The women's 400 metres competition at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London, United Kingdom. The event was held at the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

on 3–5 August. London rains became a part of the qualifying round, where the favorites tried to make the final with minimum effort. 52.11 was the slowest time qualifier, though Tjipekapora Herunga managed a 52.31 for the slowest automatic qualifier. In the semi-final, the weather was better. In the first semi,

Sanya Richards-Ross Sanya Richards-Ross (née Richards; born February 26, 1985) is a retired Jamaican-American track and field athlete, who competed internationally for the United States in the 400-meter sprint. Her notable accolades in this event include being th ...

was matched with the defending champion

Christine Ohuruogu Christine Ijeoma Ohuruogu , MBE (born 17 May 1984) is a British former track and field athlete who specialised in the 400 metres, the event for which she is a former Olympic, World and Commonwealth champion. The Olympic champion in 2008, and s ...

, with only two automatic qualifiers. At the gun, Richards-Ross took off, making up most of the stagger on Krivoshapka to her immediate outside. Relaxing the backstretch but exploding on the second turn, Richards-Ross had built up a huge lead, then slowed considerably on the home stretch letting Ohuruogu gain almost all the lead back. The second semi turned into a match race between

Francena McCorory Francena Lynette McCorory (born October 20, 1988) is a retired American track and field athlete, known primarily for running the 400 meters. She was the 2011 World bronze medalist in the 400 meters and was a member of the gold medal-winning 201 ...

and world champion

Amantle Montsho Amantle Montsho (born July 4, 1983) is a female sprinter from Botswana who specializes in the 400 metres. She represented her country at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, reaching the final at the latter edition. She was the first woman to ...

, running stride for stride together far ahead of the others until Montsho dipped to place first. The third semi was a much faster affair. 2012 World leader

Antonina Krivoshapka Antonina Vladimirovna Krivoshapka (russian: Антонина Владимировна Кривошапка; born 21 July 1987) is a Russian sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres. She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where her team orig ...

took the race out as if it were the final, making up the stagger during the first turn and coming off the turn with a huge lead. She also slowed on the homestretch and looked to struggle to hold off

DeeDee Trotter De'Hashia Tonnek "DeeDee" Trotter (born December 8, 1982 in Twentynine Palms, California) is an American athlete. Trotter is a former NCAA national champion in the 400m, and competed in the 2004, 2008, and 2012 Summer Olympics. There, she was ...

and

Novlene Williams-Mills Novlene Hilaire Williams-Mills (''maiden name, née'', Williams; born 26 April 1982), is a retired Jamaican track and field athlete. She won the bronze medal in the 400 metres at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, 2007 World Championshi ...

. Third place Williams-Mills became a time qualifier faster than the previous two heats. In the final, unlike the memorable race four years earlier, where Richards-Ross burned herself out building a huge lead, this time Krivoshapka had the large lead through the halfway mark and held it to the home stretch, with the three Americans spread across the track a step behind. McCorory and Krivoshapka began to struggle as first Trotter, then Richards-Ross seized the lead which she would not relinquish. Before the home crowd, Ohuruogu approached the finish line with a trademark late surge, coming from several steps off the pace to catch Deedee Trotter for the silver medal, Trotter holding on for the bronze.

Competition format

The women's 400m competition consisted of heats (Round 1), Semifinals and a Final.

Records

, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

Schedule

All times are

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(

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)

Heats

*Entrants as of 27 July 2012.Entry List by Event
IAAF (2012-07-27). Retrieved on 2012-07-29. Qual. rule: first 3 of each heat (Q) plus the 3 fastest times (q) qualified.

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4

Heat 5

Heat 6

Heat 7

*Jennifer Padilla originally finished in third place with a time of 51.74, but was disqualified due to lane infringement. As a result, Marlena Wesh moved up to third position to qualify for the semi-finals.

Semi-finals

Qual. rule: first 2 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) qualified.

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics - Women's 400 metres Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics 400 metres at the Olympics 2012 in women's athletics Women's events at the 2012 Summer Olympics