Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles

[[File:TV-icon-2.svg|thumb|110px|Official Video]]

The men's 400 metres hurdles at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 23 to 26. There were 35 competitors from 24 nations. Defending champion Taylor made it to the semifinals but did not qualify for the final.

Belize, Kazakhstan, Mali, and Niger each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 22nd appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Summary

In the final, a false start had been accredited to at least three athletes including Dominican Republic's Félix Sánchez, a solid pre-race favorite in this event. Nonetheless, he sped out of the blocks, and quickly opened his lead over the American and fastest pre-Olympic entrant James Carter on the sixth hurdle. The two had chased against each other towards the final bend with Carter pulling ahead into the lead. As Carter went backwards in the last two hurdles, Sanchez left the field trailing to quickly move again to the front and maintained it to a blazing finish in his seasonal best at 47.63 seconds, extending his winning streak on his forty-third race since the previous defeat in 2001. Behind him, Jamaican hurdler Danny McFarlane and delighted Frenchman Naman Keïta edged Carter out to a ragged fourth to deny the American supremacy on the podium for the first time at a non-boycotted Games since 1968, giving both of them the silver and bronze respectively.

Qualification

The qualification period for athletics was 1 January 2003 to 9 August 2004. For the men's 400 metres hurdles, each National Olympic Committee was permitted to enter up to three athletes that had run the race in 49.20 seconds or faster during the qualification period. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. If an NOC had no athletes that qualified under that standard, one athlete that had run the race in 49.50 seconds or faster could be entered.

Competition format

The competition used the three-round format used every Games since 1908 (except the four-round competition in 1952): quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. The hurdles were 3 feet (91.5 centimetres) tall and were placed 35 metres apart beginning 45 metres from the starting line, resulting in a 40 metres home stretch after the last hurdle. The 400 metres track was standard.

There were 5 quarterfinal heats with 7 athletes each. The top 4 men in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals along with the next fastest 4 overall. The 24 semifinalists were divided into 3 semifinals of 8 athletes each, with the top 2 in each semifinal and the next 2 fastest overall advancing to the 8-man final.

Quarterfinal 1

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

! Rank !! Lane !! Athlete !! Nation !! Time !! Notes

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 1 || 8 ||align="left"| Angelo Taylor ||align="left"| || 48.79 ||

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 2 || 6 ||align="left"| Jiří Mužík ||align="left"| || 48.85 || ,

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 3 || 3 ||align="left"| Chris Rawlinson ||align="left"| || 48.94 ||

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 4 || 5 ||align="left"| Boris Gorban ||align="left"| || 49.25 ||

|-bgcolor=ccf9cc

| 5 || 2 ||align="left"| Yevgeniy Meleshenko ||align="left"| || 49.43 ||

|-

| 6 || 4 ||align="left"| Ken Yoshizawa ||align="left"| || 50.95 ||

|-

| 7 || 7 ||align="left"| Kurt Couto ||align="left"| || 51.18 || NR

|}

Quarterfinal 2

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

! Rank !! Lane !! Athlete !! Nation !! Time !! Notes

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 1 || 2 ||align="left"| Danny McFarlane ||align="left"| || 48.53 || ,

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 2 || 3 ||align="left"| Bennie Brazell ||align="left"| || 48.57 ||

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 3 || 5 ||align="left"| Marek Plawgo ||align="left"| || 48.67 || ,

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 4 || 4 ||align="left"| Llewellyn Herbert ||align="left"| || 48.70 ||

|-bgcolor=ccf9cc

| 5 || 6 ||align="left"| Štěpán Tesařík ||align="left"| || 49.44 ||

|-

| 6 || 7 ||align="left"| Alaa Motar ||align="left"| || 51.97 ||

|-

|data-sort-value=7| — || 8 ||align="left"| Yacnier Luis ||align="left"| ||data-sort-value=80.00| ||

|}

Quarterfinal 3

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

! Rank !! Lane !! Athlete !! Nation !! Time !! Notes

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 1 || 8 ||align="left"| James Carter ||align="left"| || 48.64 ||

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 2 || 6 ||align="left"| Periklis Iakovakis ||align="left"| || 48.69 || ,

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 3 || 7 ||align="left"| Dai Tamesue ||align="left"| || 48.80 ||

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 4 || 4 ||align="left"| Eduardo Iván Rodríguez ||align="left"| || 49.25 ||

|-bgcolor=ccf9cc

| 5 || 2 ||align="left"| Bayano Kamani ||align="left"| || 49.37 ||

|-

| 6 || 3 ||align="left"| Ibrahima Maïga ||align="left"| || 50.63 ||

|-

| 7 || 5 ||align="left"| Michael Aguilar ||align="left"| || 51.21 ||

|}

Quarterfinal 4

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

! Rank !! Lane !! Athlete !! Nation !! Time !! Notes

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 1 || 2 ||align="left"| Félix Sánchez ||align="left"| || 48.51 ||

