Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres
Men's 400 metres at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | ||||||||||
![]() Crossing the finish line | ||||||||||
Venue | Beijing National Stadium | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dates | 18 August 21 August (final) | |||||||||
Competitors | 56 from 40 nations | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
|
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics ![]() | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Track events | ||||
100 m | men | women | ||
200 m | men | women | ||
400 m | men | women | ||
800 m | men | women | ||
1500 m | men | women | ||
5000 m | men | women | ||
10,000 m | men | women | ||
100 m hurdles | women | |||
110 m hurdles | men | |||
400 m hurdles | men | women | ||
3000 m steeplechase |
men | women | ||
4 × 100 m relay | men | women | ||
4 × 400 m relay | men | women | ||
Road events | ||||
Marathon | men | women | ||
20 km walk | men | women | ||
50 km walk | men | |||
Field events | ||||
Long jump | men | women | ||
Triple jump | men | women | ||
High jump | men | women | ||
Pole vault | men | women | ||
Shot put | men | women | ||
Discus throw | men | women | ||
Javelin throw | men | women | ||
Hammer throw | men | women | ||
Combined events | ||||
Heptathlon | women | |||
Decathlon | men | |||
The men's 400 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 18–21 August at the Beijing National Stadium.[1]
The defending champion was Jeremy Wariner, who also won World Championship titles in 2005 and 2007. At the US Olympic Trials he was runner up to LaShawn Merritt, the World Championship silver medalist. Merritt won with a personal best 43.75, Wariner came second and David Neville third. The race was an American sweep of the event.[2]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:
World record | ![]() | 43.18 s | Seville, Spain | 26 August 1999 |
Olympic record | ![]() | 43.49 s | Atlanta, United States | 29 July 1996 |
No new world or Olympic records were set for this event.
Qualification
Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) was able to enter up to three entrants providing they had met the A qualifying standard (45.55) in the qualifying period (1 January 2007 to 23 July 2008). NOCs were also permitted to enter one athlete providing he had met the B standard (45.95) in the same qualifying period.[3]
Results
Round 1
The first round was held on 18 August. The first three runners of each heat (Q) plus the next three overall fastest runners (q) qualified for the semifinals.
Heat 1
Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes | React |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Leslie Djhone | ![]() |
45.12 | Q | 0.190 |
2 | 5 | David Neville | ![]() |
45.22 | Q | 0.189 |
3 | 6 | William Collazo | ![]() |
45.37 | Q, SB | 0.180 |
4 | 8 | Kévin Borlée | ![]() |
45.43 | q | 0.149 |
DSQ[4] | 9 | Denis Alekseyev | ![]() |
45.52 | 0.299 | |
6 | 3 | Young Talkmore Nyongani | ![]() |
45.89 | 0.249 | |
7 | 7 | Eric Milazar | ![]() |
46.06 | 0.209 | |
8 | 2 | Gakologelwang Masheto | ![]() |
46.29 | SB | 0.183 |
Heat 2
Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes | React |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | Chris Brown | ![]() |
44.79 | Q | 0.205 |
2 | 7 | Joel Milburn | ![]() |
44.80 | Q, PB | 0.155 |
3 | 4 | Johan Wissman | ![]() |
44.81 | Q, SB | 0.229 |
4 | 5 | Gary Kikaya | ![]() |
44.89 | q, SB | 0.184 |
5 | 8 | Sanjay Ayre | ![]() |
45.66 | 0.177 | |
6 | 9 | Arismendy Peguero | ![]() |
46.28 | 0.236 | |
7 | 3 | Ivano Bucci | ![]() |
48.54 | SB | 0.209 |
8 | 2 | Liu Xiaosheng | ![]() |
53.11 | 0.245 |
Heat 3
Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes | React |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 8 | Nery Brenes | ![]() |
45.36 | Q | 0.196 |
2 | 3 | James Godday | ![]() |
45.49 | Q | 0.200 |
3 | 9 | Andretti Bain | ![]() |
45.96 | Q | 0.225 |
4 | 7 | Niko Verekauta | ![]() |
46.32 | SB | 0.161 |
5 | 6 | Fernando de Almeida | ![]() |
46.60 | 0.158 | |
6 | 2 | Lewis Banda | ![]() |
46.76 | 0.244 | |
7 | 4 | Vincent Mumo Kiilu | ![]() |
46.79 | 0.212 | |
8 | 5 | Nagmeldin Ali Abubakr | ![]() |
47.12 | 0.247 |
Heat 4
Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes | React |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 7 | Martyn Rooney | ![]() |
45.00 | Q | 0.207 |
2 | 8 | Sean Wroe | ![]() |
45.17 | Q, PB | 0.182 |
3 | 5 | Ricardo Chambers | ![]() |
45.22 | Q | 0.211 |
