| | Event type

400 metres, Women

Date	22 – 25 September 2000
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympic Stadium, Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales
Participants	57 from 42 countries

The two-time defending champion, France’s Marie-José Pérec, was entered but left Sydney in the early days of the Olympics, slinking away to the airport in a mysterious sequence of events. But she was not favored in 2000, at any rate. That fell to the true native Australian Cathy Freeman, who had won the silver medal in 1996 and was World Champion in 1997 and 1999. The Australian Olympic Organizing Committee (ACOG) also chose her to light the Olympic Flame at the opening ceremony. Further, with Australia attempting to make amends for its historically poor treatment of Aboriginals, Freeman was a symbol to her people. She had lost only one race since 1997 and was almost crushed by the expectations of the Australian people and media. But she came through. She trailed in the final through 200 metres, but closed on the final curve to pull almost even with Jamaica’s Lorraine Graham. But Freeman had the lead with 70 metres left, and pulled away to win easily, with four metres between her and Graham.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	QF	SF	Final
1	1836	Cathy Freeman	AUS	51.63 (1 h4)	50.31 (1 h4)	50.01 (1 h2)	49.11 (1)	Gold
2	2286	Lorraine Graham	JAM	51.65 (3 h6)	50.66 (1 h3)	50.28 (1 h1)	49.58 (2)	Silver
3	1836	Katharine Merry	GBR	51.61 (1 h5)	50.50 (1 h2)	50.32 (2 h1)	49.72 (3)	Bronze
4	1827	Donna Fraser	GBR	52.33 (3 h8)	50.77 (3 h4)	50.21 (4 h2)	49.79 (4)
5	2572	Ana Guevara	MEX	52.34 (2 h3)	51.19 (2 h3)	50.11 (2 h2)	49.96 (5)
6	2859	Heide Seÿerling	RSA	51.92 (3 h1)	50.87 (2 h2)	51.06 (3 h1)	50.05 (6)
7	2649	Falilat Ogunkoya	NGR	51.88 (2 h8)	50.49 (2 h4)	50.18 (3 h2)	50.12 (7)
8	2948	Olga Kotlyarova	RUS	51.99 (2 h7)	50.97 (3 h2)	51.21 (4 h1)	51.04 (8)
5 h1 r3/4	1335	LaDonna Antoine	CAN	51.78 (1 h8)	50.92 (2 h1)	51.26 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r3/4	2294	Sandie Richards	JAM	51.86 (2 h5)	51.00 (4 h2)	50.42 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r3/4	2961	Nataliya Nazarova	RUS	52.05 (2 h2)	51.44 (4 h1)	51.83 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r3/4	1530	Jitka Burianová	CZE	51.59 (1 h6)	50.85 (1 h1)	51.15 (6 h2)	–
7 h1 r3/4	1420	Mireille Nguimgo	CMR	51.88 (2 h1)	51.08 (4 h4)	52.03 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r3/4	3005	Amy Mbacké Thiam	SEN	51.79 (1 h3)	51.64 (3 h3)	51.60 (7 h2)	–
8 h1 r3/4	1824	Nova Peris-Kneebone	AUS	52.51 (3 h5)	51.28 (3 h1)	52.49 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r3/4	2107	K. M. Beenamol	IND	51.51 (1 h7)	51.81 (4 h3)	52.04 (8 h2)	–
