Summary
All the eyes were on 33 year old Greg Foster, who was, as yet, undefeated in World Championship finals. Foster had lane 4 in the center of the track. Missing was the reigning double Olympic Champion and world record holder Roger Kingdom out with an ACL surgery. Next to Foster in lane 5 was the leading qualifier from the semis was Tony Jarrett, who had just edged Foster in that semi. The other semi was significantly slower, won by Jack Pierce.
Before the gun went off, Foster was already running—a false start, common and legal in this era. When the starter raised the gun again, Foster had a strike against him, meaning he could be disqualified for a second offense. Ostensibly that should make Foster more cautious. The next start was legal, Mark McKoy got a good start and had a clear lead over the first hurdle, with Foster just inches ahead of the wall of competitors almost a full stride behind. Over the next two hurdles, Foster made up most of the gap. Challenged to his right, McKoy began to struggle, Foster taking a clear lead. Behind them, Pierce was separating from the group in third place. By the sixth hurdle, Pierce caught McKoy and had the momentum chasing Foster. The next chaser was Jarrett, who caught McKoy over the eighth hurdle. Pierce was gaining on Foster but was still half a metre behind over the last hurdle. In the run in to the finish line, that half metre disappeared, the two hit the finish line together with Pierce clearly ahead just inches past the finish line. Jarrett continued on to take bronze almost .2 of a second behind the leaders.
With new technology, Japanese officials were able to display the finish picture quickly after the race, still looking like a tie. Three minutes later, Foster was announced as the winner, now for the third time in a row.
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