| | Event type

400 metres, Women

Date	3 – 6 August 2021
Status	Olympic
Location	Japan National Stadium, Kasumigaoka, Shinjuku, Tokyo
Participants	45 from 34 countries

The favorite was Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo, the defending gold medalist who had already run the 200 in Tokyo, finishing last in the final as she jogged home after realizing she was beaten. Her biggest challenger was expected to be Jamaican Stephenie McPherson. A sentimental choice was American Allyson Felix, by then 35-years-old. She had been among the world’s top 200 / 400 runners since 2005 and had 13 World Championship gold medals and six Olympic golds, but coming back from motherhood in 2018, her times were far from her best, and she was considered a longshot for a medal.

The semi-finals had few surprises as Miller-Uibo won the second easily, and McPherson won the third, with Dominican runner Marileidy Paulino winning the first semi-final in a national record 49.38. Felix also qualified, advancing behind McPherson in the third semi with a season best mark of 49.89.

In the final, McPherson took the lead on the first turn out of lane six. At 200 metres she led in 23.4 alongside Britain’s Jodie Williams, with Miller-Uibo and Felix a tenth behind. At that point SMU turned it on and was well ahead entering the final straight, 0.3 ahead of Felix, with McPherson and Paulino 0.6 back.

Miller-Uibo finished in 48.36 to win gold, setting a new North American record. Behind her Paulino was the strongest of the challengers, finishing in 49.20 for silver. Felix shocked all the experts by maintaining her speed to finish in 49.46, her second fastest time ever, to win the bronze medal.

Miller-Uibo became the second woman to defend Olympic gold in the 400 metres, after France’s Marie-José Pérec in 1992-96. Felix’s bronze was her 10th Olympic medal, the most ever by a woman, breaking her tie with Merlene Ottey. A few days later she would help the USA win gold in the 4x400 to finish her Olympic career with 11 medals and 7 gold medals.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	1131	Shaunae Miller-Uibo	BAH	50.50 (1 h1)	49.60 (1 h2)	48.36 (1)	Gold
2	1684	Marileidy Paulino	DOM	50.06 (1 h6)	49.38 (1 h1)	49.20 (2)	Silver
3	3847	Allyson Felix	USA	50.84 (1 h3)	49.89 (2 h3)	49.46 (3)	Bronze
4	2502	Stephenie McPherson	JAM	50.89 (1 h5)	49.34 (1 h3)	49.61 (4)
5	2501	Candice McLeod	JAM	51.09 (1 h4)	49.51 (2 h1)	49.87 (5)
6	2033	Jodie Williams	GBR	50.99 (1 h2)	49.97 (2 h2)	49.97 (6)
7	3853	Quanera Hayes	USA	51.07 (2 h2)	49.81 (4 h1)	50.88 (7)
AC r3/3	1583	Roxana Gómez	CUB	50.76 (2 h1)	49.71 (3 h1)	– (DNF)
3 h2 r2/3	2500	Roneisha McGregor	JAM	51.14 (2 h3)	50.34 (3 h2)	–
3 h3 r2/3	1151	Sada Williams	BAR	51.36 (3 h1)	50.11 (3 h3)	–
4 h2 r2/3	3857	Wadeline Jonathas	USA	50.93 (2 h6)	50.51 (4 h2)	–
4 h3 r2/3	3164	Natalia Kaczmarek	POL	51.06 (2 h5)	50.79 (4 h3)	–
5 h1 r2/3	1606	Eleni Artymata	CYP	51.91 (5 h6)	50.80 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	2924	Paola Morán	MEX	51.18 (3 h5)	51.06 (5 h2)	–
5 h3 r2/3	1388	Kyra Constantine	CAN	51.69 (5 h1)	51.22 (5 h3)	–
6 h1 r2/3	1112	Susanne Walli	AUT	52.19 (3 h4)	51.52 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	2995	Lieke Klaver	NED	51.37 (3 h6)	51.37 (6 h2)	–
6 h3 r2/3	1920	Amandine Brossier	FRA	51.65 (2 h4)	51.30 (6 h3)	–
7 h1 r2/3	2021	Ama Pipi	GBR	51.17 (4 h3)	51.59 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r2/3	2249	Aliyah Abrams	GUY	51.44 (4 h1)	51.46 (7 h2)	–
7 h3 r2/3	3223	Cátia Azevedo	POR	51.26 (3 h2)	51.32 (7 h3)	–
8 h1 r2/3	1629	Lada Vondrová	CZE	51.14 (3 h3)	51.62 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r2/3	1762	Aauri Bokesa	ESP	51.89 (4 h6)	51.57 (8 h2)	–
8 h3 r2/3	2991	Lisanne de Witte	NED	51.68 (4 h2)	52.09 (8 h3)	–
4 h4 r1/3	2137	Corinna Schwab	GER	52.29 (4 h4)	–	–
4 h5 r1/3	2333	Phil Healy	IRL	51.98 (4 h5)	–	–
5 h2 r1/3	1066	Bendere Oboya	AUS	52.37 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r1/3	1301	Tiffani Marinho	BRA	52.11 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r1/3	2218	Eirini Vasileiou	GRE	53.16 (5 h4)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	2757	Hellen Syombua Kalii	KEN	52.70 (5 h5)	–	–
6 h1 r1/3	3462	Anita Horvat	SLO	52.34 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h3 r1/3	3707	Leni Shida	UGA	52.48 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r1/3	1268	Galefele Moroko	BOT	55.89 (6 h4)	–	–
6 h5 r1/3	2863	Agnė Šerkšnienė	LTU	52.78 (6 h5)	–	–
6 h6 r1/3	1624	Barbora Malíková	CZE	52.83 (6 h6)	–	–
7 h1 r1/3	3046	Patience Okon George	NGR	52.41 (7 h1)	–	–
7 h3 r1/3	1226	Samantha Dirks	BIZ	54.16 (7 h3)	–	–
7 h5 r1/3	1400	Natassha McDonald	CAN	53.54 (7 h5)	–	–
7 h6 r1/3	1450	Shalysa Wray	CAY	53.61 (7 h6)	–	–
8 h3 r1/3	3748	Tetiana Melnyk	UKR	54.99 (8 h3)	–	–
8 h6 r1/3	1266	Christine Botlogetswe	BOT	53.99 (8 h6)	–	–
AC h2 r1/3	1267	Amantle Montsho	BOT	– (DNF h2)	–	–
AC h2 r1/3	2234	Meleni Rodney	GRN	– (DNF h2)	–	–
AC h2 r1/3	2660	Aliya Boshnak	JOR	– (DQ h2)	–	–
AC h4 r1/3	2034	Nicole Yeargin	GBR	– (DQ h4)	–	–
DNS	1174	Cynthia Bolingo	BEL	– (DNS h4)	–	–