5 h1 r2/4	1414	Claudine Komgang	CMR	51.74 (3 h4)	51.57 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r2/4	2653	Charity Opara	NGR	51.77 (1 h2)	51.04 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r2/4	2638	Bisi Afolabi	NGR	51.61 (2 h6)	51.87 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r2/4	3337	LaTasha Colander-Richardson	USA	51.75 (1 h1)	52.07 (5 h4)	–	–
6 h1 r2/4	3353	Monique Hennagan	USA	51.73 (2 h4)	51.85 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r2/4	2496	Žana Minina	LTU	52.38 (3 h7)	52.53 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r2/4	2830	Otilia Ruicu	ROU	52.65 (3 h3)	52.28 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r2/4	3054	Damayanthi Dharsha	SRI	52.13 (3 h2)	52.35 (6 h4)	–	–
7 h1 r2/4	1359	Kaltouma Nadjina	CHA	52.34 (4 h2)	52.60 (7 h1)	–	–
7 h2 r2/4	1618	Norfalia Carabalí	ESP	52.36 (4 h4)	52.63 (7 h2)	–	–
7 h3 r2/4	1823	Allison Curbishley	GBR	52.20 (4 h6)	52.50 (7 h3)	–	–
7 h4 r2/4	1528	Hana Benešová	CZE	52.85 (4 h5)	52.70 (7 h4)	–	–
8 h1 r2/4	2029	Aliann Pompey	GUY	53.09 (5 h5)	53.42 (8 h1)	–	–
8 h2 r2/4	1352	Foy Williams	CAN	52.94 (4 h1)	52.68 (8 h2)	–	–
8 h3 r2/4	1125	Lee Naylor	AUS	53.10 (5 h2)	53.83 (8 h3)	–	–
8 h4 r2/4	2076	Barbara Petráhn	HUN	52.86 (5 h6)	52.72 (8 h4)	–	–
4 h3 r1/4	2159	Karen Shinkins	IRL	53.27 (4 h3)	–	–	–
4 h7 r1/4	3338	Michelle Collins	USA	53.66 (4 h7)	–	–	–
4 h8 r1/4	2965	Yelena Piskunova	UZB	55.40 (4 h8)	–	–	–
5 h1 r1/4	1172	Christine Amertil	BAH	53.12 (5 h1)	–	–	–
5 h3 r1/4	1430	Norma González	COL	53.34 (5 h3)	–	–	–
5 h4 r1/4	3241	Olena Rurak	UKR	53.45 (5 h4)	–	–	–
5 h7 r1/4	1193	Tanya Oxley	BAR	54.22 (5 h7)	–	–	–
5 h8 r1/4	3407	Ann Mooney	PNG	55.55 (5 h8)	–	–	–
6 h1 r1/4	2413	Oksana Luneva	KGZ	54.98 (6 h1)	–	–	–
6 h2 r1/4	2352	Svetlana Bodritskaya	KAZ	53.91 (6 h2)	–	–	–
6 h3 r1/4	3045	Safia Abukar Hussein	SOM	1:13.25 (6 h3)	–	–	–
6 h4 r1/4	1461	Kristina Perica	CRO	53.72 (6 h4)	–	–	–
6 h5 r1/4	2479	Vernetta Lesforis	LCA	54.67 (6 h5)	–	–	–
6 h6 r1/4	1181	Tonique Williams	BAH	53.43 (6 h6)	–	–	–
6 h7 r1/4	1293	Daniela Georgieva	BUL	54.46 (6 h7)	–	–	–
7 h1 r1/4	2014	Hazel-Ann Regis	GRN	55.11 (7 h1)	–	–	–
7 h2 r1/4	3453	Lilian Bwalya	ZAM	54.77 (7 h2)	–	–	–
7 h4 r1/4	3177	Awatef Ben Hassine	TUN	54.50 (7 h4)	–	–	–
7 h5 r1/4	1004	Klodiana Shala	ALB	56.41 (7 h5)	–	–	–
7 h6 r1/4	1548	Marcia Daniel	DMA	58.20 (7 h6)	–	–	–
7 h7 r1/4	1218	Dijana Kojić	BIH	55.61 (7 h7)	–	–	–
8 h2 r1/4	2610	Maritza Figueroa	NCA	58.82 (8 h2)	–	–	–
8 h6 r1/4	2656	Haissa Ali Garba	NIG	1:07.49 (8 h6)	–	–	–
8 h7 r1/4	3063	Awmima Mohamed	SUD	1:02.94 (8 h7)	–	–	–
DQ	2703	Svetlana Pospelova	RUS	[53.34] (DQ h8)	–	–	–		1
DNS	1761	Marie-José Pérec	FRA	– (DNS h5)	–	–	–
DNS	3036	Brigita Langerholc	SLO	– (DNS h8)	–	–	–

Round One (22 September 2000)

Top three in each heat and next eight fastest advanced to the quarter-finals.