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 2 || 5 ||align="left"| Alwyn Myburgh ||align="left"| || 48.84 ||

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 3 || 4 ||align="left"| Mikhail Lipsky ||align="left"| || 49.00 ||

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 4 || 3 ||align="left"| Hadi Soua'an Al-Somaily ||align="left"| || 49.15 || ,

|-bgcolor=ccf9cc

| 5 || 7 ||align="left"| Dean Griffiths ||align="left"| || 49.41 ||

|-

| 6 || 6 ||align="left"| Cédric El-Idrissi ||align="left"| || 49.44 ||

|-

| 7 || 8 ||align="left"| Mowen Boino ||align="left"| || 50.97 || NR

|}

Quarterfinal 5

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

! Rank !! Lane !! Athlete !! Nation !! Time !! Notes

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 1 || 8 ||align="left"| Kemel Thompson ||align="left"| || 48.66 || ,

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 2 || 3 ||align="left"| Naman Keïta ||align="left"| || 48.88 ||

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 3 || 2 ||align="left"| Ockert Cilliers ||align="left"| || 49.12 ||

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 4 || 4 ||align="left"| Edivaldo Monteiro ||align="left"| || 49.53 ||

|-

| 5 || 6 ||align="left"| Ibrahim Al-Hamaidi ||align="left"| || 49.64 ||

|-

| 6 || 5 ||align="left"| Matthew Douglas ||align="left"| || 49.77 ||

|-

| 7 || 7 ||align="left"| Ibrahim Tondi ||align="left"| || 52.62 ||

|}

Semifinals

Qualification rule: The first two finishers in each heat (Q) plus the next two fastest overall runners (q) moved on to the final.

Semifinal 1

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

! Rank !! Lane !! Athlete !! Nation !! Time !! Notes

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 1 || 5 ||align="left"| Félix Sánchez ||align="left"| || 47.93 ||

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 2 || 3 ||align="left"| Marek Plawgo ||align="left"| || 48.16 || , NR

|-bgcolor=ccf9cc

| 3 || 6 ||align="left"| Alwyn Myburgh ||align="left"| || 48.21 || ,

|-

| 4 || 4 ||align="left"| Angelo Taylor ||align="left"| || 48.72 ||

|-

| 5 || 7 ||align="left"| Hadi Soua'an Al-Somaily ||align="left"| || 48.98 ||

|-

| 6 || 2 ||align="left"| Mikhail Lipskiy ||align="left"| || 49.10 ||

|-

| 7 || 1 ||align="left"| Edivaldo Monteiro ||align="left"| || 49.26 ||

|-

| 8 || 8 ||align="left"| Dean Griffiths ||align="left"| || 49.51 ||

|}

Semifinal 2

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

! Rank !! Lane !! Athlete !! Nation !! Time !! Notes

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 1 || 3 ||align="left"| Danny McFarlane ||align="left"| || 48.00 || ,

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 2 || 5 ||align="left"| Bennie Brazell ||align="left"| || 48.19 ||

|-

| 3 || 4 ||align="left"| Dai Tamesue ||align="left"| || 48.46 ||

|-

| 4 || 6 ||align="left"| Periklis Iakovakis ||align="left"| || 48.47 ||

|-

| 5 || 2 ||align="left"| Llewellyn Herbert ||align="left"| || 48.57 ||

|-

| 6 || 8 ||align="left"| Eduardo Iván Rodríguez ||align="left"| || 49.77 ||

|-

| 7 || 7 ||align="left"| Štěpán Tesařík ||align="left"| || 49.87 ||

|-

| 8 || 1 ||align="left"| Chris Rawlinson ||align="left"| || 50.89 ||

|}

Semifinal 3

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

! Rank !! Lane !! Athlete !! Nation !! Time !! Notes

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 1 || 3 ||align="left"| James Carter ||align="left"| || 48.18 ||

|-bgcolor=bbf3bb

| 2 || 7 ||align="left"| Bayano Kamani ||align="left"| || 48.23 || , NR

|-bgcolor=ccf9cc

| 3 || 6 ||align="left"| Naman Keïta ||align="left"| || 48.24 ||

|-

| 4 || 4 ||align="left"| Kemel Thompson ||align="left"| || 48.25 ||

|-

| 5 || 5 ||align="left"| Jiří Mužík ||align="left"| || 48.88 ||

|-

| 6 || 1 ||align="left"| Ockert Cilliers ||align="left"| || 49.01 ||

|-

| 7 || 2 ||align="left"| Boris Gorban ||align="left"| || 49.46 ||

|-

| 8 || 8 ||align="left"| Yevgeniy Meleshenko ||align="left"| || 49.48 ||

|}

Final

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

! Rank !! Lane !! Athlete !! Nation !! Time !! Notes

|-

| || 6 ||align="left"| Félix Sánchez ||align="left"| || 47.63 ||

|-

| || 5 ||align="left"| Danny McFarlane ||align="left"| || 48.11 ||

|-

| || 7 ||align="left"| Naman Keïta ||align="left"| || 48.26 ||

|-

| 4 || 4 ||align="left"| James Carter ||align="left"| || 48.58 ||

|-

| 5 || 2 ||align="left"| Bayano Kamani ||align="left"| || 48.74 ||

|-

| 6 || 3 ||align="left"| Marek Plawgo ||align="left"| || 49.00 ||

|-

| 7 || 1 ||align="left"| Alwyn Myburgh ||align="left"| || 49.07 ||

|-

| 8 || 8 ||align="left"| Bennie Brazell ||align="left"| || 49.51 ||

|}

Results summary

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"

