2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 400 metres


The men's 400 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 18, 19 and 21 August.
The United States had a strong tradition in the event, with an American topping the Olympic 400 m podium every time since the 1988 Olympics. Similar to the 2007 World Championships, Jeremy Wariner and LaShawn Merritt were the clear favourites. However, on this occasion recent form favoured the Olympic champion Merritt instead of the reigning world champion Wariner. Both Americans were undefeated that season but Merritt held the world-leading time of 44.50 seconds. A gold or silver medallist outside of these two competitors seemed unlikely; Bahamian Chris Brown, Irishman David Gillick, Frenchman Leslie Djhone and the other two runners from the United States were seen to be capable of a bronze at best.
On the first day, Ramon Miller surprised as the fastest qualifier in the heats, scoring a new personal best of 45 seconds. Tabarie Henry, Djhone and Renny Quow were the next fastest, and African record holder Gary Kikaya was most high-profile casualty of the first round, having been disqualified for a lane infraction.

Medalists

Records

Prior to the competition, the established records were as follows.
World record43.18Seville, Spain26 August 1999
Championship record43.18Seville, Spain26 August 1999
World Leading44.50Baie-Mahault, France3 July 2009
African record44.10Stuttgart, Germany9 September 2006
Asian record44.56Budapest, Hungary12 August 1988
North American record43.18Seville, Spain26 August 1999
South American record44.29Seville, Spain26 August 1999
European record44.33Rome, Italy3 September 1987
Oceanian record44.38Seoul, South Korea26 September 1988

Qualification standards

Schedule

Results

Heats

Qualification: First 3 in each heat and the next 3 fastest advance to the [|semifinals].
RankHeatNameNationalityTimeNotes
5Ramon Miller45.00Q, PB
7Tabarie Henry45.14Q
5Leslie Djhone45.20Q
2Renny Quow45.21Q
4LaShawn Merritt45.23Q
7Sean Wroe45.31Q
4John Steffensen45.37Q
7Martyn Rooney45.45Q
1Robert Tobin45.50Q
102William Collazo45.52Q
113Chris Brown45.53Q
126Jeremy Wariner45.54Q
121David Gillick45.54Q
123Michael Bingham45.54Q
151Rabah Yousif45.55Q, PB
157Erison Hurtault45.55q, SB
173Joel Milburn45.56Q, SB
177Mohamed Ashour Khouaja45.56q, NR
196Ricardo Chambers45.57Q
202Kevin Borlée45.61Q
211Lionel Larry45.64q
222Marcin Marciniszyn45.77SB
235Johan Wissman45.83Q
244Matteo Galvan45.86Q, PB
255Maksim Dyldin45.91
261Young Talkmore Nyongani45.92
271Cédric Van Branteghem45.94
284Héctor Carrasquillo46.11
292Arismendy Peguero46.13
306Teddy Venel46.16Q
313Eric Milazar46.39
325Gil Roberts46.41
337Saul Weigopwa46.42
343Isaac Makwala46.45
354Alvin Harrison46.67
363Nagmeldin Ali Abubakr46.48
371Hideyuki Hirose46.80
386Yuzo Kanemaru46.83
397Rondell Bartholomew46.85
403Andrés Silva46.86
412Mathieu Gnanligo47.00SB
426Yousef Ahmed Masrahi47.03
435Mark Kiprotich Muttai47.04
442Nelson Stone47.13
456Pieter Smith48.14
465Naiel d'Almeida49.47
477Moumouni Kimba50.93PB
483Zaw Win Thet51.41PB
2Michael MathieuDSQ
4Gary KikayaDSQ
4Yannick FonsatDNS
5James GoddayDNS
6Nery BrenesDNS

Key: NR = National record, PB = Personal best, Q = qualification by place in heat, q = qualification by overall place, SB = Seasonal best

Semifinals

First 2 in each semifinal and the next 2 fastest advance to the final.
RankHeatNameNationalityTimeNotes
2LaShawn Merritt44.37Q, WL
2Renny Quow44.53Q, PB
1Jeremy Wariner44.69Q
1Michael Bingham44.74Q, PB
1Leslie Djhone44.80q, SB
1David Gillick44.88q
2William Collazo44.93
3Chris Brown44.95Q
3Tabarie Henry44.97Q
101Ramon Miller44.99PB
113Ricardo Chambers45.13SB
123Kevin Borlée45.28SB
132Sean Wroe45.32
143John Steffensen45.50
152Erison Hurtault45.59
162Rabah Yousif45.63
173Lionel Larry45.85
183Robert Tobin45.90
192Martyn Rooney45.98
201Joel Milburn46.06
212Teddy Venel46.30
221Mohamed Ashour Khouaja46.43
233Matteo Galvan46.87
1Johan WissmanDNS

Final