Heat #1 (19:24)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	5	LaTasha Colander-Richardson	USA	51.75	0.212	Q
2	6	Mireille Nguimgo	CMR	51.88	0.242	Q
3	3	Heide Seÿerling	RSA	51.92	0.428	Q
4	2	Foy Williams	CAN	52.94	0.343	q
5	4	Christine Amertil	BAH	53.12	0.254
6	8	Oksana Luneva	KGZ	54.98	0.403
7	7	Hazel-Ann Regis	GRN	55.11	–

Heat #2 (19:30)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	4	Charity Opara	NGR	51.77	0.204	Q
2	2	Nataliya Nazarova	RUS	52.05	0.207	Q
3	6	Damayanthi Dharsha	SRI	52.13	0.242	Q
4	3	Kaltouma Nadjina	CHA	52.34	0.202	q
5	1	Lee Naylor	AUS	53.10	–	q
6	5	Svetlana Bodritskaya	KAZ	53.91	0.199
7	8	Lilian Bwalya	ZAM	54.77	0.403
8	7	Maritza Figueroa	NCA	58.82	–

Heat #3 (19:36)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	8	Amy Mbacké Thiam	SEN	51.79	0.217	Q
2	5	Ana Guevara	MEX	52.34	0.315	Q
3	4	Otilia Ruicu	ROU	52.65	–	Q
4	2	Karen Shinkins	IRL	53.27	0.258
5	6	Norma González	COL	53.34	0.220
6	3	Safia Abukar Hussein	SOM	1:13.25	–

Heat #4 (19:42)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	3	Cathy Freeman	AUS	51.63	0.258	Q
2	4	Monique Hennagan	USA	51.73	0.320	Q
3	8	Claudine Komgang	CMR	51.74	0.551	Q
4	7	Norfalia Carabalí	ESP	52.36	–	q
5	2	Olena Rurak	UKR	53.45	0.202
6	6	Kristina Perica	CRO	53.72	0.523
7	5	Awatef Ben Hassine	TUN	54.50	0.308

Heat #5 (19:48)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	7	Katharine Merry	GBR	51.61	0.336	Q
2	4	Sandie Richards	JAM	51.86	0.294	Q
3	8	Nova Peris-Kneebone	AUS	52.51	0.191	Q
4	6	Hana Benešová	CZE	52.85	–	q
5	2	Aliann Pompey	GUY	53.09	0.226	q
6	5	Vernetta Lesforis	LCA	54.67	0.520
7	1	Klodiana Shala	ALB	56.41	–
DNS	3	Marie-José Pérec	FRA	–	–

Heat #6 (19:54)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	4	Jitka Burianová	CZE	51.59	0.302	Q
2	3	Bisi Afolabi	NGR	51.61	0.221	Q
3	5	Lorraine Graham	JAM	51.65	–	Q
4	6	Allison Curbishley	GBR	52.20	0.209	q
5	2	Barbara Petráhn	HUN	52.86	0.189	q
6	7	Tonique Williams	BAH	53.43	0.174
7	8	Marcia Daniel	DMA	58.20	0.222
8	1	Haissa Ali Garba	NIG	1:07.49	–

Heat #7 (20:00)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	8	K. M. Beenamol	IND	51.51	–	Q
2	6	Olga Kotlyarova	RUS	51.99	0.190	Q
3	7	Žana Minina	LTU	52.38	0.201	Q
4	4	Michelle Collins	USA	53.66	0.295
5	3	Tanya Oxley	BAR	54.22	–
6	1	Daniela Georgieva	BUL	54.46	–
7	2	Dijana Kojić	BIH	55.61	–
8	5	Awmima Mohamed	SUD	1:02.94	–

Heat #8 (20:06)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	5	LaDonna Antoine	CAN	51.78	–	Q
2	6	Falilat Ogunkoya	NGR	51.88	0.187	Q
3	8	Donna Fraser	GBR	52.33	0.209	Q
4	2	Yelena Piskunova	UZB	55.40	0.285
5	4	Ann Mooney	PNG	55.55	0.378
DQ	3	Svetlana Pospelova	RUS	[53.34]	–		2
DNS	7	Brigita Langerholc	SLO	–	–

