Russian Just Barely Edges out World Champ Demus for Gold!



Women's 400H Final Update:

The women's 400H was a tight race until the end when USA's 2011 World Champion Lashinda Demus battled it out from the gun with Russia's Natalya Antyukh.  It was a nail-biter coming into the final homestretch as Demus and Antyukh fought for every inch until Demus' final hurdle that caused her to loose momentum heading into the finish. Antyukh edged her out at the line for the gold and a new personal best of 52.70. Demus followed her in a season's best of 52.77.  Bronze was won in a season's best by Czech Republic's Zuzana Hejnova in 53.38. 

Final Start Lists:

Lane	Bib	Athlete	Country	SB 2012	PB
2	3272	T'erea Brown	USA	54.21	54.21
3	1540	Denisa Rosolová	CZE	54.24	54.24
4	1532	Zuzana Hejnová	CZE	53.62	53.29
5	2843	Natalya Antyukh	RUS	53.33	52.92
6	2583	Muizat Ajoke Odumosu	NGR	54.40	54.40
7	3285	Lashinda Demus	USA	53.98	52.47
8	3310	Georganne Moline	USA	54.31	54.31
9	2206	Kaliese Spencer	JAM	54.02	52.79

400H Semi's are Up and Running

Heat 1 - Heat 1 started things off with a bang as Natalya Antyukh of Russia won the heat in a season's best of 53.33 and was followed by Zuzana Hejnova of Czech Republic in another season's best of 53.62. 

Heat 2 - It was USA's Lashinda Demus' race as she powered through from the gun and took the win to make her first Olympic final.  She was followed by Jamaica's Kaliese Spencer. Both will qualify for the final. 

Heat 3 - It was an impressive performance for USA's Georganne Moline who just barely pushed to the line for 2nd place to make the 400H final. This is the first Olympic Games for the 22 year-old. 

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Women's 400 Meter Semi-Finals, Tough road for US Women

With all of the US Women through to the semi-finals the team has a great shot to have three women in the final, but it will be anything but easy. Demus, Moline and Brown all currently rank in the top 12 in the world, but other countries are unbelievably deep. In the semis, the Russians have the #1, #2 and #14th ranked women in the world; Czech Republic has the #4 and #8 ranked women; and Jamaican's represent the #6 and #10 athletes including 2008 Olympic Champ Melanie Walker. There are three sections with the top 2 qualifying and remaining 2 spots given to the top times outside of the autos, which will make for some exciting races.

Qual. rule: first 2 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) qualified

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last updated: August 5

Women's 400 Hurdles Take Off, USA Looking Good
FULL RESULTS HERE

Heat 1:
Zuzana Hejnová of the Czech Republic handily took heat one in 53.96 seconds ahead of T'erea Brown of the United States who was second and will automatically qualify for the semifinal. Vania Stambolova, the sixth place finisher at last year's world championships, fell and did not finish.

Heat 2: 
Jamaica's Kaliese Spencer went out in blazing form but ultimately slowed over the last 150 meters remaining, giving world leader Natalya Antyukh of Russia a chance to catch the Jamaican to win the section in 53.90 seconds.

Heat 3: 
Running out of the less-than-ideal lane two, world champion Lashinda Demus of the United States blew by her competition on the final turn and eased off in the final stretches of the race. Demus finished in an easy 54.60 seconds ahead of Ukraine's Hanna Titimets in 55.08 seconds.

Heat 4:
We haven't seen Arizona's Georganne Moline race since the Olympic Trials but there didn't seem to be any rust in her legs as Moline cruised through the line in a personal best 54.31 seconds.

Heat 5: 
Brit Perri Shakes-Drayton was relatively unknown prior to her win and massive personal best at the Crystal Palace Diamond League meet. Her Olympic debut was highly successful as she easily won her heat in 54.62 seconds. Reigning Olympic champion Melaine Walker struggled but got up for second place in the heat and will move on to the semifinal.

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last updated: July 21st at 6:05pm CT

Women's 400m Hurdles Quick Hits
2012 London Olympic Games


400 Meter Hurdles Schedule:
Day 3, Aug 5th - Round 1 (1:00pm CT) - qualifying procedure TBA
Day 4, Aug 6th - Semi-final (2:15pm CT) - qualifying procedure TBA
Day 6, Aug 8th - Finals (2:45pm CT)

400 Meter Hurdles Records:
World Record - 52.34 - Yuliya Penchonkina (Russia) 8/3/2008
Olympic Record - 52.64 - Melaine Walker (Jamaica) 8/20/2008
American Record - 52.47 - Lashinda Demus 9/1/2011

The Favorites: (personal best/season best)
1. Natalya Antyukh, Russia (52.92/53.40) - Bronze medalist at 2011 World Championships
2. Irina Davydova, Russia (53.77/53.77) - Gold medalist at 2012 European Championships
3. Perri Shakes-Drayton, Great Britain (53.77/53.77) - Semifinalist at 2011 World Championships

The Americans:
1. Lashinda Demus (52.47/53.98) - 2011 World Champion
2. Georganne Moline (54.33/54.33) - First Olympic Games
3. T'erea Brown (54.74/54.81) - First Olympic Games

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