but coming off the final hurdle, McLaughlin made up a meter in the first three steps and she was coming on fast. The gap was closing as the finish line neared. Both athletes leaned for the line with Muhammad holding on for a half metre victory. Clayton finished a second and a half back to take bronze. Muhammad had beaten her own

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

set just two months earlier by .04. She ran 52.16. McLaughlin had run the #3 time in history, 52.23. The only thing separating the two was Muhammad's previous world record run. Just as in the 1995 World Championships, two American hurdlers had pushed each other to be the #1 and 2 performers in history.

Records

Before the competition records were as follows: The following records were established during the competition:

Schedule

The event schedule, in local time (UTC+3), is as follows:

Results

Heats

The first four in each heat (Q) and the next four fastest (q) qualified for the semifinal.

Semi-finals

The first 2 in each heat (Q) and the next two fastest (q) qualified for the final.

Final

The final was started on 4 October at 21:30.

References

External , Links

{{DEFAULTSORT:2019 World Championships in Athletics - Women's 400 metres hurdles Women's 400 metres hurdles 400 metres hurdles at the World Athletics Championships