Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres

The men's 400 metres competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, was held at the Olympic Stadium on 4–6 August.[1] Forty-nine athletes from 38 nations competed.[2] The event was won by Kirani James of Grenada, earning the country its first Olympic medal. Luguelín Santos's silver was the Dominican Republic's first medal in the men's 400 metres. Lalonde Gordon's bronze was Trinidad and Tobago's first medal in the event since 1964.

Men's 400 metres
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
VenueOlympic Stadium
Date4–6 August
Competitors49 from 38 nations
Winning time43.94
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Kirani James  Grenada
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Luguelín Santos  Dominican Republic
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Lalonde Gordon  Trinidad and Tobago
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Official Video

It was only the fourth time that no American was on the podium—following 1908 (where a rules dispute led to disqualification of one of the Americans in the final and the refusal of the other two Americans to run in protest), 1920 (where the top American came in fourth with the same time as the silver and bronze medalists) and 1980 (when the United States boycotted the Games entirely).

It was the first time in any Olympic event that three different Caribbean nations shared the podium.[2]

Summary edit

The first round went largely to form, but defending champion LaShawn Merritt came to the meet injured and re-injured himself, unable to finish. Renny Quow also failed to start his heat. In the first race, Oscar Pistorius ran a season best to qualify. In the second heat, world champion Kirani James ran easily to win. The third heat featured three national records as Jonathan Borlée took his twin brother's mark for Belgium (Kevin also qualified in the seventh heat), Pavel Maslák set the mark for the Czech Republic and Donald Sanford set the mark for Israel. Most of the time qualifiers came from the hotly contested fourth heat, 45.61, the slowest time qualifier, though Conrad Williams got in with a 46.12 in the slow sixth heat.

It took under 45 seconds to make the final as Lalonde Gordon led the qualifiers from heat 1. Heat 2 featured James and Jonathan Borlée, and double-amputee Pistorius' attempt to make the final. But Pistorius' late charge was non-existent and he finished last in the heat. After the race, in a show of sportsmanship, James and Pistorius exchanged bib numbers, which James proudly showed as he celebrated. In the third heat, shotgun survivor Bryshon Nellum ran 45.02 for the fastest non-qualifier.

Aside from Chris Brown, the finals were filled by athletes under age 24, three of them still teenagers. Demetrius Pinder took the early lead down the back stretch, but reigning World Junior Champion Luguelín Santos (age 18) and reigning World Champion Kirani James (age 19) were in the lead coming off the turn. Down the stretch, James powered ahead for the gold medal.[3] It was also the first Olympic medal for his country. Lalonde Gordon came from behind but could not overtake Santos; he received a bronze. Santos' silver medal was the third medal for the Dominican Republic, coming 45 minutes after Felix Sánchez won his second gold.

Background edit

This was the 27th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. Five of the finalists from 2008 returned: gold medalist LaShawn Merritt of the United States, fourth-place finisher Chris Brown of the Bahamas, sixth-place finisher Martyn Rooney of Great Britain, seventh-place finisher Renny Quow of Trinidad and Tobago, and eight-place finisher Johan Wissman of Sweden. 2008 gold and 2012 silver medalist Jeremy Wariner failed to make the U.S. team. Despite the Americans' string of 7 straight victories, it was the young Kirani James of Grenada who was favored going into this event. Merritt was the strongest American, but James had beaten him at the 2011 world championships and Merritt came into the 2012 Games injured.[2]

Brunei, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Macedonia, Myanmar, and Palestine appeared in this event for the first time. There was one Independent Olympic Athlete from the former Netherlands Antilles, which had previously competed in 1976. The United States made its 26th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Qualification edit

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 3 qualified athletes in the men's 100 metres event if all athletes met the A standard, or 1 athlete if they met the B standard. The qualifying time standards could be obtained in various meets during the qualifying period that had the approval of the IAAF. Indoor and outdoor meets were eligible. The A standard for the 2012 men's 400 metres was 45.30 seconds; the B standard was 45.90 seconds. The qualifying period for was from 1 May 2011 to 8 July 2012. NOCs could also have an athlete enter the 400 metres through a universality place. NOCs could enter one male athlete in an athletics event, regardless of time, if they had no male athletes meeting the qualifying A or B standards in any men's athletic event.[4][5][6]

Competition format edit

The men's 400 metres competition consisted of 7 heats (Round 1), 3 semifinals and a final.[7] The fastest competitors from each race in the heats qualified for the semifinals along with the fastest overall competitors not already qualified that were required to fill the 24 available spaces in the semifinals. A total of eight competitors qualified for the final from the semifinals.[8]

Records edit

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record   Michael Johnson (USA) 43.18 Seville, Spain 26 August 1999
Olympic record   Michael Johnson (USA) 43.49 Atlanta, United States 29 July 1996

No new world or Olympic records were set during the event.