Quarter-Finals (23 September 2000)

Top four in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat #1 (19:30)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	3	Jitka Burianová	CZE	50.85	0.274	Q
2	5	LaDonna Antoine	CAN	50.92	0.179	Q
3	2	Nova Peris-Kneebone	AUS	51.28	0.196	Q
4	6	Nataliya Nazarova	RUS	51.44	0.198	Q
5	7	Claudine Komgang	CMR	51.57	–
6	4	Monique Hennagan	USA	51.85	0.478
7	1	Kaltouma Nadjina	CHA	52.60	0.215
8	8	Aliann Pompey	GUY	53.42	0.212

Heat #2 (19:37)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	3	Katharine Merry	GBR	50.50	0.270	Q
2	7	Heide Seÿerling	RSA	50.87	0.163	Q
3	6	Olga Kotlyarova	RUS	50.97	0.182	Q
4	5	Sandie Richards	JAM	51.00	0.209	Q
5	4	Charity Opara	NGR	51.04	0.206
6	8	Žana Minina	LTU	52.53	0.300
7	1	Norfalia Carabalí	ESP	52.63	–
8	2	Foy Williams	CAN	52.68	0.337

Heat #3 (19:44)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	8	Lorraine Graham	JAM	50.66	0.216	Q
2	5	Ana Guevara	MEX	51.19	–	Q
3	6	Amy Mbacké Thiam	SEN	51.64	0.217	Q
4	4	K. M. Beenamol	IND	51.81	–	Q
5	3	Bisi Afolabi	NGR	51.87	0.263
6	1	Otilia Ruicu	ROU	52.28	–
7	2	Allison Curbishley	GBR	52.50	0.193
8	7	Lee Naylor	AUS	53.83	–

Heat #4 (19:51)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	4	Cathy Freeman	AUS	50.31	0.464	Q
2	6	Falilat Ogunkoya	NGR	50.49	0.196	Q
3	8	Donna Fraser	GBR	50.77	0.194	Q
4	5	Mireille Nguimgo	CMR	51.08	0.200	Q
5	3	LaTasha Colander-Richardson	USA	52.07	0.311
6	1	Damayanthi Dharsha	SRI	52.35	0.234
7	2	Hana Benešová	CZE	52.70	0.209
8	7	Barbara Petráhn	HUN	52.72	0.224

Semi-Finals (24 September 2000)

Top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat #1 (20:00)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	4	Lorraine Graham	JAM	50.28	0.444	Q
2	3	Katharine Merry	GBR	50.32	0.301	Q
3	5	Heide Seÿerling	RSA	51.06	–	Q
4	7	Olga Kotlyarova	RUS	51.21	0.243	Q
5	6	LaDonna Antoine	CAN	51.26	0.273
6	2	Nataliya Nazarova	RUS	51.83	0.191
7	1	Mireille Nguimgo	CMR	52.03	0.213
8	8	Nova Peris-Kneebone	AUS	52.49	0.263

Heat #2 (20:07)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	3	Cathy Freeman	AUS	50.01	0.261	Q
2	5	Ana Guevara	MEX	50.11	0.370	Q
3	4	Falilat Ogunkoya	NGR	50.18	0.516	Q
4	7	Donna Fraser	GBR	50.21	0.188	Q
5	2	Sandie Richards	JAM	50.42	0.253
6	6	Jitka Burianová	CZE	51.15	0.255
7	1	Amy Mbacké Thiam	SEN	51.60	0.238
8	8	K. M. Beenamol	IND	52.04	–

Final (25 September 2000 — 20:10)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	6	Cathy Freeman	AUS	49.11	0.227
2	4	Lorraine Graham	JAM	49.58	0.452
3	3	Katharine Merry	GBR	49.72	0.270
4	2	Donna Fraser	GBR	49.79	0.174
5	5	Ana Guevara	MEX	49.96	0.261
6	7	Heide Seÿerling	RSA	50.05	0.175
7	8	Falilat Ogunkoya	NGR	50.12	0.254
8	1	Olga Kotlyarova	RUS	51.04	0.188