Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metres hurdles

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Women's 400 metres hurdles
at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
Olympic Athletics.svg
Olympic Athletics
Venue Athens Olympic Stadium
Date21–25 August
Competitors34 from 25 nations
Winning time52.82
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Faní Halkiá Flag of Greece.svg  Greece
Silver medal icon.svg Ionela Târlea-Manolache Flag of Romania.svg  Romania
Bronze medal icon.svg Tetyana Tereshchuk-Antipova Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine
  2000
2008  

The women's 400 metres hurdles at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 21 to 25. [1]

The first round had split a full roster of runners into five heats with the first two gaining a direct qualification and then the next six fastest across all heats advancing to the semifinals. The top four runners in both of the semifinal heats moved on directly to the final.

The final was expected to witness four early-season favorites, U.S. top runner Sheena Johnson, 2003 world champion Jana Pittman, current world record holder Yuliya Pechenkina, and two-time European champion Ionela Târlea-Manolache, challenging each other for the Olympic title. Inside the stadium, however, the raucous Greek crowd turned their attention on home favorite Faní Halkiá, who had previously lowered the Olympic record by 0.05 of a second in the second semifinal. All three medalists came from that semi, fifth place equalling 3rd place in the first semi.

From the start in lane four, Halkia drew level with Pittman outside her at the halfway turn, until she quickly pulled away from the field on the last hundred metres and cleared the final hurdle. With none of the pre-race favorites willing to chase her on the home stretch, Halkia raced comfortably to an Olympic gold. [2] [3] Behind her, Târlea-Manolache and Ukraine's Tetyana Tereshchuk-Antipova came through on the inside to take the silver and bronze medals respectively. [4] Running bravely against a tore knee injury, Pittman managed to finish the race in fifth place, while Pechenkina stumbled behind on a wretched run to round out the field in last. [2]

Halkia's triumph proved to be a redemption for the host nation Greece in track and field, after the anti-doping scandal and suspicious affair on 2000 Olympic medalists and sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou that tainted the start of the Games. [4]

Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World record, Olympic record, and world leading time were as follows:

World recordFlag of Russia.svg  Yuliya Pechenkina  (RUS)52.34 s Tula, Russia8 August 2003
Olympic recordFlag of Jamaica.svg  Deon Hemmings  (JAM)52.82 s Atlanta, United States31 July 1996
World LeadingFlag of the United States.svg  Sheena Johnson-Tosta  (USA)52.95 s Sacramento, United States11 July 2004

The following records were established during the competition:

DateEventNameNationalityResultRecord
22 AugustSemifinal 2 Faní Halkiá Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 52.77 OR

Qualification

The qualification period for Athletics was 1 January 2003 to 9 August 2004. For the women's 400 metres hurdles, each National Olympic Committee was permitted to enter up to three athletes that had run the race in 55.60 seconds or faster during the qualification period. If an NOC had no athletes that qualified under that standard, one athlete that had run the race in 56.25 seconds or faster could be entered.

Schedule

All times are Greece Standard Time (UTC+2)

DateTimeRound
Saturday, 21 August 200409:05Round 1
Sunday, 22 August 200421:20Semifinals
Wednesday, 25 August 200421:55Final

Results

Round 1

Qualification rule: The first two finishers in each heat (Q) plus the next six fastest overall runners (q) advanced to the semifinals. [5]

Heat 1

RankLaneNameNationalityResultNotes
12 Yuliya Pechenkina Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 53.57Q, SB
27 Tetyana Tereshchuk-Antipova Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 54.63Q
38 Ulrike Urbansky Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 55.15q, SB
44 Monika Niederstätter Flag of Italy (2003-2006).svg  Italy 55.57
56 Cora Olivero Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 56.19
65 Patrina Allen Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 56.40
73 Aïssata Soulama Flag of Burkina Faso.svg  Burkina Faso 57.60PB

Heat 2

RankLaneNameNationalityResultNotes
12 Jana Pittman Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 54.83Q
23 Yekaterina Bikert Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 54.95Q
35 Natalya Torshina-Alimzhanova Flag of Kazakhstan (3-2).svg  Kazakhstan 55.22q, SB
44 Ieva Zunda Flag of Latvia (3-2).svg  Latvia 56.21
57 Benedetta Ceccarelli Flag of Italy (2003-2006).svg  Italy 56.28
66 Surita Febbraio Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 56.49