! Rank !! Athlete !! Nation !! Quarterfinals || Semifinals || Final !! Notes

|-

| ||align="left"| Félix Sánchez ||align="left"| || 48.51 || 47.93 || 47.63 ||

|-

| ||align="left"| Danny McFarlane ||align="left"| || 48.53 || 48.00 || 48.11 ||

|-

| ||align="left"| Naman Keïta ||align="left"| || 48.88 || 48.24 || 48.26 ||

|-

| 4 ||align="left"| James Carter ||align="left"| || 48.64 || 48.18 || 48.58 ||

|-

| 5 ||align="left"| Bayano Kamani ||align="left"| || 49.37 || 48.23 || 48.74 || NR

|-

| 6 ||align="left"| Marek Plawgo ||align="left"| || 48.67 || 48.16 || 49.00 || NR

|-

| 7 ||align="left"| Alwyn Myburgh ||align="left"| || 48.84 || 48.21 || 49.07 ||

|-

| 8 ||align="left"| Bennie Brazell ||align="left"| || 48.57 || 48.19 || 49.51 ||

|-

| 9 ||align="left"| Kemel Thompson ||align="left"| || 48.66 || 48.25 ||rowspan=16 data-sort-value=99.99| Did not advance ||

|-

| 10 ||align="left"| Dai Tamesue ||align="left"| || 48.80 || 48.46 ||

|-

| 11 ||align="left"| Periklis Iakovakis ||align="left"| || 48.69 || 48.47 ||

|-

| 12 ||align="left"| Llewellyn Herbert ||align="left"| || 48.70 || 48.57 ||

|-

| 13 ||align="left"| Angelo Taylor ||align="left"| || 48.79 || 48.72 ||

|-

| 14 ||align="left"| Jiří Mužík ||align="left"| || 48.85 || 48.88 ||

|-

| 15 ||align="left"| Hadi Soua'an Al-Somaily ||align="left"| || 49.15 || 48.98 ||

|-

| 16 ||align="left"| Ockert Cilliers ||align="left"| || 49.12 || 49.01 ||

|-

| 17 ||align="left"| Mikhail Lipskiy ||align="left"| || 49.00 || 49.10 ||

|-

| 18 ||align="left"| Edivaldo Monteiro ||align="left"| || 49.53 || 49.26 ||

|-

| 19 ||align="left"| Boris Gorban ||align="left"| || 49.25 || 49.46 ||

|-

| 20 ||align="left"| Yevgeniy Meleshenko ||align="left"| || 49.43 || 49.48 ||

|-

| 21 ||align="left"| Dean Griffiths ||align="left"| || 49.41 || 49.51 ||

|-

| 22 ||align="left"| Eduardo Iván Rodríguez ||align="left"| || 49.25 || 49.77 ||

|-

| 23 ||align="left"| Štěpán Tesařík ||align="left"| || 49.44 || 49.87 ||

|-

| 24 ||align="left"| Chris Rawlinson ||align="left"| || 48.94 || 50.89 ||

|-

| 25 ||align="left"| Cédric El-Idrissi ||align="left"| || 49.44 ||rowspan=11 colspan=2 data-sort-value=99.99| Did not advance ||

|-

| 26 ||align="left"| Ibrahim Al-Hamaidi ||align="left"| || 49.64 ||

|-

| 27 ||align="left"| Matthew Douglas ||align="left"| || 49.77 ||

|-

| 28 ||align="left"| Ibrahima Maïga ||align="left"| || 50.63 ||

|-

| 29 ||align="left"| Ken Yoshizawa ||align="left"| || 50.95 ||

|-

| 30 ||align="left"| Mowen Boino ||align="left"| || 50.97 || NR

|-

| 31 ||align="left"| Kurt Couto ||align="left"| || 51.18 || NR

|-

| 32 ||align="left"| Michael Aguilar ||align="left"| || 51.21 ||

|-

| 33 ||align="left"| Alaa Motar ||align="left"| || 51.97 ||

|-

| 34 ||align="left"| Ibrahim Tondi ||align="left"| || 52.62 ||

|-

| 35 ||align="left"| Yacnier Luis ||align="left"| ||data-sort-value=80.00| ||

|}

References

External links

• IAAF Athens 2004 Olympic Coverage