The following new national records were set during the competition.

Nation Athlete Round Time
Belgium Jonathan Borlée Heat 3 44.43
Czech Republic Pavel Maslák Heat 3 44.91
Israel Donald Sanford Heat 3 45.71
Grenada Kirani James Final 43.94

Schedule edit

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Saturday, 4 August 2012 10:35 Round 1
Sunday, 5 August 2012 20:40 Semifinals
Monday, 6 August 2012 21:30 Final

Results edit

 
Official Video of the First Round

Round 1 edit

[9]

Qual. rule: first 3 of each heat (Q) plus the 3 fastest times qualified.

Heat 1 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 Luguelín Santos   Dominican Republic 0.187 45.04 Q
2 Oscar Pistorius   South Africa 0.236 45.44 Q, SB
3 Maksim Dyldin   Russia 0.190 45.52 Q, DSQ
4 Rusheen McDonald   Jamaica 0.243 46.67
5 Vitaliy Butrym   Ukraine 0.165 47.62
Ahmed Mohamed Al-Merjabi[a]   Oman DNS
Renny Quow   Trinidad and Tobago DNS

[a] Ahmed Mohamed Al-Merjabi was forced to scratch from this race after he injured his foot in a training session three days earlier.[10]

Heat 2 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 6 Kirani James   Grenada 0.173 45.23 Q
2 7 Ramon Miller   Bahamas 0.160 45.57 Q
3 4 Liemarvin Bonevacia   Independent Olympic Athletes 0.232 45.60 Q, PB
4 8 Isaac Makwala   Botswana 0.211 45.67
5 3 Deon Lendore   Trinidad and Tobago 0.205 45.81
6 5 Daundre Barnaby   Canada 0.171 46.04
7 9 Bereket Desta   Ethiopia 0.224 47.40
8 2 Bahaa Al Farra   Palestine 0.212 49.93 SB

Heat 3 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 6 Jonathan Borlée   Belgium 0.179 44.43 Q, NR
2 7 Pavel Maslák   Czech Republic 0.186 44.91 Q, NR
3 4 Pavel Trenikhin   Russia 0.194 45.00 Q, PB
4 9 Dane Hyatt   Jamaica 0.261 45.14 q
5 2 Donald Sanford   Israel 0.168 45.71 NR
6 5 Nelson Stone   Papua New Guinea 0.193 46.71 SB
7 8 Sergej Zaikov   Kazakhstan 0.209 47.12
8 3 Ak Hafiy Tajuddin Rositi   Brunei 0.188 48.67 PB

Heat 4 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 2 Demetrius Pinder   Bahamas 0.151 44.92 Q
2 7 Bryshon Nellum   United States 0.191 45.29 Q
3 6 Yousef Ahmed Masrahi   Saudi Arabia 0.147 45.43 Q, PB
4 3 Tabarie Henry   Virgin Islands 0.176 45.43 q
5 5 Albert Bravo   Venezuela 0.197 45.61 q, PB
6 4 Jermaine Gonzales   Jamaica 0.171 46.21
7 8 Kristijan Efremov   Macedonia 0.229 47.92 PB
8 9 Zaw Win Thet   Myanmar 0.181 50.07

Heat 5 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 3 Chris Brown   Bahamas 0.171 45.40 Q
2 6 Tony McQuay   United States 0.155 45.48 Q
3 2 Nigel Levine   Great Britain 0.148 45.58 Q
4 7 Yuzo Kanemaru   Japan 0.156 46.01
5 5 Jānis Leitis   Latvia 0.159 46.41
6 8 Augusto Stanley   Paraguay 0.190 47.21

Heat 6 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 7 Steven Solomon   Australia 0.145 45.18 Q, PB
2 5 Lalonde Gordon   Trinidad and Tobago 0.178 45.43 Q
3 2 Conrad Williams   Great Britain 0.164 46.12 Q
4 8 Marcell Deák-Nagy   Hungary 0.186 46.17
5 6 Winston George   Guyana 0.245 46.86
6 4 Sajjad Hashemi   Iran 0.171 47.75
3 LaShawn Merritt   United States 0.195 DNF [note 1]

