2023 World Athletics Championships – Women's 400 metres hurdles explained

Event:	Women's 400 metres hurdles
Games:	2023 World Athletics Championships
Venue:	National Athletics Centre
Location:	Budapest, Hungary
Dates:	21 August 2023 (round 1) 22 August 2023 (semi-finals) 24 August 2023 (final)
Competitors:	41
Nations:	30
Win Value:	51.70 s
Gold:	Femke Bol
Goldnoc:	NED
Silver:	Shamier Little
Silvernoc:	USA
Bronze:	Rushell Clayton
Bronzenoc:	JAM
Prev:	2022
Next:	2025

The women's 400 metres hurdles at the 2023 World Athletics Championships took place in three rounds at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, Hungary from 21 to 24 August 2023. On 21 August, forty-one athletes of thirty nations participated in the five heats of round 1. On 22 August, twenty-four athletes competed in the three heats of the semifinals. On 24 August, eight athletes competed in the final, which was won by Femke Bol of the Netherlands in 51.70 seconds, ahead Shamier Little of the United States in 52.80 seconds and Rushell Clayton of Jamaica in 52.81 seconds.

Background

In the absence of the 2022 world champion and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the overwhelming favorite for the world title was the 2022 European Champion and #2 of all time Femke Bol. In 2023, the 23-year-old Dutch woman broke the world indoor record over 400 metres flat, as well as her own European record over the 400 metres hurdles. Bol remained unbeaten in all her hurdles races since the 2022 final and her world-leading time of 51.45 s was almost 2 seconds faster than anyone else had run this year. After 2019 champion and #3 all time Dalilah Muhammad failed to qualify for the final, Bol's biggest opponent seemed to be the 2015 silver medalist and #5 all time Shamier Little, who posted the fastest qualifying time in the semi-finals. Other medal hopefuls were Bahraini Kemi Adekoya, who set Asian records in both the preliminary heats and semi-finals, and 2019 bronze medalist Rushell Clayton from Jamaica, who set a personal best in the semi-finals.

Records before the 2023 World Athletics Championships^[1]
Record	Athlete (Nation)	Time in s	Location	Date
World record		50.68	Eugene, United States	22 July 2022
Championship record		50.68	Eugene, United States	22 July 2022
World Leading		51.45	London, United Kingdom	23 July 2023
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		50.68	Eugene, United States	22 July 2022
South American Record		53.69	Eugene, United States	20 July 2022
European Record		51.45	London, United Kingdom	23 July 2023
Oceanian record		53.17	Seoul, South Korea	28 September 1988

Qualification

The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 54.90 seconds.^[2]

Results

Round 1

The five heats of the first round were held on 21 August, starting at 18:50 (UTC+2). The first four athletes in each heat (Q) and the next four fastest (q) qualified for the semi-finals. Kemi Adekoya set an Asian record (AR) of 53.56 seconds, and two other athletes set a personal best (PB).^[3]

Results of round 1
scope=col	Rank	scope=col	Heat	scope=col	Athlete	scope=col	Nation	scope=col	Time	scope=col	Notes
1	4			53.39	Q
2	3	Kemi Adekoya		53.56	Q,
3	1	Rushell Clayton		53.97	Q
4	3	Andrenette Knight		54.21	Q
5	1	Dalilah Muhammad		54.21	Q
6	5	Jessie Knight		54.27	Q
7	3	Ayomide Folorunso		54.30	Q
8	5			54.40	Q
9	1	Carolina Krafzik		54.53	Q
10	2	Janieve Russell		54.53	Q
11	1			54.65	Q
12	2	Anna Cockrell		54.68	Q
13	5	Anna Ryzhykova		54.70	Q
14	1	Rebecca Sartori		54.82	q,
15	3	Cathelijn Peeters		54.95	Q
16	4			55.05	Q
17	5	Nikoleta Jíchová		55.10	Q
18	4	Hanne Claes		55.13	Q
19	5	Noura Ennadi		55.21	q
20	3	Zenéy van der Walt		55.21	q
21	4	Line Kloster		55.23	Q
22	4	Eileen Demes		55.29	q,
23	2	Gianna Woodruff		55.31	Q
24	4	Sarah Carli		55.76
25	2	Savannah Sutherland		55.85	Q
26	4	Fatoumata Binta Diallo		56.03
27	1	Yasmin Giger		56.16
28	5	Dimitra Gnafaki		56.18
29	5	Brooke Overholt		56.20
30	1	Janka Molnár		56.21
31	2	Chayenne da Silva		56.25
32	2	Eleonora Marchiando		56.27
33	3	Zuran Hechavarría		56.43
34	3	Moa Granat		56.61
35	2	Robyn Brown		56.83
36	5	Agata Zupin		57.62
37	2	Ami Yamamoto		57.76
38	3			57.90
39	4			57.98
40	4			1:00.08
41	1			1:06.97

