# 2011 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 400 metres

The Women's 400 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on August 27, 28 and 29.
The defending champion was Sanya Richards-Ross and despite her poor form earlier in the season, she ran 49.66 seconds in London just three weeks before the championships. The only faster athlete that year was Russian champion Anastasiya Kapachinskaya, who had run a personal best of 49.35 sec. Three-time 200 m world champion, Allyson Felix, was also challenging for the 400 m title, while Amantle Montsho (ranked third that year) had five straight wins on the Diamond League circuit. Jamaica's Rosemarie Whyte, Novlene Williams-Mills and Shericka Williams were also contenders, as was 2009 third placer Antonina Krivoshapka.
The event started in controversy when reigning Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu was disqualified in her preliminary race for a false start. 2011 was the first year of a new IAAF rule allowing no leniency for a false start.
In the final, Montsho was a clear leader off of the turn, with Felix closing fast at the end to make the race close. This was Felix's personal best. Not only was this Montsho's personal best, but also the national record for Botswana. For the bronze medal, Anastasia Kapachinskaya was faster down the final 80 metres to pull away from Francena McCorory, who had run her personal best in the semi-finals.
After the championships, Kapachinskaya was disqualified for a doping violation for having stanozol and turinabol in tests held during the 2008 Olympics. She received a lifetime ban. In 2017, McCorory was advanced to the bronze medal.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Amantle Montsho Botswana (BOT) | Allyson Felix United States (USA) | Francena McCorory United States (USA) |

## Records

Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:
| World record | Marita Koch (GDR) | 47.60 | Canberra, Australia | 6 October 1985 |
| Championship record | Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH) | 47.99 | Helsinki, Finland | 10 August 1983 |
| World Leading | Anastasia Kapachinskaya (RUS) | 49.35 | Cheboksary, Russia | 22 July 2011 |
| African Record | Falilat Ogunkoya (NGR) | 49.10 | Atlanta, GA, United States | 29 July 1996 |
| Asian Record | Yuqin Ma (CHN) | 49.81 | Beijing, China | 11 September 1993 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | Sanya Richards-Ross (USA) | 48.70 | Athens, Greece | 16 September 2006 |
| South American record | Ximena Restrepo (COL) | 49.64 | Barcelona, Spain | 5 August 1992 |
| European Record | Marita Koch (GDR) | 47.60 | Canberra, Australia | 6 October 1985 |
| Oceanian record | Cathy Freeman (AUS) | 48.63 | Atlanta, GA, United States | 29 July 1996 |

## Qualification standards

| A time | B time |
| 51.50 | 52.30 |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| August 27, 2011 | 20:05 | Heats |
| August 28, 2011 | 18:55 | Semifinals |
| August 29, 2011 | 21:05 | Final |

## Results

| KEY: | q | Fastest non-qualifiers | Q | Qualified | NR | National record | PB | Personal best | SB | Seasonal best |

