The women's 400 metres hurdles at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held over three rounds at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan, from 31 July to 4 August 2021.[1] 39 athletes from 25 nations competed.[2]
| Women's 400 metres hurdles at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Japan National Stadium Tokyo, Japan | ||||||||||||
| Dates | 31 July 2021 (round 1) 2 August 2021 (semi-finals) 4 August 2021 (final) | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 39 from 25 nations | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 51.46 s WR | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
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.
Background
editThis was the 10th appearance of the event, having appeared at every Olympics since 1984.
The three-round format of the event was introduced in 2012.[3]
Prior to this competition, the existing global and area records were as follows.
| Record | Athlete (nation) | Time | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World record |  Sydney McLaughlin (USA) | 51.90 | Eugene, Oregon, United States | 27 June 2021 |
| World leading | ||||
| Olympic record |  Melaine Walker (JAM) | 52.64 | Beijing, China | 20 August 2008 |
| Record | Athlete (nation) | Time | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| African record |  Nezha Bidouane (MAR) | 52.90 | Seville, Spain | 25 August 1999 |
| Asian record |  Han Qing (CHN) | 53.96 | Beijing, China | 9 September 1993 |
| Song Yinglan (CHN) | Guangzhou, China | 17 November 2001 | ||
| European record |  Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS) | 52.34 | Tula, Russia | 8 August 2003 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | Sydney McLaughlin (USA) | 51.90 WR | Eugene, Oregon, United States | 27 June 2021 |
| Oceanian record |  Debbie Flintoff-King (AUS) | 53.17 | Seoul, South Korea | 28 September 1988 |
| South American record |  Gianna Woodruff (PAN) | 55.60 | Barranquilla, Colombia | 31 July 2018 |
Qualification
editA 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][5]
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][6]
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]
Results
editRound 1
editThirty-nine athletes from twenty-five nations competed in the five heats of round 1 on 31 July 2021, starting at 9:00 (UTC+9) in the morning.[1] The first four athletes in each heat (Q) and the next four fastest athletes overall (q) qualified to the semi-finals. In the first heat, Melissa Gonzalez of Colombia set a national record (NR) of 55.32 s. In the second heat, Paulien Couckuyt of Belgium set a national record (NR) of 54.90 s. In the third heat, Mariya Mykolenko of Ukraine received a yellow card for disturbing the start, Jessie Knight of Great Britain did not finish the race (DNF), and Leah Nugent of Jamaica was disqualified (DQ) for lane infringement (TR 17.3.1). In the fourth heat, Sparkle McKnight of Trinidad and Tobago did not start (DNS) and Ronda Whyte of Jamaica was disqualified for a false start (TR 16.8).[4]
Semi-finals
edit
Twenty-four athletes from twenty nations competed in the three heats of the semi-finals on 2 August 2021, starting at 19:00 (UTC+9) in the evening.[1] The first two athletes in each heat (Q) and the next two fastest athletes overall (q) qualified for the final. In the first heat, Paulien Couckuyt of Belgium set a national record (NR) of 54.47 s, improving her record from round 1. In the second heat, Gianna Woodruff of Panama set a national record (NR) of 54.22 s. In the third heat, Sara Slott Petersen of Denmark was disqualified (DQ) for not going over every hurdle (TR 22.6).[7]
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 5 | Sydney McLaughlin | United States | 53.03 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | 7 | Dalilah Muhammad | United States | 53.30 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | 5 | Femke Bol |  Netherlands | 53.91 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | 6 | Janieve Russell | Jamaica | 54.10 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | 8 | Anna Cockrell | United States | 54.17 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | 4 | Gianna Woodruff | Panama | 54.22 | Q, NR |
| 7 | 2 | 6 | Anna Ryzhykova |  Ukraine | 54.23 | q |
| 8 | 3 | 7 | Viktoriya Tkachuk | Ukraine | 54.25 | q |
| 9 | 1 | 5 | Paulien Couckuyt |  Belgium | 54.47 | NR |
| 10 | 1 | 4 | Carolina Krafzik |  Germany | 54.96 | |
| 11 | 3 | 6 | Léa Sprunger |  Switzerland | 55.12 | |
| 12 | 2 | 3 | Zurian Hechavarría |  Cuba | 55.21 | |
| 13 | 1 | 8 | Sage Watson |  Canada | 55.51 | |
| 14 | 2 | 9 | Joanna Linkiewicz |  Poland | 55.67 | |
| 15 | 2 | 2 | Emma Zapletalová |  Slovakia | 55.79 | |
| 16 | 3 | 2 | Yadisleidis Pedroso |  Italy | 55.80 | |
| 17 | 2 | 8 | Wenda Nel |  South Africa | 56.35 | |
| 18 | 1 | 3 | Quách Thị Lan |  Vietnam | 56.78 | |
| 19 | 1 | 9 | Linda Olivieri | Italy | 57.03 | |
| 20 | 3 | 4 | Melissa Gonzalez |  Colombia | 57.47 | |
| 21 | 1 | 2 | Amalie Iuel |  Norway | 57.61 | |
| 22 | 2 | 7 | Tia-Adana Belle |  Barbados | 59.26 | |
| 23 | 3 | 3 | Jessica Turner |  Great Britain | 1:00.36 | |
| 3 | 9 | Sara Slott Petersen |  Denmark | DQ | TR 22.6 |
Final
edit
Eight athletes from five nations competed in the final on 4 August 2021 at 9:00 (UTF+9) in the morning.[1]
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.[8]
| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Reaction | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
4 | Sydney McLaughlin | United States |
0.163 | 51.46 | WR |
 |
7 | Dalilah Muhammad | United States |
0.200 | 51.58 | PB |
 |
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
edit- 1 2 3 4 "Athletics Competition Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
- 1 2 3 4 "Qualification System – Games of the XXXI Olympiad – Athletics" (PDF). IAAF. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
- ↑ "Athletics Explanatory Guide" (PDF). Tokyo 2020. August 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
- 1 2 3 "Athletics – Women's 400m Hurdles – Round 1 – Results Summary", Olympics.com, 31 July 2021. Archived 24 August 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "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.
- 1 2 "Athletics – Women's 400m Hurdles – Semi-Final – Results Summary", Olympics.com, 2 August 2021. Archived 7 August 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
- ↑ Chavez, Chris. "McLaughlin Breaks Own World Record in 400m Hurdles". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 6 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
- ↑ "Athletics – Women's 400m Hurdles – Final – Results", Olympics.com, 4 August 2021. Archived 19 August 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
External links
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