# 2015 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 400 metres hurdles

The women's 400 metres hurdles at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Beijing National Stadium on 23, 24 and 26 August.

## Summary

Zuzana Hejnová of the Czech Republic entered the competition as the defending champion.
Through these championships Cassandra Tate had been the #1 qualifier in the heats and #2 in the semi-finals, earning her a center lane position next to #1 qualifier, the defending champion Hejnová. The world leader coming into the event was World Junior Champion Shamier Little. While Little had been almost mechanical in winning the NCAA Championships, the US Championships and the Pan American Games over a long season, in this championship she struggled through the rounds, the slowest qualifier in both. Her slow time in the semi relegated her to the inside lane, lane 2 on Beijing's 9 lane track. In the finals, those were the players, with Hejnová in a clear lead by the final turn, with Little and Tate chasing. Hejnová just continued to build her lead unchallenged to the finish, as Little struggled over hurdle 8, stretching to 9 and again awkward at 10. Still Little's strength was able to beat Tate to the line for silver. Sara Petersen made a late rush at Tate coming into the 10th hurdle, but Tate carried her momentum better into the finish to claim bronze.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:
| World record | Yuliya Pechonkina (RUS) | 52.34 | Tula, Russia | 8 August 2003 |
| Championship record | Melaine Walker (JAM) | 52.42 | Berlin, Germany | 20 August 2009 |
| World leading | Shamier Little (USA) | 53.74 | Eugene, United States | 13 June 2015 |
| African record | Nezha Bidouane (MAR) | 52.90 | Seville, Spain | 25 August 1999 |
| Asian record | Qing Han (CHN) | 53.96 | Beijing, China | 9 September 1993 |
| NACAC record | Melaine Walker (JAM) | 52.42 | Berlin, Germany | 20 August 2009 |
| 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 | 27 September 1988 |
| The following records were established during the competition: |||||
| World leading | Zuzana Hejnová (CZE) | 53.50 | Beijing, China | 26 August 2015 |

## Qualification standards

* Entry standards
* 56.20

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| 23 August 2015 | 10:25 | Heats |
| 24 August 2015 | 19:10 | Semifinals |
| 26 August 2015 | 20:10 | Final |
All times are local times (UTC+8)

## Results
### Heats

Qualification: Best 4 (Q) and next 4 fastest (q) qualify for the next round.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Cassandra Tate | United States (USA) | 54.27 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Wenda Nel | South Africa (RSA) | 54.45 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Meghan Beesley | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 54.52 | Q, PB |
| 4 | 2 | Zuzana Hejnová | Czech Republic (CZE) | 54.55 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Eilidh Child | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 54.74 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Kaliese Spencer | Jamaica (JAM) | 55.03 | Q |
| 7 | 5 | Janieve Russell | Jamaica (JAM) | 55.09 | Q |
| 8 | 4 | Sara Petersen | Denmark (DEN) | 55.11 | Q |
| 9 | 5 | Denisa Rosolová | Czech Republic (CZE) | 55.33 | Q |
| 10 | 3 | Stina Troest | Denmark (DEN) | 55.56 | Q, PB |
| 11 | 2 | Anna Yaroshchuk-Ryzhykova | Ukraine (UKR) | 55.58 | Q, SB |
| 12 | 4 | Lauren Wells | Australia (AUS) | 55.65 | Q, SB |
| 13 | 2 | Léa Sprunger | Switzerland (SUI) | 55.71 | Q |
| 14 | 4 | Vera Rudakova | Russia (RUS) | 55.76 | Q |
| 15 | 1 | Sparkle McKnight | Trinidad and Tobago (TTO) | 55.77 | Q |
| 16 | 3 | Axelle Dauwens | Belgium (BEL) | 55.84 | q, SB |
| 17 | 1 | Elise Malmberg | Sweden (SWE) | 55.97 | Q |
| 18 | 2 | Sage Watson | Canada (CAN) | 56.08 | q |
| 19 | 1 | Eglė Staišiūnaitė | Lithuania (LTU) | 56.17 | Q, PB |
| 20 | 1 | Aurélie Chaboudez | France (FRA) | 56.19 | q |
| 21 | 4 | Kori Carter | United States (USA) | 56.22 | Q |
| 22 | 3 | Déborah Rodríguez | Uruguay (URU) | 56.30 | q, NR |
| 23 | 5 | Petra Fontanive | Switzerland (SUI) | 56.40 | Q |
| 24 | 5 | Shamier Little | United States (USA) | 56.47 | Q |
| 25 | 5 | Joanna Linkiewicz | Poland (POL) | 56.51 | |
| 26 | 1 | Amalie Iuel | Norway (NOR) | 56.59 | |
| 27 | 4 | Shevon Stoddart | Jamaica (JAM) | 56.60 | |
| 28 | 5 | Nguyen Thi Huyen | Vietnam (VIE) | 57.31 | |
| 29 | 4 | Viktoriya Tkachuk | Ukraine (UKR) | 57.38 | |
| 30 | 3 | Ristananna Tracey | Jamaica (JAM) | 57.60 | |
| 31 | 4 | Hayat Lambarki | Morocco (MAR) | 58.05 | |
| 32 | 1 | Xiao Xia | China (CHN) | 58.12 | |
| 33 | 5 | Amaka Ogoegbunam | Nigeria (NGR) | 58.16 | |
| 34 | 3 | Ghofrane Mohammad | Syria (SYR) | 58.61 | SB |
| 35 | 2 | Francisca Koki Manunga | Kenya (KEN) | 58.96 | DQ |
| 36 | 2 | Yadisleidy Pedroso | Italy (ITA) | 1:25.15 | |
| | 1 | Kemi Adekoya | Bahrain (BHR) | DQ | R168.7(a) |