### 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 | 4 | Amantle Montsho | Botswana (BOT) | 50.95 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Novlene Williams-Mills | Jamaica (JAM) | 51.30 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Antonina Yefremova | Ukraine (UKR) | 51.35 | Q |
| 4 | 5 | Sanya Richards-Ross | United States (USA) | 51.37 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | Rosemarie Whyte | Jamaica (JAM) | 51.38 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Anastasiya Kapachinskaya | Russia (RUS) | 51.43 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | Allyson Felix | United States (USA) | 51.45 | Q |
| 8 | 3 | Antonina Krivoshapka | Russia (RUS) | 51.52 | Q |
| 9 | 5 | Shericka Williams | Jamaica (JAM) | 51.66 | Q |
| 10 | 3 | Nataliya Pyhyda | Ukraine (UKR) | 51.67 | Q |
| 11 | 1 | Joanne Cuddihy | Ireland (IRL) | 51.82 | Q, SB |
| 12 | 1 | Marta Milani | Italy (ITA) | 51.94 | Q, SB |
| 13 | 1 | Geisa Coutinho | Brazil (BRA) | 52.15 | q |
| 14 | 4 | Francena McCorory | United States (USA) | 52.18 | Q |
| 15 | 2 | Ndeye Fatou Soumah | Senegal (SEN) | 52.23 | Q |
| 15 | 3 | Fantu Magiso | Ethiopia (ETH) | 52.23 | Q |
| 17 | 5 | Moa Hjelmer | Sweden (SWE) | 52.26 | Q |
| 18 | 2 | Jessica Beard | United States (USA) | 52.40 | Q |
| 19 | 5 | Denisa Rosolová | Czech Republic (CZE) | 52.51 | Q |
| 20 | 5 | Nicola Sanders | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 52.65 | q |
| 21 | 4 | Lee McConnell | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 52.75 | Q |
| 22 | 4 | Maris Mägi | Estonia (EST) | 52.93 | Q |
| 23 | 4 | Norma González | Colombia (COL) | 53.35 | q |
| 24 | 3 | Racheal Nachula | Zambia (ZAM) | 53.49 | q, SB |
| 25 | 1 | Pınar Saka | Turkey (TUR) | 53.59 | |
| 25 | 2 | Aliann Pompey | Guyana (GUY) | 53.59 | |
| 27 | 4 | Aymée Martínez | Cuba (CUB) | 53.67 | |
| 28 | 3 | Daisurami Bonne | Cuba (CUB) | 53.69 | |
| 29 | 2 | Tjipekapora Herunga | Namibia (NAM) | 54.08 | |
| 30 | 5 | Kseniya Karandyuk | Ukraine (UKR) | 54.10 | |
| 31 | 4 | Ambwene Simukonda | Malawi (MAW) | 54.81 | |
| 32 | 2 | Alaa Hikmat Al-Qaysi | Iraq (IRQ) | 55.62 | |
| 33 | 5 | Betty Burua | Papua New Guinea (PNG) | 56.98 | |
| 34 | 1 | Graciela Martins | Guinea-Bissau (GBS) | 58.22 | PB |
| 35 | 1 | Sandrine Thiébaud-Kangni | Togo (TOG) | 59.68 | |
| 36 | 3 | Evodie Lydie Saramandji | Central African Republic (CAF) | 1:05.10 | SB |
| | 3 | Christine Ohuruogu | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | DSQ | |

### Semifinals

Qualification: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Amantle Montsho | Botswana (BOT) | 50.13 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Francena McCorory | United States (USA) | 50.24 | Q, PB |
| 3 | 1 | Allyson Felix | United States (USA) | 50.36 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Anastasiya Kapachinskaya | Russia (RUS) | 50.41 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Shericka Williams | Jamaica (JAM) | 50.46 | Q, SB |
| 6 | 1 | Novlene Williams-Mills | Jamaica (JAM) | 50.48 | Q |
| 7 | 1 | Antonina Krivoshapka | Russia (RUS) | 50.55 | q |
| 8 | 2 | Sanya Richards-Ross | United States (USA) | 50.66 | q |
| 9 | 2 | Antonina Yefremova | Ukraine (UKR) | 50.88 | |
| 10 | 3 | Rosemarie Whyte | Jamaica (JAM) | 50.90 | |
| 11 | 3 | Jessica Beard | United States (USA) | 51.27 | |
| 12 | 1 | Nataliya Pyhyda | Ukraine (UKR) | 51.61 | |
| 13 | 2 | Marta Milani | Italy (ITA) | 51.86 | PB |
| 14 | 2 | Geisa Coutinho | Brazil (BRA) | 51.87 | |
| 15 | 2 | Lee McConnell | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 51.97 | |
| 16 | 3 | Ndeye Fatou Soumah | Senegal (SEN) | 52.10 | |
| 17 | 2 | Norma González | Colombia (COL) | 52.29 | |
| 18 | 1 | Moa Hjelmer | Sweden (SWE) | 52.35 | |
| 19 | 1 | Nicola Sanders | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 52.47 | |
| 20 | 3 | Denisa Rosolová | Czech Republic (CZE) | 52.53 | |
| 21 | 1 | Maris Mägi | Estonia (EST) | 53.27 | |
| 22 | 3 | Racheal Nachula | Zambia (ZAM) | 53.30 | SB |
| 23 | 1 | Fantu Magiso | Ethiopia (ETH) | 53.41 | |
| | 3 | Joanne Cuddihy | Ireland (IRL) | DSQ | |

### Final

| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | Amantle Montsho | Botswana (BOT) | 49.56 | NR |
| | 3 | Allyson Felix | United States (USA) | 49.59 | PB |
| | 5 | Francena McCorory | United States (USA) | 50.45 | |
| 4 | 2 | Antonina Krivoshapka | Russia (RUS) | 50.66 | |
| 5 | 7 | Shericka Williams | Jamaica (JAM) | 50.79 | |
| 6 | 1 | Sanya Richards-Ross | United States (USA) | 51.32 | |
| 7 | 8 | Novlene Williams-Mills | Jamaica (JAM) | 52.89 | |
| — | 6 | Anastasiya Kapachinskaya | Russia (RUS) | 50.24 | DSQ |