# 2019 World Athletics Championships – Women's 400 metres

The women's 400 metres at the 2019 World Athletics Championships was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, from 30 September to 3 October 2019.

## Summary

The 2019 season saw only four women break 50 seconds. World leader Shaunae Miller-Uibo did it three times. Salwa Eid Naser broke it once, coming back against a challenge from Aminatou Seyni. Naser was consistently under 51, five times during the 2019 IAAF Diamond League season. Seyni was not allowed to compete in the 400 metres because of the new IAAF testosterone rule. Shericka Jackson was the fourth to break 50 at the Jamaican championships.
Those athletes were the ones to watch in the final. With multi-toned hair, the tall Miller-Uibo started like she meant business, gaining on the stagger against defending champion Phyllis Francis to her outside and by the backstretch, Francis had already made up the stagger on Justyna Święty-Ersetic to her outside. In the center of the track, Naser had also already made up the stagger on Wadeline Jonathas to her outside. Miller-Uibo and Naser hit the 200 meter split marks virtually even. Through the final turn, Naser was moving faster, opening up 4 metres by the home straight. The first time Miller-Uibo was able to see Naser, she was already behind. That final straight is usually Miller-Uibo's territory. She began stretching out her long strides to reel Naser in. Miller-Uibo steadily gained on Naser, pulling in three metres, but it wasn't enough. Miller-Uibo set a new personal best, 48.37, which became the #6 400 metre race of all time. Naser beat her with 48.14, the #3 400 of all time. Jackson held off the American duo of Jonathas and Francis, all personal bests under 50 seconds. Like all previous top 10 women's races, there were two close competitors battling to the line.

## Records

Before the competition records were as follows:
| Record | Perf. | Athlete | Nat. | Date | Location |
| World | 47.60 | Marita Koch | GDR | 6 Oct 1985 | Canberra, Australia |
| Championship | 47.99 | Jarmila Kratochvílová | TCH | 10 Aug 1983 | Helsinki, Finland |
| World Leading | 49.05 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | BAH | 27 Apr 2019 | Gainesville, United States |
| African | 49.10 | Falilat Ogunkoya | NGA | 29 Jul 1996 | Atlanta, United States |
| Asian | 49.08 | Salwa Eid Naser | BHR | 20 Jul 2018 | Monaco |
| North, Central American and Caribbean | 48.70 | Sanya Richards-Ross | USA | 16 Sep 2006 | Athens, Greece |
| South American | 49.64 | Ximena Restrepo | COL | 5 August 1992 | Barcelona, Spain |
| European | 47.60 | Marita Koch | GDR | 6 Oct 1985 | Canberra, Australia |
| Oceanian | 48.63 | Cathy Freeman | AUS | 29 Jul 1996 | Atlanta, United States |
The following records were set at the competition:
| Record | Perf. | Athlete | Nat. | Date |
| World Leading | 48.14 | Salwa Eid Naser | BHR | 3 Oct 2019 |
| Asian | 48.14 | Salwa Eid Naser | BHR | 3 Oct 2019 |
| Bahraini | 48.14 | Salwa Eid Naser | BHR | 3 Oct 2019 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean | 48.37 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | BAH | 3 Oct 2019 |
| Bahamian | 48.37 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | BAH | 3 Oct 2019 |

## Schedule

The event schedule, in local time (UTC+3), was as follows:
| Date | Time | Round |
| 30 September | 18:20 | Heats |
| 1 October | 20:50 | Semi-finals |
| 3 October | 23:50 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

