| | Event type

400 metres Hurdles, Women

Date	17 – 20 August 2008
Status	Olympic
Location	Beijing Guojia Tiyuchang, Beijing Aolinpike Gongyuan, Beijing
Participants	27 from 21 countries

This event was quite open as no runner had dominated it in the past few years. The defending champion was Greek Fani Khalkia but she had recently tested positive for steroids (methyltrienolone) and was not on the Greek team. The semi-finals in Beijing were won by American Sheena Tosta in 54.07, and Jamaican Melaine Walker in 54.20. In the final, Tosta led early, but Walker had taken the lead by the seventh hurdle. She was not pressed in the final straight, winning by over a second from Tosta. Britain’s Tasha Danvers, who had overcome numerous injuries, was a solid third throughout and won bronze.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	2132	Melaine Walker	JAM	54.46 (1 h3)	54.20 (1 h2)	52.64 (1)	Gold
2	3271	Sheena Tosta	USA	56.12 (5 h2)	54.07 (1 h1)	53.70 (2)	Silver
3	1847	Tasha Danvers	GBR	55.19 (1 h2)	54.31 (2 h1)	53.84 (3)	Bronze
4	3058	Anastasiya Rabcheniuk	UKR	55.18 (2 h3)	54.60 (2 h2)	53.96 (4)
5	2586	Anna Jesień	POL	55.35 (2 h4)	54.36 (3 h1)	54.29 (5)
6	2844	Yekaterina Bikert	RUS	55.15 (1 h4)	54.38 (4 h1)	54.96 (6)
7	1514	Zuzana Hejnová	CZE	55.91 (3 h4)	55.17 (4 h2)	54.97 (7)
8	3258	Tiffany Ross-Williams	USA	55.51 (1 h1)	54.99 (3 h2)	57.55 (8)
5 h1 r2/3	2137	Nickiesha Wilson	JAM	55.75 (3 h2)	54.67 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	1281	Aïssata Soulama	BUR	56.37 (5 h3)	55.69 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r2/3	2843	Anastasiya Ott	RUS	55.34 (2 h2)	54.74 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	2821	Irina Obedina	RUS	55.71 (2 h1)	55.69 (6 h2)	–
7 h1 r2/3	2195	Satomi Kubokura	JPN	55.82 (3 h1)	56.69 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r2/3	3177	Queen Harrison	USA	55.96 (4 h3)	55.88 (7 h2)	–
8 h1 r2/3	2707	Angela Moroșanu	ROU	56.07 (4 h2)	57.67 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r2/3	1267	Tsvetelina Kirilova	BUL	55.22 (3 h3)	55.97 (8 h2)	–
4 h1 r1/3	2151	Shevon Stoddart	JAM	56.52 (4 h1)	–	–
4 h4 r1/3	2231	Tatyana Azarova	KAZ	56.88 (4 h4)	–	–
5 h1 r1/3	2342	Ieva Zunda	LAT	57.43 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h4 r1/3	2910	Muna Jabir Adam	SUD	57.16 (5 h4)	–	–
6 h1 r1/3	1212	Lucimar Teodoro	BRA	57.68 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r1/3	1443	Nikolina Horvat	CRO	56.65 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r1/3	1410	Carole Kaboud Mebam	CMR	57.81 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r1/3	3011	Josanne Lucas	TTO	57.76 (6 h4)	–	–
7 h2 r1/3	2051	Michelle Carey	IRL	57.99 (7 h2)	–	–
7 h3 r1/3	2292	Galina Pedan	KGZ	1:00.31 (7 h3)	–	–
7 h4 r1/3	1590	Laia Forcadell	ESP	58.64 (7 h4)	–	–

Round One (17 August 2008)

Top three in each heat and next four fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One (20:10)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	3	Tiffany Ross-Williams	USA	55.51	0.222	Q
2	5	Irina Obedina	RUS	55.71	0.228	Q
3	6	Satomi Kubokura	JPN	55.82	0.239	Q
4	2	Shevon Stoddart	JAM	56.52	0.238
5	7	Ieva Zunda	LAT	57.43	0.203
6	4	Lucimar Teodoro	BRA	57.68	0.272

Heat Two (20:18)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	6	Tasha Danvers	GBR	55.19	0.174	Q
2	4	Anastasiya Ott	RUS	55.34	0.215	Q
3	8	Nickiesha Wilson	JAM	55.75	0.370	Q
4	7	Angela Moroșanu	ROU	56.07	0.259	q
5	2	Sheena Tosta	USA	56.12	0.196	q
6	5	Nikolina Horvat	CRO	56.65	0.260
7	3	Michelle Carey	IRL	57.99	0.247

Heat Three (20:26)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	8	Melaine Walker	JAM	54.46	0.272	Q
2	2	Anastasiya Rabcheniuk	UKR	55.18	0.218	Q
3	5	Tsvetelina Kirilova	BUL	55.22	0.177	Q
4	3	Queen Harrison	USA	55.96	0.201	q
5	4	Aïssata Soulama	BUR	56.37	0.258	q
6	6	Carole Kaboud Mebam	CMR	57.81	0.215
7	7	Galina Pedan	KGZ	1:00.31	0.222

Heat Four (20:34)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	7	Yekaterina Bikert	RUS	55.15	0.210	Q
2	8	Anna Jesień	POL	55.35	0.206	Q
3	6	Zuzana Hejnová	CZE	55.91	0.193	Q
4	5	Tatyana Azarova	KAZ	56.88	0.277
5	2	Muna Jabir Adam	SUD	57.16	0.248
6	3	Josanne Lucas	TTO	57.76	0.273
7	4	Laia Forcadell	ESP	58.64	0.253

Semi-Finals (18 August 2008)

Top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One (20:45)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	2	Sheena Tosta	USA	54.07	0.247	Q
2	4	Tasha Danvers	GBR	54.31	0.262	Q
3	6	Anna Jesień	POL	54.36	0.220	Q
4	5	Yekaterina Bikert	RUS	54.38	0.221	Q
5	9	Nickiesha Wilson	JAM	54.67	0.229
6	7	Anastasiya Ott	RUS	54.74	0.208
7	8	Satomi Kubokura	JPN	56.69	0.281
8	3	Angela Moroșanu	ROU	57.67	0.353

Heat Two (20:52)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	5	Melaine Walker	JAM	54.20	0.274	Q
2	4	Anastasiya Rabcheniuk	UKR	54.60	0.229	Q
3	6	Tiffany Ross-Williams	USA	54.99	0.173	Q
4	8	Zuzana Hejnová	CZE	55.17	0.217	Q
5	2	Aïssata Soulama	BUR	55.69	0.269
6	7	Irina Obedina	RUS	55.69	0.223
7	3	Queen Harrison	USA	55.88	0.288
8	9	Tsvetelina Kirilova	BUL	55.97	0.200

Final (20 August 2008 — 22:35)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	6	Melaine Walker	JAM	52.64	0.236	OR
2	5	Sheena Tosta	USA	53.70	0.191
3	7	Tasha Danvers	GBR	53.84	0.189
4	4	Anastasiya Rabcheniuk	UKR	53.96	0.248
5	9	Anna Jesień	POL	54.29	0.206
6	2	Yekaterina Bikert	RUS	54.96	0.193
7	3	Zuzana Hejnová	CZE	54.97	0.195
8	8	Tiffany Ross-Williams	USA	57.55	0.184