Semi-finals

The three heats of the semi-finals were held on 22 August, starting at 20:25 (UTC+2). The first 2 athletes in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualify to the final. Kemi Adekoya set a second Asian record (AR) of 53.39 seconds, Ayomide Folorunso set an Italian record (NR) of 53.89 seconds, and two more athletes set a personal best (PB).^[4]

Results of the semi-finals
scope=col	Rank	scope=col	Heat	scope=col	Athlete	scope=col	Nation	scope=col	Time	scope=col	Notes
1	3	Shamier Little		52.81	Q,
2	2	Femke Bol		52.95	Q
3	1	Rushell Clayton		53.30	Q,
4	3	Kemi Adekoya		53.39	Q,
5	1	Anna Cockrell		53.63	Q,
6	3	Janieve Russell		53.69	q
7	2	Andrenette Knight		53.72	Q
8	3	Ayomide Folorunso		53.89	q,
9	2	Dalilah Muhammad		54.19
10	2	Anna Ryzhykova		54.42
11	1			54.48
12	1	Jessie Knight		54.51
13	2	Carolina Krafzik		54.58
14	3	Cathelijn Peeters		54.63
15	1	Gianna Woodruff		54.71
16	3	Savannah Sutherland		54.99
17	2	Nikoleta Jíchová		55.01
18	1			55.15
19	1	Viktoriya Tkachuk		55.43
20	2	Line Kloster		55.43
21	2	Zenéy van der Walt		55.49
22	1	Rebecca Sartori		55.98
23	3	Hanne Claes		56.06
24	3	Eileen Demes		56.71

Final

The final was held on 24 August, starting at 21:49 (UTC+2). Femke Bol of the Netherlands won the gold medal in 51.70 seconds, Shamier Little of the United States won the silver medal finishing 1.10 seconds later in 52.80 seconds, and Rushell Clayton won the bronze medal finishing in a personal best time of 52.81 seconds. Kemi Adekoya set a third Asian record of 53.09 seconds and Anna Cockrell set a personal best of 53.34 seconds.^[5]

Results of the final
scope=col	Rank	scope=col	Lane	scope=col	Athlete	scope=col	Nation	scope=col	Time	scope=col	Notes
	6	Femke Bol		51.70
	5	Shamier Little		52.80
	8	Rushell Clayton		52.81
4	7	Kemi Adekoya		53.09
5	9	Anna Cockrell		53.34
6	2	Ayomide Folorunso		54.19
7	3	Janieve Russell		54.28
8	4	Andrenette Knight		55.20

Notes and References

Web site: 400 Metres Hurdles Women − Records . 21 August 2023 . . 26 July 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220726085456/https://worldathletics.org/records/by-discipline/hurdles/400-metres-hurdles/outdoor/women . live .
Web site: 19 August 2022 . Qualification System and Entry Standards . 19 August 2023 . . 19 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220819191514/https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/62ff627cef4200119b5555be.pdf . live .
Web site: 21 August 2023 . Summary 400 Metres Hurdles Women - Round 1 . 21 August 2023 . . 24 August 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230824091236/https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitiondocuments/pdf/7138987/AT-400H-W-h----.RS4.pdf . live .
Web site: 22 August 2023 . Summary 400 Metres Hurdles Women - Semi-finals . 22 August 2023 . . 26 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231026005107/https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitiondocuments/pdf/7138987/AT-400H-W-sf----.RS4.pdf . live .
Web site: 24 August 2023 . Results 400 Metres Hurdles Women - Final . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231019114725/https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competitiondocuments/pdf/7138987/AT-400H-W-f----.RS6.pdf . 19 October 2023 . 13 February 2024 . World Athletics.