# 2009 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 400 metres hurdles

The women's 400 metres hurdles at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 17, 18 and 20 August.
In the four major championships between 2004 and 2008, the twelve available medals were won by eleven different athletes. Yuliya Pechonkina was the only athlete to reach the podium twice in that period, having won the 2005 World Championships and won the silver at the same event two years later. With such a quick turnover, it was expected that new athletes would again be possible medallists, especially as Pechonkina and reigning champion Jana Pittman-Rawlinson had withdrawn prior to the competition. However, 2005 medallist Lashinda Demus appeared to be a likely contender, having set the world-leading time of 52.63 seconds a month before the competition (significantly faster than any other athlete at that point in the season). Angela Moroșanu, Josanne Lucas were amongst the season's fastest hurdlers, but the gold and silver medallists from the Beijing Olympics, Melaine Walker and Sheena Tosta had not shown strong form.
Demus and Moroşanu recorded the fastest times on the first day of the competition, which saw no surprise eliminations. Kaliese Spencer was the third fastest, making her seem a possible finalist. Reigning Olympic champion Walker was the fastest in the semi-finals, with Lucas the second fastest in a national record time. Spencer, winner of the second race, was initially disqualified but was reinstated upon review. Amaka Ogoegbunam, a Nigerian athlete, tested positive for metenolone (an anabolic steroid) after the semi-finals, becoming the second athlete of the competition to fail a drugs test after Jamel Chatbi.
In the final race, Demus and Walker started fastest, with Lucas and Spencer not far behind. Demus took the lead near the final stretch but took the last two hurdles badly, allowing Walker to pass her to take the gold medal. Walker's time of 52.42 s was a Championship record and North American record, and only 0.08 seconds away from Pechonkina's world record. Bronze medallist Lucas had improved her national record by a significant amount (0.78 seconds) and fourth placed Spencer had set a new personal best.
Walker had won despite modest performances in the season prior to the competition, while Demus failed to match her world-leading time she had set at the Herculis meeting in Monaco. Walker's run, which capped an Olympic and World double, was the second fastest in the history of the event. Josanne Lucas had significantly improved over the course of a year, knocking two seconds off her personal best, demonstrating her potential as a future medallist.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Melaine Walker Jamaica (JAM) | Lashinda Demus United States (USA) | Josanne Lucas Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) |

## Records before the Championships

| World record | Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS) | 52.34 | Tula, Russia | 8 August 2003 |
| Championship record | Kim Batten (USA) | 52.61 | Gothenburg, Sweden | 11 August 1995 |
| World leading | Lashinda Demus (USA) | 52.63 | Monaco | 28 July 2009 |
| African record | Nezha Bidouane (MAR) | 52.90 | Sevilla, Spain | 25 August 1999 |
| Asian record | Han Qing (CHN) | 53.96 | Beijing, China | 9 September 1993 |
| North American record | Kim Batten (USA) | 52.61 | Gothenburg, Sweden | 11 August 1995 |
| South American record | Lucimar Teodoro (BRA) | 55.84 | Belém, Brazil | 24 May 2009 |
| European record | Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS) | 52.34 | Tula, Russia | 8 August 2003 |
| Oceanian record | Debbie Flintoff-King (AUS) | 53.17 | Seoul, South Korea | 28 September 1988 |

## Qualification standards

| A time | B time |
| 55.50 | 56.55 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| August 17, 2009 | 18:15 | Heats |
| August 18, 2009 | 20:15 | Semifinals |
| August 20, 2009 | 20:15 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