Round One

Date	3 August 2021 — 9:45
Format	Top three in each heat and next six fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat #1

Time	9:45

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)	Reaction Time
1	2	Shaunae Miller-Uibo	BAH	50.50	0.132	Q
2	6	Roxana Gómez	CUB	50.76	0.182	Q
3	7	Sada Williams	BAR	51.36	0.154	Q
4	8	Aliyah Abrams	GUY	51.44	0.160	q
5	5	Kyra Constantine	CAN	51.69	0.167	q
6	3	Anita Horvat	SLO	52.34	0.185
7	4	Patience Okon George	NGR	52.41	0.187

Heat #2

Time	9:53

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)	Reaction Time
1	3	Jodie Williams	GBR	50.99	0.170	Q
2	4	Quanera Hayes	USA	51.07	0.175	Q
3	7	Cátia Azevedo	POR	51.26	0.155	Q
4	5	Lisanne de Witte	NED	51.68	0.172	q
5	6	Bendere Oboya	AUS	52.37	0.172
DNF	2	Amantle Montsho	BOT	–	0.125
DNF	8	Meleni Rodney	GRN	–	0.196
DQ	9	Aliya Boshnak	JOR	–	[0.238]		1

Heat #3

Time	10:01

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)	Reaction Time	Tie-Breaking Time
1	4	Allyson Felix	USA	50.84	0.168	–	Q
2	2	Roneisha McGregor	JAM	51.14	0.180	51.138	Q
3	6	Lada Vondrová	CZE	51.14	0.182	51.139	Q
4	3	Ama Pipi	GBR	51.17	0.126	–	q
5	7	Tiffani Marinho	BRA	52.11	0.210	–
6	8	Leni Shida	UGA	52.48	0.201	–
7	5	Samantha Dirks	BIZ	54.16	0.177	–
8	9	Tetiana Melnyk	UKR	54.99	0.179	–

