 Coming from the gun, Nigeria's Olabisi Afolabi was the first to break from the stagger formation in lane 3, gaining on Australia's Nova Peris-Kneebone to her outside.After the first half lap, Afolabi began to pay for her enthusiasm, tying up through the second turn where American Jearl Miles Clark and then Jamaican Sandie Richards began to assert themselves.The Jamaicans handed off slightly ahead of the Americans, but Monique Hennagan ran a strong turn to give the Americans the edge ahead of Catherine Scott, with the rest of the world, led by Nigeria and Australia, five metres back.