| | Event type

400 metres, Women

Date	21 – 24 August 2004
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympiako Stadio, Olympiako Athletiko Kentro Athinon Spiros Loues, Maroussi
Participants	42 from 31 countries

Mexican Ana Guevara had been dominant in the past two years, winning 23 consecutive races, among which was the 2003 World Championships. But she was finally beaten in the month before the Olympics by Bahamian Tonique Williams-Darling at a Golden League meet in Roma. Williams-Darling had placed only fifth at the 2003 Worlds, but in Zürich at the Weltklasse, she again defeated Guevara. In the final Williams-Darling was in the lead, trailed by Guevara and American Sanya Richards. Guevara made up ground on the turn and almost pulled even by 50 metres to go, but could never quite close the gap, as Williams-Darling defeated her for the third consecutive time. The bronze was won by Russia’s Nataliya Antyukh, who had not been a factor early on but finished with a rush to get third.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	1131	Tonique Williams-Darling	BAH	51.20 (1 h5)	50.00 (1 h2)	49.41 (1)	Gold
2	2517	Ana Guevara	MEX	50.93 (1 h1)	50.15 (1 h1)	49.56 (2)	Silver
3	2851	Nataliya Antyukh	RUS	50.54 (1 h4)	50.04 (2 h3)	49.89 (3)	Bronze
4	3279	Monique Hennagan	USA	51.02 (1 h2)	49.88 (1 h3)	49.97 (4)
5	3354	DeeDee Trotter	USA	50.56 (2 h4)	50.14 (2 h2)	50.00 (5)
6	3329	Sanya Richards	USA	50.11 (1 h6)	50.54 (3 h1)	50.19 (6)
7	1114	Christine Amertil	BAH	50.23 (2 h6)	50.17 (2 h1)	50.37 (7)
8	2915	Nataliya Nazarova	RUS	50.82 (1 h3)	50.63 (3 h2)	50.65 (8)
3 h3 r2/3	2256	Novlene Williams	JAM	50.59 (3 h4)	50.85 (3 h3)	–
4 h1 r2/3	1828	Christine Ohuruogu	GBR	50.50 (3 h6)	51.00 (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r2/3	2993	Fatou Bintou Fall	SEN	51.87 (4 h1)	51.21 (4 h2)	–
4 h3 r2/3	1277	Mariana Dimitrova	BUL	51.29 (2 h2)	51.20 (4 h3)	–
5 h1 r2/3	3004	Tiandra Ponteen	SKN	51.17 (4 h6)	51.33 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	1335	Kaltouma Nadjina	CHA	51.50 (3 h2)	51.57 (5 h2)	–
5 h3 r2/3	2051	Aliann Pompey	GUY	51.33 (4 h4)	51.61 (5 h3)	–
6 h1 r2/3	1208	Sviatlana Vusovich	BLR	51.37 (2 h5)	51.42 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	2844	Estie Wittstock	RSA	51.89 (4 h3)	51.77 (6 h2)	–
6 h3 r2/3	3206	Antonina Yefremova	UKR	51.53 (3 h5)	51.90 (6 h3)	–
7 h1 r2/3	2039	Hazel-Ann Regis	GRN	51.66 (3 h3)	51.47 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r2/3	1805	Donna Fraser	GBR	51.19 (2 h3)	51.94 (7 h2)	–
7 h3 r2/3	1404	Mireille Nguimgo	CMR	51.90 (4 h5)	52.21 (7 h3)	–
8 h1 r2/3	1650	Egle Uljas	EST	51.91 (5 h4)	53.13 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r2/3	2691	Grażyna Prokopek-Janacek	POL	51.29 (3 h1)	51.96 (8 h2)	–
8 h3 r2/3	1821	Lee McConnell	GBR	51.19 (2 h1)	52.63 (8 h3)	–
4 h2 r1/3	2225	Nadia Davy	JAM	52.04 (4 h2)	–	–
5 h1 r1/3	1400	Clementine Béwouda	CMR	52.11 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r1/3	1227	Maria Laura Almirão	BRA	52.10 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r1/3	2997	Amy Mbacké Thiam	SEN	52.44 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	2216	Allison Beckford	JAM	52.85 (5 h5)	–	–
5 h6 r1/3	1231	Geisa Coutinho	BRA	52.18 (5 h6)	–	–
6 h1 r1/3	2371	Oksana Luneva	KGZ	52.94 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r1/3	1701	Kirsi Mykkänen	FIN	52.53 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r1/3	1223	Amantle Montsho	BOT	53.77 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r1/3	2310	Svetlana Bodritskaya	KAZ	53.35 (6 h4)	–	–
6 h5 r1/3	3110	Sandrine Thiébaud-Kangni	TOG	52.87 (6 h5)	–	–
6 h6 r1/3	1681	Makelesi Bulikiobo-Batimala	FIJ	53.58 (6 h6)	–	–
7 h1 r1/3	2432	Ruwida El-Hubti	LBA	1:03.57 (7 h1)	–	–
7 h2 r1/3	1339	Bo Fanfang	CHN	56.01 (7 h2)	–	–
7 h3 r1/3	3378	Zamira Amirova	UZB	54.43 (7 h3)	–	–
7 h4 r1/3	2506	Shifana Ali	MDV	1:00.92 (7 h4)	–	–
7 h5 r1/3	3032	Damayanthi Dharsha	SRI	54.58 (7 h5)	–	–
7 h6 r1/3	2617	Salamtou Hassane	NIG	1:03.28 (7 h6)	–	–

