2015 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 400 metres

Women's 400 metres at the 2015 World Championships
Allyson Felix shortly after winning the title.
Venue	Beijing National Stadium
Dates	24 August (heats) 25 August (semifinals) 27 August (final)
Competitors	42 from 24 nations
Winning time	49.26
Medalists
Allyson Felix    United States   Shaunae Miller    Bahamas   Shericka Jackson    Jamaica

The women's 400 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Beijing National Stadium on 24, 25 and 27 August.^[1] Christine Ohuruogu of Great Britain entered the competition as the defending champion.^[2][3]

Summary

Allyson Felix was known as a 200 metres specialist, but two years earlier, her string of 200 meter championships was broken when she sustained a hamstring injury in the final. Based on winning the 2014 Diamond League, Felix was qualified to enter the 200 metres at the World Championships but chose to forgo that opportunity to focus on the 400 metres. This was her bid to win the one title she didn't have under her belt; in the same event at the 2011 World Championships, she narrowly lost to Amantle Montsho of Botswana. With world leader Francena McCorory unable to qualify at the American Championships, Felix was the favorite. Defending champion Christine Ohuruogu, known for her late rush, also made the final.

With high expectations, Felix took off strongly running her first 200 metres. She kept building on her lead, coming off the final turn several steps ahead of Shericka Jackson the next out of the turn. While Felix didn't further advance her lead, she kept her margin on Jackson for a clear win.^[4] Shaunae Miller made a powerful rush to the finish, passing Jackson for the silver and gaining on Felix down the home stretch. Jackson beat three other Jamaican teammates for the bronze.^[5]

Records

Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:^[6]

World record	Marita Koch (GDR)	47.60	Canberra, Australia	6 October 1985
Championship record	Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH)	47.99	Helsinki, Finland	10 August 1983
World leading	Francena McCorory (USA)	49.83	Fontvieille, Monaco	17 July 2015
African record	Falilat Ogunkoya (NGR)	49.10	Atlanta, United States	29 July 1996
Asian record	Ma Yuqin (CHN)	49.81	Beijing, China	11 September 1993
NACAC record	Sanya Richards-Ross (USA)	48.70	Athens, Greece	16 September 2006
South American record	Ximena Restrepo (COL)	49.64	Barcelona, Spain	5 August 1992
European record	Marita Koch (GDR)	47.60	Canberra, Australia	6 October 1985
Oceanian record	Cathy Freeman (AUS)	48.63	Atlanta, United States	29 July 1996
The following records were established during the competition:
World leading	Allyson Felix (USA)	49.26	Beijing, China	27 August 2015

Qualification standards

Entry standards[7]
52.00

Schedule

Date	Time	Round
24 August 2015	10:45	Heats
25 August 2015	19:05	Semifinals
27 August 2015	20:40	Final

All times are local times (UTC+8)

Results

KEY:

Q

Qualified

q

Fastest non-qualifiers

NR

National record

PB

Personal best

SB

Seasonal best

Heats

Qualification: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 6 fastest (q) advanced to the semifinals.^[8]

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	4	Stephenie Ann McPherson	Jamaica (JAM)	50.34	Q, SB
2	5	Bianca Răzor	Romania (ROM)	50.37	Q, PB
3	5	Shericka Jackson	Jamaica (JAM)	50.41	Q
4	4	Phyllis Francis	United States (USA)	50.52	Q, SB
5	6	Shaunae Miller	Bahamas (BAH)	50.53	Q
6	3	Christine Day	Jamaica (JAM)	50.58	Q
7	1	Allyson Felix	United States (USA)	50.60	Q
8	3	Joy Sakari	Kenya (KEN)	50.71	Q, NR
9	5	Patience Okon George	Nigeria (NGR)	50.87	Q
10	1	Floria Gueï	France (FRA)	50.89	Q, PB
11	2	Christine Ohuruogu	Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)	51.01	Q
12	6	Novlene Williams-Mills	Jamaica (JAM)	51.07	Q, SB
12	1	Nataliya Pyhyda	Ukraine (UKR)	51.07	Q, SB
14	5	Anyika Onuora	Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)	51.14	q, PB
15	2	Marie Gayot	France (FRA)	51.24	Q, PB
16	2	Natasha Hastings	United States (USA)	51.25	Q
17	1	Patrycja Wyciszkiewicz	Poland (POL)	51.31	q, PB
18	2	Maureen Jelagat Maiyo	Kenya (KEN)	51.40	q, PB
19	4	Nadezhda Kotlyarova	Russia (RUS)	51.42	Q, PB
20	6	Ekaterina Renzhina	Russia (RUS)	51.55	Q
20	3	Kabange Mupopo	Zambia (ZAM)	51.55	Q
22	6	Libania Grenot	Italy (ITA)	51.64	q
23	1	Anneliese Rubie	Australia (AUS)	51.69	q, PB
24	5	Carline Muir	Canada (CAN)	51.70	q, SB
25	4	Regina George	Nigeria (NGR)	51.74
25	4	Małgorzata Hołub	Poland (POL)	51.74	PB
27	6	Olha Zemlyak	Ukraine (UKR)	52.00
28	6	Iga Baumgart	Poland (POL)	52.02	PB
29	3	Mariya Mikhailyuk	Russia (RUS)	52.16
30	3	Gunta Latiševa-Čudare	Latvia (LAT)	52.17	PB
31	1	Kineke Alexander	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (VIN)	52.24
32	5	Lisneidy Veitia	Cuba (CUB)	52.25
33	2	Tosin Adeloye	Nigeria (NGR)	52.42
34	4	Justine Palframan	South Africa (RSA)	52.45
35	3	Maria Benedicta Chigbolu	Italy (ITA)	52.48
36	1	Iveta Putalová	Slovakia (SVK)	52.52
37	2	Geisa Coutinho	Brazil (BRA)	52.72
38	6	Aauri Bokesa	Spain (ESP)	52.98
39	3	Audrey Jean-Baptiste	Canada (CAN)	53.18
40	2	Amaliya Sharoyan	Armenia (ARM)	54.16
41	4	Dil Maya Karki	Nepal (NEP)	1:00.99
	5	Jacinter Shikanda	Kenya (KEN)	DQ