The first three in each heat (Q) and the next six fastest (q) qualified for the final.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Wadeline Jonathas | United States (USA) | 50.57 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | 2 | Galefele Moroko | Botswana (BOT) | 50.59 | Q, PB |
| 3 | 6 | 2 | Salwa Eid Naser | Bahrain (BHR) | 50.74 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | 2 | Phyllis Francis | United States (USA) | 50.77 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | 8 | Shericka Jackson | Jamaica (JAM) | 51.13 | Q |
| 6 | 3 | 9 | Shakima Wimbley | United States (USA) | 51.17 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | 6 | Bendere Oboya | Australia (AUS) | 51.21 | Q, PB |
| 8 | 4 | 3 | Stephenie Ann McPherson | Jamaica (JAM) | 51.21 | Q |
| 9 | 5 | 5 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | Bahamas (BAH) | 51.30 | Q |
| 10 | 2 | 7 | Lisanne de Witte | Netherlands (NED) | 51.31 | q |
| 11 | 3 | 8 | Iga Baumgart-Witan | Poland (POL) | 51.34 | Q |
| 11 | 6 | 8 | Justyna Święty-Ersetic | Poland (POL) | 51.34 | Q |
| 13 | 4 | 5 | Favour Ofili | Nigeria (NGR) | 51.51 | Q, PB |
| 14 | 3 | 2 | Laviai Nielsen | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 51.52 | Q |
| 15 | 6 | 4 | Paola Morán | Mexico (MEX) | 51.58 | Q |
| 16 | 2 | 9 | Emily Diamond | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 51.66 | q, SB |
| 17 | 4 | 7 | Aliyah Abrams | Guyana (GUY) | 51.73 | q |
| 18 | 5 | 6 | Déborah Sananes | France (FRA) | 51.76 | Q |
| 19 | 2 | 5 | Patience Okon George | Nigeria (NGR) | 51.77 | q |
| 20 | 4 | 8 | Kendall Ellis | United States (USA) | 51.82 | q |
| 21 | 4 | 9 | Roxana Gómez | Cuba (CUB) | 51.85 | q |
| 22 | 5 | 8 | Mary Moraa | Kenya (KEN) | 51.85 | Q |
| 23 | 2 | 4 | Eleni Artymata | Cyprus (CYP) | 51.90 | |
| 24 | 3 | 7 | Tiffani Silva | Brazil (BRA) | 51.96 | |
| 25 | 5 | 2 | Polina Miller | Authorised Neutral Athletes (ANA) | 51.96 | |
| 26 | 6 | 5 | Kseniya Aksyonova | Authorised Neutral Athletes (ANA) | 51.99 | |
| 27 | 3 | 6 | Aiyanna Stiverne | Canada (CAN) | 52.03 | |
| 28 | 1 | 4 | Sada Williams | Barbados (BAR) | 52.14 | Q |
| 29 | 2 | 2 | Alyona Mamina | Authorised Neutral Athletes (ANA) | 52.15 | |
| 30 | 4 | 6 | Maggie Barrie | Sierra Leone (SLE) | 52.16 | SB |
| 31 | 3 | 3 | Leni Shida | Uganda (UGA) | 52.22 | |
| 32 | 1 | 3 | Lada Vondrová | Czech Republic (CZE) | 52.23 | Q |
| 33 | 6 | 3 | Madeline Price | Canada (CAN) | 52.24 | |
| 34 | 5 | 4 | Anna Kiełbasińska | Poland (POL) | 52.25 | |
| 35 | 5 | 7 | Anastasia Le-Roy | Jamaica (JAM) | 52.26 | |
| 36 | 5 | 9 | Irini Vasiliou | Greece (GRE) | 52.31 | |
| 37 | 6 | 7 | Anjali Devi | India (IND) | 52.33 | |
| 38 | 3 | 5 | Maria Benedicta Chigbolu | Italy (ITA) | 52.63 | |
| 39 | 1 | 7 | Anita Horvat | Slovenia (SLO) | 52.73 | |
| 40 | 1 | 6 | Cátia Azevedo | Portugal (POR) | 52.79 | |
| 41 | 6 | 6 | Amandine Brossier | France (FRA) | 52.81 | |
| 42 | 1 | 8 | Christine Botlogetswe | Botswana (BOT) | 53.27 | |
| 43 | 3 | 4 | Janet Richard | Malta (MLT) | 54.33 | |
| 44 | 4 | 4 | Gabriella O'Grady | Australia (AUS) | 54.99 | |
| 45 | 1 | 5 | Hellen Syombua | Kenya (KEN) | 57.07 | |
| 46 | 6 | 9 | Aishath Himna Hassan | Maldives (MDV) | 59.91 | |
| 47 | 5 | 3 | Kenza Sosse | Qatar (QAT) | 1:06.76 | |
| | 1 | 9 | Ingrid Yahoska Narvaez | Nicaragua (NCA) | DQ | 163.3(a) |