4 | 3 | Erison Hurtault | ![]() |
46.10 | 0.246 | |
5 | 9 | Andrés Silva | ![]() |
46.34 | 0.265 | |
6 | 2 | Rudolf Götz | ![]() |
46.38 | 0.157 | |
7 | 6 | Yuzo Kanemaru | ![]() |
46.39 | 0.225 | |
4 | California Molefe | ![]() |
DNS |
Heat 5
Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes | React |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | LaShawn Merritt | ![]() |
44.96 | Q | 0.214 |
2 | 7 | Saul Weigopwa | ![]() |
45.19 | Q | 0.172 |
3 | 8 | Claudio Licciardello | ![]() |
45.25 | Q, PB | 0.186 |
4 | 3 | Jonathan Borlée | ![]() |
45.25 | q, PB | 0.225 |
5 | 6 | Ato Modibo | ![]() |
45.63 | 0.195 | |
6 | 9 | Alleyne Francique | ![]() |
46.15 | 0.215 | |
7 | 5 | Geiner Mosquera | ![]() |
46.59 | 0.268 | |
8 | 4 | Siraj Williams | ![]() |
47.89 | 0.288 |
Heat 6
Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes | React |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 7 | Andrew Steele | ![]() |
44.94 | Q, PB | 0.248 |
2 | 5 | Renny Quow | ![]() |
45.13 | Q | 0.266 |
3 | 6 | Michael Mathieu | ![]() |
45.17 | Q, PB | 0.193 |
4 | 8 | Michael Blackwood | ![]() |
45.56 | 0.204 | |
5 | 2 | Tyler Christopher | ![]() |
45.67 | 0.172 | |
6 | 3 | Joel Phillip | ![]() |
46.30 | 0.198 | |
7 | 9 | Félix Martínez | ![]() |
46.46 | 0.347 | |
8 | 4 | Daniel Dąbrowski | ![]() |
47.83 | 0.260 |
Heat 7
Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes | React |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 9 | Jeremy Wariner | ![]() |
45.23 | Q | 0.253 |
2 | 6 | Tabarie Henry | ![]() |
45.36 | Q, NR | 0.165 |
3 | 2 | Cedric van Branteghem | ![]() |
45.54 | Q | 0.203 |
4 | 4 | David Gillick | ![]() |
45.83 | 0.275 | |
5 | 5 | Maksim Dyldin | ![]() |
46.03 | 0.194 | |
6 | 3 | Myhaylo Knysh | ![]() |
46.28 | 0.260 | |
7 | 7 | Mathieu Gnanligo | ![]() |
47.10 | 0.207 | |
8 | 8 | Naiel Santiago d'Almeida | ![]() |
49.08 | 0.178 |
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes | React |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | Jeremy Wariner | ![]() |
44.15 | Q | 0.224 |
2 | 5 | Chris Brown | ![]() |
44.59 | Q | 0.244 |
3 | 6 | Kévin Borlée | ![]() |
44.88 | NR | 0.162 |
4 | 7 | Nery Brenes | ![]() |
44.94 | NR | 0.169 |
5 | 4 | Saul Weigopwa | ![]() |
45.02 | SB | 0.168 |
6 | 2 | William Collazo | ![]() |
45.06 | PB | 0.191 |
7 | 8 | Tabarie Henry | ![]() |
45.19 | NR | 0.165 |
8 | 2 | Claudio Licciardello | ![]() |
45.64 | 0.259 |
Semifinal 2
Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes | React |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | Leslie Djhone | ![]() |
44.79 | Q, SB | 0.159 |
2 | 4 | David Neville | ![]() |
44.91 | Q | 0.190 |
3 | 5 | Joel Milburn | ![]() |
45.06 | 0.187 | |
4 | 9 | Ricardo Chambers | ![]() |
45.09 | 0.220 | |
5 | 3 | Jonathan Borlée | ![]() |
45.11 | PB | 0.191 |
6 | 8 | James Godday | ![]() |
45.24 | 0.185 | |
7 | 2 | Andretti Bain | ![]() |
45.52 | 0.196 | |
8 | 7 | Andrew Steele | ![]() |
45.59 | 0.216 |
Semifinal 3
Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes | React |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 7 | LaShawn Merritt | ![]() |
44.12 | Q | 0.187 |
2 | 6 | Martyn Rooney | ![]() |
44.60 | Q, PB | 0.126 |
3 | 8 | Johan Wissman | ![]() |
44.64 | q, SB | 0.211 |
4 | 5 | Renny Quow | ![]() |
44.82 | q, PB | 0.204 |
5 | 2 | Gary Kikaya | ![]() |
44.94 | 0.187 | |
6 | 9 | Michael Mathieu | ![]() |
45.56 | 0.203 | |
7 | 4 | Sean Wroe | ![]() |
45.56 | 0.205 | |
8 | 3 | Cedric van Branteghem | ![]() |
45.81 | 0.199 |
Final

Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Reaction time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 4 | LaShawn Merritt | ![]() | 43.75 | 0.318 | PB |
![]() | 7 | Jeremy Wariner | ![]() | 44.74 | 0.209 | |
![]() | 9 | David Neville | ![]() | 44.80 | 0.293 | |
4 | 5 | Chris Brown | ![]() | 44.84 | 0.231 | |
5 | 6 | Leslie Djhone | ![]() | 45.11 | 0.164 | |
6 | 8 | Martyn Rooney | ![]() | 45.12 | 0.208 | |
7 | 2 | Renny Quow | ![]() | 45.22 | 0.201 | |
8 | 3 | Johan Wissman | ![]() | 45.39 | 0.218 |
References
- ↑ "Olympic Athletics Competition Schedule". IAAF. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
- ↑ Ramsak, Bob (2008-08-21). Men's 400m - FINAL. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-07-16.
- ↑ "Entry Standards - The XXIX Olympic Games - Beijing, China - 8/24 August 2008". IAAF. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
- ↑ https://www.olympic.org/news/ioc-sanctions-four-athletes-for-failing-anti-doping-tests-at-beijing-2008-and-london-2012-1
- Results