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

The men's 400 metres hurdles at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 15, 16 and 18 August.
The United States hurdling team was by far the strongest entered by any country, comprising defending champion Kerron Clement, two-time Olympic champion Angelo Taylor, 2005 World Champion Bershawn Jackson, and the emerging Johnny Dutch. The world-leading 400 m hurdler L.J. van Zyl, veterans Danny McFarlane and Félix Sánchez, and the improving Isa Phillips and Javier Culson were also identified as possible medal contenders.
In the heats, Briton Dai Greene completed an unexpected and comfortable win, while seventeen-year-old Jehue Gordon of Trinidad and Tobago surprised with a senior national record to qualify for the semis. In the semi-finals, van Zyl failed to qualify, following his pattern of poor performances at the biggest races of the season. Dutch and Phillips also failed to make the cut. Clement and Sánchez lead the way in the first semi, while Jackson and Greene (who set a personal best) took the top two spots in the other final.
In the final, Clement, Jackson and Culson all started the race well. However, it was the favourite, Clement, who took the gold medal: he was ahead at the final straight and did not relinquish his position, recording a world-leading time to win. Culson set a Puerto Rican record to take the silver, while Jackson fended off a challenge from national-record-breaking Gordon to keep third and win the bronze.
Although Clement's winning time was the second slowest in the history of the Championships, it remained a close race for the silver and bronze medals, with just 0.6 seconds between the silver medallist and seventh-placed Greene. The race had a breadth of ages, with Trinidadian Gordon becoming the youngest ever finalist of any men's sprint event at the Championships, and 37-year-old McFarlane being the oldest ever to do the same feat. Clement became the third man to win two consecutive world titles in the event, after Ed Moses and Félix Sánchez.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Kerron Clement United States (USA) | Javier Culson Puerto Rico (PUR) | Bershawn Jackson United States (USA) |

## Records

Prior to the competition, the following records were as follows.
| World record | Kevin Young (USA) | 46.78 | Barcelona, Spain | 6 August 1992 |
| Championship record | Kevin Young (USA) | 47.18 | Stuttgart, Germany | 19 August 1993 |
| World leading | L. J. van Zyl (RSA) | 47.94 | Monaco | 28 July 2009 |
| African record | Samuel Matete (ZAM) | 47.10 | Zürich, Switzerland | 7 August 1991 |
| Asian record | Hadi Soua'an Al-Somaily (KSA) | 47.53 | Sydney, Australia | 27 September 2000 |
| North American record | Kevin Young (USA) | 46.78 | Barcelona, Spain | 6 August 1992 |
| South American record | Bayano Kamani (PAN) | 47.84 | Helsinki, Finland | 7 August 2005 |
| European record | Stéphane Diagana (FRA) | 47.37 | Lausanne, Switzerland | 5 July 1995 |
| Oceanian record | Rohan Robinson (AUS) | 48.28 | Atlanta, United States | 31 July 1996 |

## Qualification standards

| A time | B time |
| 49.25 | 49.80 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| August 15, 2009 | 20:20 | Heats |
| August 16, 2009 | 20:15 | Semifinals |
| August 18, 2009 | 20:50 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

