# Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metres hurdles

The women's 400 metres hurdles competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was held at the Olympic Stadium between 15 and 18 August.

## Summary

The 2012 Olympic champion Natalya Antyukh could not have entered due to Russia's team doping ban. Of the medallists from the 2012 Olympics and 2015 World Championships only Czech athlete Zuzana Hejnová was present, though her form was lacking that season. The three American medallists of that period did not qualify at the American trials, which were headed by Dalilah Muhammad in a world-leading 52.88 seconds. The top-four ranked Shamier Little and Georganne Moline were beaten by Ashley Spencer and 16-year-old Sydney McLaughlin. Janieve Russell of Jamaica ranked third for the season but had fitness issues during preparation. Eilidh Doyle, Sara Slott Petersen and Wenda Nel were the only other entrants with times under 54.5 seconds that year.
In the final, Dalilah Muhammad went out aggressively, with a clear lead over the first hurdle. She made up the stagger on Sara Petersen to her outside before the end of the first turn. When they hit the backstretch the positions revealed that Petersen was clearly out second best. She continued to lead down the backstretch and through the turn, with Petersen trying to keep pace from behind further to run around the turn. It is an all or nothing strategy, the only question is if she would tie up in the last 100. Muhammad had to stretch her strides to get over the eighth hurdle, a tip to Petersen that Muhammad might come back. Petersen made a run at Muhammad, perhaps achieving a slight gain between the ninth and tenth hurdle. But Muhammad did not tie up, the gap didn't shrink and Muhammad had a clear victory. At the eight hurdle, two time world champion and the only returning medalist from 2012 Zuzana Hejnová and Janieve Russel were in a battle for bronze. Ashley Spencer and Eilidh Doyle were in a battle for dead last place, 3 metres behind the bronze medal battle. Over the last two hurdles, Russel faded, while Hejnová stayed about the same distance behind Petersen. But Spencer was in a different gear, running the last hundred like a 100-metre hurdler, passing three Jamaicans and Hejnová then continuing her rush, making a run at Petersen.
Petersen broke her own Danish National Record while winning silver.
The following evening the medals were presented by Nita Ambani, IOC member, India and Nawal El Moutawakel, Council Member of the IAAF.

## Competition format

The women's 400 m hurdles competition had three rounds: a heats round with six races, three semi-finals, and a single final. The top three from each heat and the six fastest non-qualifiers progress to the semi-final stage. The top two of each semi-final and the two fastest non-qualifiers of that round compete in the final.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Yuliya Pechenkina (RUS) | 52.34 | Tula, Russia | 8 August 2003 |
| Olympic record | Melaine Walker (JAM) | 52.64 | Beijing, China | 20 August 2008 |
| 2016 World leading | Dalilah Muhammad (USA) | 52.88 | Eugene, United States | 10 July 2016 |
The following national record was established during the competition:
| Country | Athlete | Round | Time | Notes |
| Denmark | Sara Petersen (DEN) | Final | 53.55 s | |

## Schedule

All times are Brasília Time (UTC−3)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Monday, 15 August 2016 | 21:30 | Heats |
| Tuesday, 16 August 2016 | 21:10 | Semifinals |
| Thursday, 18 August 2016 | 22:15 | Finals |