### Semifinals

Qualification: Best 2 (Q) and next 2 fastest (q) qualify for the next round.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Zuzana Hejnová | Czech Republic (CZE) | 54.24 | Q |
| 2 | 1 | Cassandra Tate | United States (USA) | 54.33 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Sara Petersen | Denmark (DEN) | 54.34 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Kaliese Spencer | Jamaica (JAM) | 54.45 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Wenda Nel | South Africa (RSA) | 54.63 | Q |
| 6 | 3 | Janieve Russell | Jamaica (JAM) | 54.78 | Q, SB |
| 7 | 1 | Eilidh Child | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 54.80 | q |
| 8 | 2 | Shamier Little | United States (USA) | 54.86 | q |
| 9 | 1 | Anna Yaroshchuk-Ryzhykova | Ukraine (UKR) | 55.16 | SB |
| 10 | 3 | Meghan Beesley | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 55.41 | |
| 11 | 2 | Denisa Rosolová | Czech Republic (CZE) | 55.73 | |
| 12 | 1 | Axelle Dauwens | Belgium (BEL) | 55.82 | SB |
| 13 | 1 | Léa Sprunger | Switzerland (SUI) | 55.83 | |
| 14 | 3 | Lauren Wells | Australia (AUS) | 56.04 | |
| 15 | 3 | Stina Troest | Denmark (DEN) | 56.13 | |
| 15 | 3 | Aurélie Chaboudez | France (FRA) | 56.13 | |
| 17 | 2 | Sparkle McKnight | Trinidad and Tobago (TTO) | 56.21 | |
| 18 | 2 | Petra Fontanive | Switzerland (SUI) | 56.35 | |
| 19 | 2 | Sage Watson | Canada (CAN) | 56.38 | |
| 20 | 1 | Vera Rudakova | Russia (RUS) | 56.41 | |
| 21 | 1 | Déborah Rodríguez | Uruguay (URU) | 56.47 | |
| 22 | 2 | Eglė Staišiūnaitė | Lithuania (LTU) | 56.48 | |
| 23 | 3 | Elise Malmberg | Sweden (SWE) | 56.58 | |
| | 3 | Kori Carter | United States (USA) | DNF | |

### Final

The final was started at 20:10.
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 5 | Zuzana Hejnová | Czech Republic (CZE) | 53.50 | WL |
| | 2 | Shamier Little | United States (USA) | 53.94 | |
| | 6 | Cassandra Tate | United States (USA) | 54.02 | |
| 4 | 4 | Sara Petersen | Denmark (DEN) | 54.20 | |
| 5 | 9 | Janieve Russell | Jamaica (JAM) | 54.65 | PB |
| 6 | 3 | Eilidh Child | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 54.78 | |
| 7 | 8 | Wenda Nel | South Africa (RSA) | 54.94 | |
| 8 | 7 | Kaliese Spencer | Jamaica (JAM) | 55.47 | |