2022 World Athletics Championships – Women's 400 metres hurdles explained

Event:	Women's 400 metres hurdles
Games:	2022 World Athletics Championships
Venue:	Hayward Field
Location:	Eugene, Oregon, United States
Dates:	19 July 2022 (round 1) 20 July 2022 (semi-finals) 22 July 2022 (final)
Competitors:	40
Nations:	26
Win Value:	50.68 s
Gold:	Sydney McLaughlin
Goldnoc:	USA
Silver:	Femke Bol
Silvernoc:	NED
Bronze:	Dalilah Muhammad
Bronzenoc:	USA
Prev:	2019
Next:	2023

The women's 400 metres hurdles at the 2022 World Athletics Championships was held at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from 19 to 22 July 2022.^[1] It was won by Sydney McLaughlin in a world record time of 50.68 seconds. The winning margin was 1.59 seconds which as of 2024 stands as the greatest winning margin for the women's 400 metres hurdles at these championships.

Background

Records before the 2022 World Athletics Championships^[2]
width=25% align=center scope="col"	Record	width=25% align=center scope="col"	Athlete (Nation)	width=10% align=center scope="col"	Time	width=25% align=center scope="col"	Location	width=15% align=center scope="col"	Date
World record		51.41	Eugene, United States	25 June 2022
Championship record		52.16	Doha, Qatar	4 October 2019
World Leading		51.41	Eugene, United States	25 June 2022
African Record		52.90	Seville, Spain	25 August 1999
Asian Record		53.96	Beijing, China	9 September 1993
	Guangzhou, China	17 November 2001
North, Central American and Caribbean record		51.41	Eugene, United States	25 June 2022
South American Record		54.20	Eugene, United States	21 August 2021
European Record		52.03	Tokyo, Japan	4 August 2021
Oceanian record		53.17	Seoul, South Korea	28 September 1988

Qualification

The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 55.40.^[3]

Results

Round 1

The five heats of round 1 were held on 19 July, starting at 17:15 (UTC-7) in the afternoon. The first four athletes in each heat (Q) and the next four fastest athletes (q) qualify to the semi-finals.^[4]

Results of round 1
Rank	Heat	Time	Notes
1	3	53.90	Q
2	1	53.95	Q
3	4	54.45	Q
4	2	54.52	Q
5	5	54.54	Q
6	5	54.69	Q
7	5	54.70	Q,
8	2	54.77	Q
9	4	54.91	Q
10	1	54.93	Q
11	2	54.95	Q
12	5	54.99	Q
13	3	55.05	Q
14	1	55.09	Q
15	3	55.21	Q
16	2	55.27	Q
17	1	55.42	Q
18	3	55.48	Q
19	3	55.72	q
20	2	55.72	q
21	4	55.89	Q
22	1	55.90	q,
23	2	56.09	q
24	5	56.24
25	4	56.24	Q
26	1	56.40
27	5	56.67
28	4	56.68
29	2	56.78
30	5	56.79
31	4	57.01
32	4	57.12
33	4	57.42
34	2	57.99
35	3	58.84
36	1	59.46
	3

Semi-finals

The three heats of the semi-finals were held on 20 July, starting at 18:15 (UTC-7). The first two athletes in each heat (Q) and the next two fastest athletes (q) qualify to the final.^[5]

Results of the semi-finals
Rank	Heat	Time	Notes
1	3	52.17	Q
2	2	52.84	Q
3	1	53.28	Q,
4	2	53.61	Q,
5	2	53.63	q,
6	3	53.69	Q,
7	2	53.72	q
8	3	54.16
9	3	54.24
10	3	54.34
11	2	54.49
12	1	54.51	Q
13	2	54.60
14	1	54.66
15	3	54.81
16	1	54.81
17	3	55.13
18	2	55.39
19	1	55.42
20	1	55.53
21	1	55.57
22	1	55.90
23	2	56.04
24	3	56.31

Final

The final was held on 22 July, starting at 19:50 (UTC-7) in the evening.

There were high expectations for this final. The podium from the Olympics returned, who were the top three in history from that race, except that Sydney McLaughlin had improved upon her own world record at the American Championships on this track en route to qualifying for these Championships. She had already set that record in the US Olympic Trials and the Olympics. In most of those races, she was chased by the former record holder, defending champion Dalilah Muhammad, who set her last record in that race three years earlier, .07 ahead of McLaughlin who was then still a teenager. The Olympic bronze medalist Femke Bol is even younger than McLaughlin. Those three occupied the center of the track along with #5 all time Shamier Little. #22 Anna Ryzhykova and #24 Britton Wilson were on the outside lanes of the track.

From the gun, McLaughlin was out fast, making ups the stagger on the fast starting Muhammad before the fourth hurdle and opening a huge gap in front of Bol. Officially McLaughlin's split was 24.25 with her second 100 metres in 11.99.^[6] And McLaughlin kept going, 12.77 for the third 100m, splitting at 37.02. Behind her it was a battle for silver and Bol edged ahead of Muhammad. McLaughlin continued to charge, 13.66 for the final 100m, crossing the line 11 metres ahead of Bol with a new world record of 50.68. Bol's time of 52.27 equalled her own second best time, the #12 time in history (McLaughlin owns seven of them, Muhammad three). Five metres further back, Muhammad took bronze still three metres clear of Little and Wilson. McLaughlin's result would have beaten two finalists in the "flat" 400 metre run.

McLaughlin's 0.73 improvement on her own world record was called Beamonesque.^[7] Since 2019, when Yuliya Pechonkina's world record had stood for almost 16 years, first Muhammad and now McLaughlin have taken one and two thirds seconds off the former mark, with McLaughlin after this race 0.9, almost a full second clear of Muhammad.

Results of the final
Rank	Time	Notes
	50.68
	52.27	=	-	53.13
4	53.76
5	54.02
6	54.36
7	54.75
8	54.93

Notes and References

Web site: Oregon22 Timetable | WCH 22 . Worldathletics.org. 26 July 2022.
Web site: 400 Metres Hurdles Women − Records. IAAF. 9 July 2022.
News: Competitions Entry Standards 2022 – IAAF World Championships – PDF title, Qualification Standards for the IAAF World Athletics Championships Oregon 2022. iaaf.org. 9 July 2022.
Web site: Heats Start List. PDF. Media.aws.iaaf.org. 26 July 2022.
Web site: Semi-finals Summary. PDF. Media.aws.iaaf.org. 26 July 2022.
Web site: 400 Metres Hurdles Women - Final. PDF. Media.aws.iaaf.org. 26 July 2022.
Web site: Sydney McLaughlin obliterates her own world record in 400 hurdles. Ocregister.com. 23 July 2022. 26 July 2022.