### Semi-finals

The first two in each heat (Q) and the next two fastest (q) qualified for the final.
| Rank | Heat | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | 6 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | Bahamas (BAH) | 49.66 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | 7 | Salwa Eid Naser | Bahrain (BHR) | 49.79 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | 4 | Wadeline Jonathas | United States (USA) | 50.07 | Q, PB |
| 4 | 2 | 7 | Shericka Jackson | Jamaica (JAM) | 50.10 | q |
| 5 | 1 | 5 | Phyllis Francis | United States (USA) | 50.22 | Q, SB |
| 6 | 3 | 6 | Stephenie Ann McPherson | Jamaica (JAM) | 50.70 | Q, SB |
| 7 | 3 | 5 | Justyna Święty-Ersetic | Poland (POL) | 50.96 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | 6 | Iga Baumgart-Witan | Poland (POL) | 51.02 | q, PB |
| 9 | 1 | 8 | Paola Morán | Mexico (MEX) | 51.08 | |
| 10 | 2 | 5 | Sada Williams | Barbados (BAR) | 51.31 | PB |
| 11 | 2 | 2 | Lisanne de Witte | Netherlands (NED) | 51.41 | |
| 12 | 2 | 3 | Roxana Gómez | Cuba (CUB) | 51.56 | SB |
| 13 | 2 | 9 | Bendere Oboya | Australia (AUS) | 51.58 | |
| 14 | 3 | 3 | Kendall Ellis | United States (USA) | 51.58 | |
| 15 | 3 | 2 | Emily Diamond | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 51.62 | SB |
| 16 | 1 | 3 | Aliyah Abrams | Guyana (GUY) | 51.71 | |
| 17 | 1 | 2 | Patience Okon George | Nigeria (NGR) | 51.89 | |
| 18 | 3 | 9 | Mary Moraa | Kenya (KEN) | 52.11 | |
| 19 | 1 | 4 | Déborah Sananes | France (FRA) | 52.24 | |
| 20 | 2 | 8 | Lada Vondrová | Czech Republic (CZE) | 52.25 | |
| 21 | 3 | 8 | Favour Ofili | Nigeria (NGR) | 52.58 | |
| 22 | 1 | 9 | Laviai Nielsen | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 52.94 | |
| 23 | 3 | 7 | Shakima Wimbley | United States (USA) | 1:13.55 | |
| | 3 | 4 | Galefele Moroko | Botswana (BOT) | DNF | DNF |

### Final

The final was started on 3 October at 23:50.
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 5 | Salwa Eid Naser | Bahrain (BHR) | 48.14 | AR, WL |
| | 7 | Shaunae Miller-Uibo | Bahamas (BAH) | 48.37 | AR |
| | 3 | Shericka Jackson | Jamaica (JAM) | 49.47 | PB |
| 4 | 6 | Wadeline Jonathas | United States (USA) | 49.60 | PB |
| 5 | 8 | Phyllis Francis | United States (USA) | 49.61 | PB |
| 6 | 4 | Stephenie Ann McPherson | Jamaica (JAM) | 50.89 | |
| 7 | 9 | Justyna Święty-Ersetic | Poland (POL) | 50.95 | |
| 8 | 2 | Iga Baumgart-Witan | Poland (POL) | 51.29 | |