Qualification: First 3 in each heat(Q) and the next 4 fastest(q) advance to the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Kerron Clement | United States (USA) | 48.39 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Danny McFarlane | Jamaica (JAM) | 48.65 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Jehue Gordon | Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) | 48.66 | Q, NR |
| 4 | 4 | Dai Greene | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 48.76 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | Félix Sánchez | Dominican Republic (DOM) | 48.76 | q, SB |
| 6 | 1 | Isa Phillips | Jamaica (JAM) | 48.99 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | Periklis Iakovakis | Greece (GRE) | 49.12 | Q, SB |
| 8 | 2 | Javier Culson | Puerto Rico (PUR) | 49.27 | Q |
| 9 | 3 | Omar Cisneros | Cuba (CUB) | 49.27 | q |
| 10 | 2 | Bershawn Jackson | United States (USA) | 49.34 | Q |
| 11 | 1 | Johnny Dutch | United States (USA) | 49.38 | Q |
| 12 | 2 | Kazuaki Yoshida | Japan (JPN) | 49.45 | Q, PB |
| 13 | 4 | L. J. van Zyl | South Africa (RSA) | 49.48 | Q |
| 14 | 1 | Andrés Silva | Uruguay (URU) | 49.51 | q, NR |
| 15 | 2 | Tristan Thomas | Australia (AUS) | 49.53 | q |
| 16 | 1 | Kenji Narisako | Japan (JPN) | 49.60 | |
| 17 | 4 | Brendan Cole | Australia (AUS) | 49.63 | Q |
| 18 | 4 | Angelo Taylor | United States (USA) | 49.64 | |
| 19 | 3 | Michaël Bultheel | Belgium (BEL) | 49.67 | PB |
| 20 | 4 | Fadil Bellaabouss | France (FRA) | 49.73 | |
| 21 | 4 | Aleksandr Derevyagin | Russia (RUS) | 49.83 | |
| 22 | 2 | Rhys Williams | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 49.88 | |
| 23 | 1 | Stanislav Melnykov | Ukraine (UKR) | 50.41 | |
| 24 | 1 | Mahau Suguimati | Brazil (BRA) | 51.05 | |
| 25 | 1 | Jussi Heikkilä | Finland (FIN) | 51.42 | |
| 26 | 2 | Ibrahima Maïga | Mali (MLI) | 51.70 | |
| 27 | 3 | Jonathan Williams | Belize (BIZ) | 52.41 | |
| | 2 | Josef Robertson | Jamaica (JAM) | | DQ |
| | 2 | Héni Kechi | France (FRA) | | DQ |
| | 3 | Joseph G. Abraham | India (IND) | | DQ |
| | 4 | Kurt Couto | Mozambique (MOZ) | | DQ |
| | 4 | Ali Obaid Shirook | United Arab Emirates (UAE) | | DNF |
Key: NR = National record, PB = Personal best, Q = qualification by place in heat, q = qualification by overall place, SB = Seasonal best

### Semifinals

Qualification: First 3 in each semifinal(Q) and the next 2 fastest(q) advance to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Kerron Clement | United States (USA) | 48.00 | Q, SB |
| 2 | 2 | Bershawn Jackson | United States (USA) | 48.23 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Dai Greene | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 48.27 | Q, PB |
| 4 | 1 | Félix Sánchez | Dominican Republic (DOM) | 48.34 | Q, SB |
| 5 | 1 | Javier Culson | Puerto Rico (PUR) | 48.43 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Danny McFarlane | Jamaica (JAM) | 48.49 | q |
| 7 | 2 | Periklis Iakovakis | Greece (GRE) | 48.73 | Q, SB |
| 8 | 1 | Jehue Gordon | Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) | 48.77 | q |
| 9 | 1 | L. J. van Zyl | South Africa (RSA) | 48.80 | |
| 10 | 2 | Isa Phillips | Jamaica (JAM) | 48.93 | |
| 11 | 2 | Omar Cisneros | Cuba (CUB) | 49.21 | |
| 12 | 2 | Johnny Dutch | United States (USA) | 49.28 | |
| 13 | 1 | Andrés Silva | Uruguay (URU) | 49.34 | NR |
| 14 | 2 | Tristan Thomas | Australia (AUS) | 49.76 | |
| 15 | 1 | Brendan Cole | Australia (AUS) | 49.92 | |
| 16 | 2 | Kazuaki Yoshida | Japan (JPN) | 50.34 | |
Key: NR = National record, PB = Personal best, Q = qualification by place in heat, q = qualification by overall place, SB = Seasonal best

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Kerron Clement | United States (USA) | 47.91 | WL |
| | Javier Culson | Puerto Rico (PUR) | 48.09 | NR |
| | Bershawn Jackson | United States (USA) | 48.23 | |
| 4 | Jehue Gordon | Trinidad and Tobago (TRI) | 48.26 | NR |
| 5 | Periklis Iakovakis | Greece (GRE) | 48.42 | SB |
| 6 | Danny McFarlane | Jamaica (JAM) | 48.65 | |
| 7 | Dai Greene | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 48.68 | |
| 8 | Félix Sánchez | Dominican Republic (DOM) | 50.11 | |
Key: NR = National record, SB = Seasonal best, WL = World leading (in a given season)