Heat 7 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 2 Kevin Borlée   Belgium 0.166 45.14 Q
2 5 Martyn Rooney   Great Britain 0.186 45.36 Q
3 8 Rabah Yousif   Sudan 0.203 45.46 Q
4 7 Nery Brenes   Costa Rica 0.237 45.65
5 4 Erison Hurtault   Dominica 0.158 46.05 SB
6 3 Marcin Marciniszyn   Poland 0.180 46.35
6 Mathieu Gnanligo   Benin 0.168 DNF
 
Official Video of the Semifinal Round

Semifinals edit

[11]

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

Semifinal 1 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 7 Lalonde Gordon   Trinidad and Tobago 0.168 44.58 Q, PB
2 5 Demetrius Pinder   Bahamas 0.161 44.94 Q
3 6 Steven Solomon   Australia 0.188 44.97 q, PB
4 9 Rabah Yousif   Sudan 0.178 45.13 =PB
5 4 Pavel Maslák   Czech Republic 0.166 45.15
6 2 Tabarie Henry   Virgin Islands 0.167 45.19 SB
7 8 Pavel Trenikhin   Russia 0.198 45.35
8 3 Conrad Williams   Great Britain 0.153 45.53

Semifinal 2 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 7 Kirani James   Grenada 0.170 44.59 Q, SB
2 6 Chris Brown   Bahamas 0.174 44.67 Q, SB
3 4 Jonathan Borlée   Belgium 0.164 44.99 q
4 9 Tony McQuay   United States 0.230 45.31
5 8 Maksim Dyldin   Russia 0.168 45.39 DSQ
6 3 Nigel Levine   Great Britain 0.146 45.64
7 2 Albert Bravo   Venezuela 0.185 46.22
8 5 Oscar Pistorius   South Africa 0.254 46.54

Semifinal 3 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 5 Luguelín Santos   Dominican Republic 0.155 44.78 Q
2 4 Kevin Borlée   Belgium 0.147 44.84 Q
3 6 Bryshon Nellum   United States 0.173 45.02
4 8 Ramon Miller   Bahamas 0.190 45.11
5 7 Martyn Rooney   Great Britain 0.186 45.31
6 2 Dane Hyatt   Jamaica 0.159 45.59
7 9 Yousef Ahmed Masrahi   Saudi Arabia 0.146 45.91
8 3 Liemarvin Bonevacia   Independent Olympic Athletes 0.153 96.42 [note 1]

Final edit

[12]

 
The final turn of the 400 metres final
L-R K. Borlée, Pinder, Santos, Brown, James
Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
  5 Kirani James   Grenada 0.163 43.94 NR
  7 Luguelín Santos   Dominican Republic 0.185 44.46
  4 Lalonde Gordon   Trinidad and Tobago 0.159 44.52 PB
4 6 Chris Brown   Bahamas 0.166 44.79
5 9 Kevin Borlée   Belgium 0.151 44.81
6 2 Jonathan Borlée   Belgium 0.173 44.83
7 8 Demetrius Pinder   Bahamas 0.153 44.98
8 3 Steven Solomon   Australia 0.143 45.14

References edit

  1. ^ a b Runner suffered from hamstring injury.
  1. ^ "Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics". Archived from the original on 2012-09-05. Retrieved 2012-05-11.
  2. ^ a b c "400 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  3. ^ "0 Toplists 400 m – o". iaaf.org. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
  4. ^ "QUALIFICATION SYSTEM – GAMES OF THE XXX OLYMPIAD" (PDF). IAAF. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  5. ^ "Olympic Qualifying Procedures for Athletics". Telegraph. 15 April 2011. Archived from the original on 19 April 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  6. ^ "Amended Qualifying Standards". IAAF. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  7. ^ "Men's 400m". London 2012 Organising Committee. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  8. ^ "400m competition format". London 2012 Organising Committee. Archived from the original on 4 January 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  9. ^ "Men's 400m – Round 1". Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  10. ^ Al Habsi, Salem (August 4, 2012). "Injured Merjabi 'unlikely' to run today". Times of Oman. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  11. ^ "Men's 400m – Semifinals". Archived from the original on 4 April 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  12. ^ "Men's 400m – Final". Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.