Heat 3

RankLaneNameNationalityResultNotes
15 Ionela Târlea-Manolache Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 54.41Q
24 Brenda Taylor Flag of the United States.svg  United States 54.72Q
32 Nezha Bidouane Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 55.69
48 Anna Jesień Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 56.03
56 Shevon Stoddart Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 56.61
63 Klodiana Shala Flag of Albania.svg  Albania 1:00.00
7 Stephanie Kampf Flag of Germany.svg  Germany DNS

Heat 4

RankLaneNameNationalityResultNotes
15 Faní Halkiá Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 53.85Q, NR
27 Lashinda Demus Flag of the United States.svg  United States 54.66Q
32 Yekaterina Bakhvalova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 55.16q
48 Debbie-Ann Parris-Thymes Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 55.21q, SB
54 Yvonne Harrison Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico 55.84
63 Mame Tacko Diouf Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 57.25
76Salhate DjamalidineFlag of the Comoros.svg  Comoros 59.72

Heat 5

RankLaneNameNationalityResultNotes
14 Małgorzata Pskit Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 54.75Q, PB
23 Sheena Johnson Flag of the United States.svg  United States 54.81Q
38 Huang Xiaoxiao Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 54.81q, PB
45 Androula Sialou Flag of Cyprus (1960-2006).svg  Cyprus 55.02q
52 Daimí Pernía Flag of Cuba (3-2).svg  Cuba 55.91
66 Andrea Blackett Flag of Barbados.svg  Barbados 56.49
77 Galina Pedan Flag of Kyrgyzstan (1992-2023).svg  Kyrgyzstan 59.02

Semifinals

Qualification rule: The first four finishers in each heat (Q) moved on to the final. [6]

Semifinal 1

RankLaneNameNationalityResultNotes
16 Yuliya Pechenkina Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 53.31Q, SB
23 Jana Pittman Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 54.05Q
31 Sheena Johnson Flag of the United States.svg  United States 54.32Q
44 Brenda Taylor Flag of the United States.svg  United States 55.02Q
58 Natalya Torshina-Alimzhanova Flag of Kazakhstan (3-2).svg  Kazakhstan 55.08SB
65 Małgorzata Pskit Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 55.24
77 Ulrike Urbansky Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 56.44
82 Androula Sialou Flag of Cyprus (1960-2006).svg  Cyprus 1:05.72

Semifinal 2

RankLaneNameNationalityResultNotes
14 Faní Halkiá Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 52.77Q, OR
23 Ionela Târlea-Manolache Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 53.32Q, SB
36 Tetyana Tereshchuk-Antipova Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 53.37Q, NR
48 Yekaterina Bikert Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 53.79Q
55 Lashinda Demus Flag of the United States.svg  United States 54.32
67 Yekaterina Bakhvalova Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 54.98
72 Debbie-Ann Parris-Thymes Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 54.99SB
81 Huang Xiaoxiao Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 55.53

Final

[7]

RankLaneNameNationalityResultNotes
Gold medal icon.svg4 Faní Halkiá Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 52.82
Silver medal icon.svg3 Ionela Târlea-Manolache Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 53.38
Bronze medal icon.svg1 Tetyana Tereshchuk-Antipova Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 53.44
48 Sheena Johnson Flag of the United States.svg  United States 53.83
55 Jana Pittman Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 53.92
67 Yekaterina Bikert Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 54.18
72 Brenda Taylor Flag of the United States.svg  United States 54.97
86 Yuliya Pechenkina Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 55.79

References

  1. "Athletics at the 2004 Athens Summer Games: Women's 400 metres Hurdles". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Halkia win sends Athens crowd wild". CNN. 25 August 2004. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  3. "Halkia gold gives Greeks a heroine to cheer". The Telegraph. 25 August 2004. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Halkia sends Greece wild". BBC Sport. 25 August 2004. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  5. "IAAF Athens 2004: Women's 400m Hurdles Heats". Athens 2004 . IAAF . Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  6. "IAAF Athens 2004: Women's 400m Hurdles Semifinals". Athens 2004 . IAAF . Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  7. "IAAF Athens 2004: Women's 400m Hurdles Final". Athens 2004 . IAAF . Retrieved 12 October 2015.