Semifinals

Qualification: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advanced to the final.^[9]

Rank	Heat	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
1	3	Allyson Felix	United States (USA)	49.89	Q, SB
2	3	Shericka Jackson	Jamaica (JAM)	50.03	Q, PB
3	1	Shaunae Miller	Bahamas (BAH)	50.12	Q
4	2	Christine Ohuruogu	Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)	50.16	Q, SB
5	2	Stephenie Ann McPherson	Jamaica (JAM)	50.32	Q, SB
6	3	Novlene Williams-Mills	Jamaica (JAM)	50.47	q, SB
7	2	Phyllis Francis	United States (USA)	50.50	q, SB
8	3	Nataliya Pyhyda	Ukraine (UKR)	50.62	PB
9	2	Patience Okon George	Nigeria (NGR)	50.76	PB
10	1	Christine Day	Jamaica (JAM)	50.82	Q
11	3	Anyika Onuora	Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)	50.87	PB
12	2	Marie Gayot	France (FRA)	50.97	PB
13	3	Bianca Răzor	Romania (ROM)	51.05
14	1	Libania Grenot	Italy (ITA)	51.14
15	1	Floria Gueï	France (FRA)	51.30
16	1	Natasha Hastings	United States (USA)	51.33
17	2	Ekaterina Renzhina	Russia (RUS)	51.49	PB
18	1	Nadezhda Kotlyarova	Russia (RUS)	51.86
19	3	Maureen Jelagat Maiyo	Kenya (KEN)	51.92
20	3	Kabange Mupopo	Zambia (ZAM)	51.93
21	2	Patrycja Wyciszkiewicz	Poland (POL)	51.94
22	1	Anneliese Rubie	Australia (AUS)	52.04
23	2	Carline Muir	Canada (CAN)	52.31
	1	Joy Sakari	Kenya (KEN)	DNS[10]

Final

The final was held at 20:40.^[11]

Rank	Lane	Name	Nationality	Time	Notes
	6	Allyson Felix	United States (USA)	49.26	WL
	5	Shaunae Miller	Bahamas (BAH)	49.67	PB
	4	Shericka Jackson	Jamaica (JAM)	49.99	PB
4	8	Christine Day	Jamaica (JAM)	50.14	PB
5	9	Stephenie Ann McPherson	Jamaica (JAM)	50.42
6	2	Novlene Williams-Mills	Jamaica (JAM)	50.47	SB
7	3	Phyllis Francis	United States (USA)	50.51
8	7	Christine Ohuruogu	Great Britain & N.I. (GBR)	50.63

References

1. "Beijing 2015: Timetable". Beijing 2015. 10 August 2015. Archived from the original on 1 December 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
2. Ennis-Hill named in British team for IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015. IAAF (2015-07-28). Retrieved on 2015-08-16.
3. "Start list" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
4. "Allyson Felix finally clinches first major 400m title at world championships". Guardian. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
5. "REPORT: WOMEN'S 400M FINAL – IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BEIJING 2015". iaaf.org. 27 August 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
6. "Records & Lists – 400 meters". IAAF. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
7. IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 – Standards (PDF), IAAF, 2014, retrieved 17 August 2015
8. Heats results
9. "Semifinals results" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
10. "Two Kenyan sprinters fail doping test in Beijing". Archived from the original on 28 August 2015.
11. Final results