Heat #4

Time	10:09

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)	Reaction Time
1	5	Candice McLeod	JAM	51.09	0.202	Q
2	6	Amandine Brossier	FRA	51.65	0.171	Q
3	7	Susanne Walli	AUT	52.19	0.209	Q
4	3	Corinna Schwab	GER	52.29	0.155
5	9	Eirini Vasileiou	GRE	53.16	0.164
6	4	Galefele Moroko	BOT	55.89	0.202
DQ	8	Nicole Yeargin	GBR	–	[0.182]		2
DNS	2	Cynthia Bolingo	BEL	–	–

Heat #5

Time	10:17

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)	Reaction Time
1	3	Stephenie McPherson	JAM	50.89	0.138	Q
2	4	Natalia Kaczmarek	POL	51.06	0.150	Q
3	5	Paola Morán	MEX	51.18	0.162	Q
4	6	Phil Healy	IRL	51.98	0.158
5	8	Hellen Syombua Kalii	KEN	52.70	0.221
6	2	Agnė Šerkšnienė	LTU	52.78	0.172
7	7	Natassha McDonald	CAN	53.54	0.161

Heat #6

Time	10:25

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)	Reaction Time
1	2	Marileidy Paulino	DOM	50.06	0.184	Q
2	6	Wadeline Jonathas	USA	50.93	0.209	Q
3	4	Lieke Klaver	NED	51.37	0.200	Q
4	7	Aauri Bokesa	ESP	51.89	0.235	q
5	9	Eleni Artymata	CYP	51.91	0.224	q
6	8	Barbora Malíková	CZE	52.83	0.195
7	3	Shalysa Wray	CAY	53.61	0.216
8	5	Christine Botlogetswe	BOT	53.99	0.214

Semi-Finals

Date	4 August 2021 — 19:30
Format	Top two in each heat and next two fastest advanced to the final.

Heat #1

Time	19:30

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)	Reaction Time
1	5	Marileidy Paulino	DOM	49.38	0.172	Q
2	7	Candice McLeod	JAM	49.51	0.162	Q
3	4	Roxana Gómez	CUB	49.71	0.168	q
4	6	Quanera Hayes	USA	49.81	0.153	q
5	3	Eleni Artymata	CYP	50.80	0.191
6	9	Susanne Walli	AUT	51.52	0.224
7	2	Ama Pipi	GBR	51.59	0.140
8	8	Lada Vondrová	CZE	51.62	0.183

Heat #2

Time	19:38

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)	Reaction Time
1	6	Shaunae Miller-Uibo	BAH	49.60	0.155	Q
2	5	Jodie Williams	GBR	49.97	0.136	Q
3	4	Roneisha McGregor	JAM	50.34	0.181
4	7	Wadeline Jonathas	USA	50.51	0.189
5	9	Paola Morán	MEX	51.06	0.168
6	8	Lieke Klaver	NED	51.37	0.208
7	2	Aliyah Abrams	GUY	51.46	0.137
8	3	Aauri Bokesa	ESP	51.57	0.194

Heat #3

Time	19:46

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)	Reaction Time
1	5	Stephenie McPherson	JAM	49.34	0.134	Q
2	6	Allyson Felix	USA	49.89	0.179	Q
3	8	Sada Williams	BAR	50.11	0.167
4	4	Natalia Kaczmarek	POL	50.79	0.165
5	3	Kyra Constantine	CAN	51.22	0.177
6	7	Amandine Brossier	FRA	51.30	0.170
7	9	Cátia Azevedo	POR	51.32	0.146
8	2	Lisanne de Witte	NED	52.09	0.178

Final

Date	6 August 2021 — 21:35

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Automatic)	Reaction Time
1	7	Shaunae Miller-Uibo	BAH	48.36	0.162
2	5	Marileidy Paulino	DOM	49.20	0.176
3	9	Allyson Felix	USA	49.46	0.158
4	6	Stephenie McPherson	JAM	49.61	0.131
5	4	Candice McLeod	JAM	49.87	0.152
6	8	Jodie Williams	GBR	49.97	0.127
7	2	Quanera Hayes	USA	50.88	0.176
DNF	3	Roxana Gómez	CUB	–	0.191