Qualification: First 4 in each heat(Q) and the next 4 fastest(q) advance to the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Lashinda Demus | United States (USA) | 54.66 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Angela Moroșanu | Romania (ROM) | 54.70 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Kaliese Spencer | Jamaica (JAM) | 55.12 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Melaine Walker | Jamaica (JAM) | 55.17 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | Tiffany Ross-Williams | United States (USA) | 55.25 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Nickiesha Wilson | Jamaica (JAM) | 55.37 | Q |
| 7 | 3 | Natalya Antyukh | Russia (RUS) | 55.40 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | Josanne Lucas | Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) | 55.41 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | Huang Xiaoxiao | China (CHN) | 55.52 | Q, SB |
| 10 | 2 | Anna Jesień | Poland (POL) | 55.57 | Q |
| 11 | 5 | Anastasiya Rabchenyuk | Ukraine (UKR) | 55.63 | Q |
| 12 | 4 | Zuzana Hejnová | Czech Republic (CZE) | 55.68 | Q |
| 13 | 2 | Eilidh Child | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 55.96 | Q |
| 14 | 2 | Sheena Tosta | United States (USA) | 56.00 | Q |
| 15 | 1 | Vania Stambolova | Bulgaria (BUL) | 56.01 | Q |
| 16 | 2 | Ieva Zunda | Latvia (LAT) | 56.05 | q, SB |
| 17 | 5 | Natalya Ivanova | Russia (RUS) | 56.11 | Q |
| 18 | 4 | Elena Churakova | Russia (RUS) | 56.13 | q |
| 19 | 3 | Perri Shakes-Drayton | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 56.49 | Q |
| 20 | 3 | Sara Petersen | Denmark (DEN) | 56.51 | Q |
| 21 | 4 | Élodie Ouédraogo | Belgium (BEL) | 56.60 | q, SB |
| 22 | 5 | Muizat Ajoke Odumosu | Nigeria (NGR) | 56.62 | Q |
| 23 | 5 | Jonna Tilgner | Germany (GER) | 56.73 | q |
| 24 | 1 | Satomi Kubokura | Japan (JPN) | 56.91 | |
| 25 | 3 | Michelle Carey | Ireland (IRL) | 56.91 | |
| 26 | 2 | Aurore Kassambara | France (FRA) | 57.25 | |
| 27 | 3 | Kou Luogon | Liberia (LBR) | 57.70 | |
| 28 | 1 | Tatyana Azarova | Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 57.90 | |
| 29 | 5 | Carole Kaboud Mebam | Cameroon (CMR) | 58.10 | |
| 30 | 1 | Hanna Titimets | Ukraine (UKR) | 58.22 | |
| 31 | 3 | Laia Forcadell | Spain (ESP) | 58.57 | |
| 32 | 4 | Yolanda Osana | Dominican Republic (DOM) | 59.18 | |
| 33 | 4 | Aïssata Soulama | Burkina Faso (BUR) | 59.20 | SB |
| 34 | 1 | Déborah Rodríguez | Uruguay (URU) | 59.21 | NR |
| 35 | 3 | Merjen Ishangulyyeva | Turkmenistan (TKM) | 1:00.75 | |
| 36 | 2 | Sayaka Aoki | Japan (JPN) | 1:03.56 | |
| | 2 | Tsvetelina Kirilova | Bulgaria (BUL) | DQ | |
| | 4 | Amaka Ogoegbunam | Nigeria (NGR) | DQ | |
| | 5 | Muna Jabir Adam | Sudan (SUD) | DNS | |

### Semifinals

Qualification: First 2 in each semifinal (Q) and the next 2 fastest(q) advance to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Melaine Walker | Jamaica (JAM) | 53.26 | Q, SB |
| 2 | 1 | Josanne Lucas | Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) | 53.98 | Q, NR |
| 3 | 1 | Angela Moroșanu | Romania (ROM) | 54.15 | q |
| 4 | 3 | Lashinda Demus | United States (USA) | 54.25 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Kaliese Spencer | Jamaica (JAM) | 54.37 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Anastasiya Rabchenyuk | Ukraine (UKR) | 54.49 | Q, SB |
| 7 | 2 | Tiffany Ross-Williams | United States (USA) | 54.79 | q |
| 8 | 2 | Anna Jesień | Poland (POL) | 54.82 | |
| 9 | 3 | Natalya Antyukh | Russia (RUS) | 54.86 | Q |
| 10 | 3 | Nickiesha Wilson | Jamaica (JAM) | 54.89 | SB |
| 11 | 3 | Zuzana Hejnová | Czech Republic (CZE) | 54.99 | |
| 12 | 1 | Huang Xiaoxiao | China (CHN) | 55.40 | SB |
| 13 | 1 | Natalya Ivanova | Russia (RUS) | 56.08 | |
| 14 | 2 | Elena Churakova | Russia (RUS) | 56.11 | |
| 15 | 3 | Vania Stambolova | Bulgaria (BUL) | 56.12 | |
| 16 | 3 | Eilidh Child | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 56.21 | |
| 17 | 1 | Sheena Tosta | United States (USA) | 56.31 | |
| 18 | 2 | Ieva Zunda | Latvia (LAT) | 56.66 | |
| 19 | 1 | Muizat Ajoke Odumosu | Nigeria (NGR) | 56.80 | |
| 20 | 3 | Sara Petersen | Denmark (DEN) | 56.99 | |
| 21 | 3 | Jonna Tilgner | Germany (GER) | 57.11 | |
| 22 | 2 | Perri Shakes-Drayton | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 57.57 | |
| 23 | 1 | Élodie Ouédraogo | Belgium (BEL) | 57.58 | |
| | 2 | Amaka Ogoegbunam | Nigeria (NGR) | 58.56 | DQ |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Melaine Walker | Jamaica (JAM) | 52.42 | CR, AR |
| | Lashinda Demus | United States (USA) | 52.96 | |
| | Josanne Lucas | Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) | 53.20 | NR |
| 4 | Kaliese Spencer | Jamaica (JAM) | 53.56 | PB |
| 5 | Tiffany Ross-Williams | United States (USA) | 53.83 | SB |
| 6 | Natalya Antyukh | Russia (RUS) | 54.11 | PB |
| 7 | Anastasiya Rabchenyuk | Ukraine (UKR) | 54.78 | |
| 8 | Angela Moroșanu | Romania (ROM) | 55.04 | |