## Results
### Heats

Qualification rule: first 3 of each heat (Q) plus the 6 fastest times (q) qualified.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 7 | Ristananna Tracey | Jamaica | 54.88 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Zuzana Hejnová | Czech Republic | 55.54 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Ayomide Folorunso | Italy | 55.78 | Q |
| 4 | 6 | Stina Troest | Denmark | 56.06 | q |
| 5 | 2 | Sydney McLaughlin | United States | 56.32 | q |
| 6 | 3 | Petra Fontanive | Switzerland | 56.80 | |
| 7 | 8 | Zurian Hechavarría | Cuba | 57.28 | |
| 8 | 5 | Maureen Jelagat Maiyo | Kenya | 57.97 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 7 | Joanna Linkiewicz | Poland | 56.07 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Janieve Russel | Jamaica | 56.13 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Grace Claxton | Puerto Rico | 56.40 | Q |
| 4 | 8 | Tia-Adana Belle | Barbados | 56.68 | |
| 5 | 2 | Sparkle McKnight | Trinidad and Tobago | 56.80 | |
| 6 | 4 | Jackie Baumann | Germany | 59.04 | |
| 7 | 5 | Drita Islami | Macedonia | 1:01.18 | |
| 8 | 1 | Chanice Chase-Taylor | Canada | 1:02.83 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Ashley Spencer | United States | 55.12 | Q |
| 2 | 7 | Leah Nugent | Jamaica | 55.66 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Viktoriya Tkachuk | Ukraine | 56.14 | Q |
| 3 | 8 | Denisa Rosolova | Czech Republic | 56.36 | q |
| 4 | 1 | Lea Sprunger | Switzerland | 56.58 | |
| 5 | 3 | Amalie Iuel | Norway | 56.75 | |
| 6 | 4 | Hayat Lambarki | Morocco | 1:00.83 | |
| 7 | 2 | Lilit Harutyunyan | Armenia | 1:03.13 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Sara Petersen | Denmark | 55.20 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Wenda Nel | South Africa | 55.55 | Q |
| 3 | 4 | Emilia Ankiewicz | Poland | 55.89 | Q |
| 4 | 7 | Yadisleidy Pedroso | Italy | 55.91 | q |
| 5 | 3 | Janeil Bellille | Trinidad and Tobago | 56.25 | q |
| 6 | 2 | Katsiaryna Belanovich | Belarus | 56.55 | |
| 7 | 8 | Axelle Dauwens | Belgium | 57.68 | |
| 8 | 6 | Ghofrane Mohammad | Syria | 58.85 | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Dalilah Muhammad | United States | 55.33 | Q |
| 2 | 7 | Noelle Montcalm | Canada | 56.07 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Hanna Titimets | Ukraine | 56.24 | Q |
| 4 | 1 | Lauren Wells | Australia | 56.26 | q |
| 5 | 2 | Phara Anacharsis | France | 56.64 | |
| 6 | 4 | Vera Barbosa | Portugal | 57.28 | |
| 7 | 5 | Thị Huyền Nguyễn | Vietnam | 57.87 | |
| 8 | 8 | Natalya Asanova | Uzbekistan | 1:02.37 | |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6 | Eilidh Doyle | Great Britain | 55.46 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Sage Watson | Canada | 55.93 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Olena Kolesnychenko | Ukraine | 56.61 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Amaka Ogoegbunam | Nigeria | 56.96 | |
| 5 | 5 | Satomi Kubokura | Japan | 57.34 | |
| 6 | 8 | Marzia Caravelli | Italy | 57.77 | |
| 7 | 7 | Sharolyn Scott | Costa Rica | 58.27 | |
| 8 | 4 | Aleksandra Romanova | Kazakhstan | 59.36 | |

### Semifinals

Qualification rule: first 2 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) qualified.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 4 | Zuzana Hejnová | Czech Republic | 54.55 | Q, SB |
| 2 | 5 | Ristananna Tracey | Jamaica | 54.80 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Joanna Linkiewicz | Poland | 55.35 | |
| 4 | 1 | Stina Troest | Denmark | 56.00 | SB |
| 5 | 2 | Sydney McLaughlin | United States | 56.22 | |
| 6 | 3 | Noelle Montcalm | Canada | 56.28 | |
| 7 | 7 | Ayomide Folorunso | Italy | 56.37 | |
| 8 | 8 | Olena Kolesnychenko | Ukraine | 56.77 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Ashley Spencer | United States | 54.87 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Janieve Russel | Jamaica | 54.92 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Eilidh Doyle | Great Britain | 54.99 | q |
| 4 | 7 | Hanna Titimets | Ukraine | 55.27 | |
| 5 | 1 | Yadisleidy Pedroso | Italy | 55.78 | SB |
| 6 | 6 | Wenda Nel | South Africa | 55.83 | |
| 7 | 8 | Emilia Ankiewicz | Poland | 56.99 | |
| 8 | 2 | Denisa Rosolová | Czech Republic | 57.39 | |

#### Semifinal 3

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Dalilah Muhammad | United States | 53.89 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Sara Petersen | Denmark | 54.55 | Q |
| 3 | 6 | Leah Nugent | Jamaica | 54.98 | q, PB |
| 4 | 4 | Sage Watson | Canada | 55.44 | |
| 5 | 7 | Grace Claxton | Puerto Rico | 55.85 | PB |
| 6 | 2 | Janeil Bellille | Trinidad and Tobago | 56.06 | SB |
| 7 | 1 | Lauren Wells | Australia | 56.83 | |
| 8 | 8 | Viktoriya Tkachuk | Ukraine | 56.87 | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 3 | Dalilah Muhammad | United States | 53.13 | |
| | 4 | Sara Petersen | Denmark | 53.55 | NR |
| | 5 | Ashley Spencer | United States | 53.72 | PB |
| 4 | 6 | Zuzana Hejnová | Czech Republic | 53.92 | SB |
| 5 | 7 | Ristananna Tracey | Jamaica | 54.15 | PB |
| 6 | 2 | Leah Nugent | Jamaica | 54.45 | PB |
| 7 | 8 | Janieve Russel | Jamaica | 54.56 | |
| 8 | 1 | Eilidh Doyle | Great Britain | 54.61 | |