Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metres hurdles explained

Event:	Women's 400 metres hurdles
Games:	2008 Summer
Venue:	Beijing National Stadium
Dates:	17 August 2008 (heats) 18 August 2008 (semi-finals) 20 August 2008 (final)
Competitors:	27
Nations:	21
Gold:	Melaine Walker
Goldnoc:	JAM
Silver:	Sheena Tosta
Silvernoc:	USA
Bronze:	Tasha Danvers
Bronzenoc:	GBR
Win Value:	52.64 s
Prev:	2004
Next:	2012

The women's 400 metres hurdles at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 17–20 August at the Beijing National Stadium.^[1]

The qualifying standards were 55.60 s (A standard) and 56.50 s (B standard).^[2]

Schedule

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)

Date	Time	Round
Sunday, August 17, 2008	20:10-20:42	Round 1
Monday, August 18, 2008	20:45-21:00	Semifinals
style=background:lemonchiffon	Wednesday, August 20, 2008	style=background:lemonchiffon	22:35-22:40	style=background:lemonchiffon	Final

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world record, Olympic record, and world leading time were as follows:

The following new Olympic record was set during this competition.

Results

Round 1

The first three runners of each heat (Q) plus the next four overall fastest runners (q) qualified for the Semifinals.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Result	Notes^[3]
1	3			54.46	Q
2	4			55.15	Q
3	3			55.18	Q
4	2			55.19	Q, SB
5	3			55.22	Q, PB
6	2			55.34
7	4			55.35
8	1			55.51
9	1			55.71
10	2			55.75
11	1			55.82	Q, SB
12	4			55.91
13	3			55.96
14	2			56.07	q, SB
15	2			56.12
16	3			56.37
17	1			56.52
18	2			56.65
19	4			56.88
20	4			57.16
21	1			57.43
22	1			57.68
23	4			57.76
24	3			57.81
25	2			57.99
26	4			58.64
27	3			1:00.31

Semifinals

Qualification: First 4 in each heat (Q) advance to the Final.

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Result	Notes
1	1			54.07
2	2			54.20
3	1			54.31	Q, SB
4	1			54.36
5	1			54.38
6	2			54.60	Q, PB
7	1			54.67
8	1			54.74	PB
9	2			54.99
10	2			55.17
11	2			55.69	SB
12	2			55.69
13	2			55.88
14	2			55.97
15	1			56.69
16	1			57.67

Final

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Reaction	Time	Notes^[4]
	6			0.236	52.64	, NR
	5			0.191	53.70
	7			0.189	53.84	PB
4	4			0.248	53.96	PB
5	9			0.206	54.29	SB
6	2			0.193	54.96
7	3			0.195	54.97
8	8			0.184	57.55

(OR = Olympic record; NR = National Record; PB = Personal Best; SB = Season Best.)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Olympic Athletics Competition Schedule . 2008-08-04 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20080913131714/http://www.iaaf.org/OLY08/results/eventCode%3D3659/bydiscipline/index.html . 13 September 2008 . dead .
2. Web site: Entry Standards - The XXIX Olympic Games - Beijing, China - 8/24 August 2008 . 2008-08-04. IAAF. https://web.archive.org/web/20080913131730/http://www.iaaf.org/OLY08/standards/index.html. 13 September 2008 . live.
3. Web site: XXIX Olympic Games - Beijing, China:400 Metres Hurdles Women's Heats . August 17, 2008 . . August 17, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080824013927/http://www.iaaf.org/oly08/results/eventCode%3D3659/bydiscipline/disctype%3D4/sex%3DW/discCode%3D400H/combCode%3Dhash/roundCode%3Dh/results.html#det . 2008-08-24 . dead .
4. Web site: Iaaf.org - Olympic Games 2008 - Results 08-20-2008 - 400 Metres Hurdles W Final . 2008-08-20 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080821152719/http://www.iaaf.org/oly08/results/eventCode%3D3659/racedate%3D08-20-2008/sex%3DW/discCode%3D400H/combCode%3Dhash/roundCode%3Df/results.html . 2008-08-21 . Retrieved 2008-08-20.