| Event: | Women's 400 metres hurdles |
| Competition: | 2019 World Championships |
| Venue: | Khalifa International Stadium |
| Dates: | 1 October (heats) 2 October (semi-final) 4 October (final) |
| Competitors: | 39 |
| Nations: | 27 |
| Win Value: | 52.16 WR |
| Gold: | Dalilah Muhammad |
| Goldnoc: | USA |
| Silver: | Sydney McLaughlin |
| Silvernoc: | USA |
| Bronze: | Rushell Clayton |
| Bronzenoc: | JAM |
| Prev: | 2017 |
| Next: | 2022 |
The women's 400 metres hurdles at the 2019 World Athletics Championships was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, from 1 to 4 October 2019.[1]
Throughout the 2019 season two names topped the 400 hurdles list. The same two topped the semi-final round. Dalilah Muhammad and Sydney McLaughlin, 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. 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 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 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
Before the competition records were as follows:[2]
| Record | Athlete | Date | Location | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World | 52.20 | Dalilah Muhammad |  United States | 28 Jul 2019 | Des Moines, United States | |
| Championship | 52.42 | Melaine Walker |  Jamaica | 20 Aug 2009 | Berlin, Germany | |
| World leading | 52.20 | Dalilah Muhammad | United States | 28 Jul 2019 | Des Moines, United States | |
| African | 52.90 | Nezha Bidouane |  Morocco | 25 Aug 1999 | Sevilla, Spain | |
| Asian | 53.96 | Han Qing |  China | 9 Sep 1993 | Beijing, China | |
| Song Yinglan | China | 17 Nov 2001 | Guangzhou, China | |||
| NACAC | 52.20 | Dalilah Muhammad | United States | 28 Jul 2019 | Des Moines, United States | |
| European | 52.34 | Yuliya Pechonkina |  Russian Federation | 8 Aug 2003 | Tula, Russia | |
| Oceanian | 53.17 | Debbie Flintoff-King |  Australia | 28 Sep 1998 | Seoul, South Korea |
The following records were established during the competition:
The event schedule, in local time (UTC+3), is as follows:[3]
| Date | Time | Round | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 October | 17:30 | Heats | |
| 2 October | 21:05 | Semi-finals | |
| 4 October | 21:30 | Final |
The first four in each heat (Q) and the next four fastest (q) qualified for the semifinal.[4]
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 8 | 54.45 | Q | ||
| 2 | 4 | 5 | 54.72 | Q, | ||
| 3 | 3 | 5 | 54.87 | Q | ||
| 4 | 1 | 4 | 54.98 | Q, | ||
| 5 | 2 | 2 | 55.11 | Q | ||
| 6 | 4 | 7 | 55.13 | Q, | ||
| 7 | 4 | 6 | 55.20 | Q | ||
| 8 | 1 | 9 | 55.20 | Q, | ||
| 9 | 5 | 7 | 55.23 | Q | ||
| 10 | 4 | 8 | 55.28 | Q | ||
| 11 | 4 | 3 | 55.32 | q, | ||
| 12 | 2 | 9 | 55.33 | Q | ||
| 13 | 3 | 4 | 55.36 | Q | ||
| 14 | 1 | 5 | 55.51 | Q, | ||
| 15 | 5 | 9 | 55.57 | Q | ||
| 16 | 4 | 9 | 55.68 | q | ||
| 17 | 2 | 4 | 55.72 | Q, | ||
| 18 | 2 | 6 | 55.78 | Q, | ||
| 19 | 2 | 3 | 55.93 | q | ||
| 20 | 3 | 7 | 55.97 | Q | ||
| 21 | 5 | 3 | 55.97 | Q | ||
| 22 | 1 | 3 | 56.00 | q | ||
| 23 | 3 | 3 | 56.07 | Q | ||
| 24 | 2 | 8 | 56.37 | |||
| 25 | 5 | 4 | 56.37 | Q | ||
| 26 | 2 | 5 | 56.49 | |||
| 27 | 3 | 6 | 56.79 | |||
| 28 | 5 | 6 | 56.82 | |||
| 29 | 4 | 4 | 56.97 | |||
| 30 | 4 | 2 | 56.98 | |||
| 31 | 5 | 8 | 57.11 | |||
| 32 | 3 | 8 | 57.15 | |||
| 33 | 1 | 2 | 57.37 | |||
| 34 | 5 | 5 | 57.66 | |||
| 35 | 5 | 2 | 58.44 | |||
| 36 | 1 | 7 | ||||
| 2 | 7 | |||||
| 3 | 2 | |||||
| 1 | 6 | |||||
The first 2 in each heat (Q) and the next two fastest (q) qualified for the final.[5]
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 53.81 | Q | |||
| 2 | 1 | 5 | 53.91 | Q | |||
| 3 | 2 | 7 | 54.17 | Q | |||
| 4 | 1 | 4 | 54.32 | Q, | |||
| 5 | 2 | 5 | 54.41 | Q | |||
| 6 | 2 | 8 | 54.42 | q | |||
| 7 | 1 | 6 | 54.45 | q, | |||
| 8 | 3 | 6 | 54.52 | Q, | |||
| 9 | 1 | 7 | 55.03 | ||||
| 10 | 2 | 4 | 55.03 | ||||
| 11 | 3 | 7 | 55.16 | ||||
| 12 | 1 | 3 | 55.25 | ||||
| 13 | 2 | 6 | 55.36 | ||||
| 14 | 2 | 9 | 55.38 | ||||
| 15 | 3 | 8 | 55.40 | ||||
| 16 | 2 | 2 | 55.43 | ||||
| 17 | 3 | 4 | 55.54 | ||||
| 18 | 1 | 8 | 55.57 | ||||
| 19 | 3 | 2 | 55.61 | ||||
| 20 | 3 | 9 | 55.87 | ||||
| 21 | 3 | 3 | 55.94 | ||||
| 22 | 1 | 2 | 56.37 | ||||
| 23 | 2 | 3 | 56.41 | ||||
| 24 | 1 | 9 | 56.89 |
The final was started on 4 October at 21:30.[6]
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 52.16 | |||||
| 4 | 52.23 | |||||
| 5 | 53.74 | |||||
| 4 | 9 | 54.06 | ||||
| 5 | 8 | 54.23 | ||||
| 6 | 2 | 54.45 | ||||
| 7 | 3 | 54.45 | ||||
| 8 | 7 | 54.82 |