Round One (21 August 2004 — 9:50-10:28)

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

Heat #1 (9:50)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	8	Ana Guevara	MEX	50.93	0.273	Q
2	5	Lee McConnell	GBR	51.19	0.249	Q
3	4	Grażyna Prokopek-Janacek	POL	51.29	0.219	Q
4	7	Fatou Bintou Fall	SEN	51.87	0.416	q
5	2	Clementine Béwouda	CMR	52.11	0.179
6	6	Oksana Luneva	KGZ	52.94	0.218
7	3	Ruwida El-Hubti	LBA	1:03.57	–

Heat #2 (9:57)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	4	Monique Hennagan	USA	51.02	0.208	Q
2	8	Mariana Dimitrova	BUL	51.29	0.192	Q
3	7	Kaltouma Nadjina	CHA	51.50	0.249	Q
4	3	Nadia Davy	JAM	52.04	–
5	2	Maria Laura Almirão	BRA	52.10	–
6	6	Kirsi Mykkänen	FIN	52.53	0.246
7	5	Bo Fanfang	CHN	56.01	0.266

Heat #3 (10:04)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	3	Nataliya Nazarova	RUS	50.82	0.217	Q
2	7	Donna Fraser	GBR	51.19	0.212	Q
3	2	Hazel-Ann Regis	GRN	51.66	0.280	Q
4	5	Estie Wittstock	RSA	51.89	0.155	q
5	6	Amy Mbacké Thiam	SEN	52.44	0.346
6	8	Amantle Montsho	BOT	53.77	0.461
7	4	Zamira Amirova	UZB	54.43	–

Heat #4 (10:11)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	7	Nataliya Antyukh	RUS	50.54	0.292	Q
2	5	DeeDee Trotter	USA	50.56	0.295	Q
3	6	Novlene Williams	JAM	50.59	0.330	Q
4	3	Aliann Pompey	GUY	51.33	0.221	q
5	8	Egle Uljas	EST	51.91	0.278	q
6	2	Svetlana Bodritskaya	KAZ	53.35	0.207
7	4	Shifana Ali	MDV	1:00.92	0.200

Heat #5 (10:18)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	8	Tonique Williams-Darling	BAH	51.20	0.346	Q
2	5	Sviatlana Vusovich	BLR	51.37	–	Q
3	3	Antonina Yefremova	UKR	51.53	–	Q
4	2	Mireille Nguimgo	CMR	51.90	0.238	q
5	4	Allison Beckford	JAM	52.85	0.235
6	7	Sandrine Thiébaud-Kangni	TOG	52.87	0.341
7	6	Damayanthi Dharsha	SRI	54.58	0.267

Heat #6 (10:25)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	2	Sanya Richards	USA	50.11	0.203	Q
2	3	Christine Amertil	BAH	50.23	0.366	Q
3	7	Christine Ohuruogu	GBR	50.50	0.298	Q
4	8	Tiandra Ponteen	SKN	51.17	0.307	q
5	4	Geisa Coutinho	BRA	52.18	0.270
6	5	Makelesi Bulikiobo-Batimala	FIJ	53.58	0.280
7	6	Salamtou Hassane	NIG	1:03.28	–

Semi-Finals (22 August 2004 — 22:20-22:41)

Top two in each heat and next two fastest advanced to the final.

Heat #1 (22:20)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	4	Ana Guevara	MEX	50.15	0.273	Q
2	3	Christine Amertil	BAH	50.17	0.331	Q
3	5	Sanya Richards	USA	50.54	0.308	q
4	1	Christine Ohuruogu	GBR	51.00	0.236
5	2	Tiandra Ponteen	SKN	51.33	0.290
6	6	Sviatlana Vusovich	BLR	51.42	0.432
7	7	Hazel-Ann Regis	GRN	51.47	0.375
8	8	Egle Uljas	EST	53.13	0.436

Heat #2 (22:29)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	4	Tonique Williams-Darling	BAH	50.00	0.271	Q
2	5	DeeDee Trotter	USA	50.14	0.258	Q
3	3	Nataliya Nazarova	RUS	50.63	0.221	q
4	1	Fatou Bintou Fall	SEN	51.21	0.325
5	8	Kaltouma Nadjina	CHA	51.57	0.306
6	2	Estie Wittstock	RSA	51.77	0.218
7	6	Donna Fraser	GBR	51.94	0.207
8	7	Grażyna Prokopek-Janacek	POL	51.96	0.355

Heat #3 (22:38)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	5	Monique Hennagan	USA	49.88	0.278	Q
2	4	Nataliya Antyukh	RUS	50.04	0.246	Q
3	1	Novlene Williams	JAM	50.85	0.231
4	6	Mariana Dimitrova	BUL	51.20	0.257
5	7	Aliann Pompey	GUY	51.61	0.322
6	2	Antonina Yefremova	UKR	51.90	–
7	8	Mireille Nguimgo	CMR	52.21	0.304
8	3	Lee McConnell	GBR	52.63	0.263

Final (24 August 2004 — 22:50)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	4	Tonique Williams-Darling	BAH	49.41	0.268
2	3	Ana Guevara	MEX	49.56	0.234
3	6	Nataliya Antyukh	RUS	49.89	0.263
4	5	Monique Hennagan	USA	49.97	0.241
5	1	DeeDee Trotter	USA	50.00	0.225
6	2	Sanya Richards	USA	50.19	0.205
7	8	Christine Amertil	BAH	50.37	0.276
8	7	Nataliya Nazarova	RUS	50.65	0.251