2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 400 metres hurdles
Introduction The '''men's 400 metres hurdles''' at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 15, 16 and 18 August.The United States hurdling team was by far the strongest entered by any country, comprising defending champion Kerron Clement, two-time Olympic champion Angelo Taylor, 2005 World Champion Bershawn Jackson, and the emerging Johnny Dutch. The world-leading 400 m hurdler L.J. van Zyl, veterans Danny McFarlane and Félix Sánchez, and the improving Isa Phillips and Javier Culson were also identified as possible medal contenders.In the heats, Briton Dai Greene completed an unexpected and comfortable win, while seventeen-year-old Jehue Gordon of Trinidad and Tobago surprised with a senior national record to qualify for the semis. In the semi-finals, van Zyl failed to qualify, following his pattern of poor performances at the biggest races of the season. Dutch and Phillips also failed to make the cut. Clement and Sánchez lead the way in the first semi, while Jackson and Greene (who set a personal best) took the top two spots in the other final.In the final, Clement, Jackson and Culson all started the race well. However, it was the favourite, Clement, who took the gold medal: he was ahead at the final straight and did not relinquish his position, recording a world-leading time to win. Culson set a Puerto Rican record to take the silver, while Jackson fended off a challenge from national-record-breaking Gordon to keep third and win the bronze.Although Clement's winning time was the second slowest in the history of the Championships, it remained a close race for the silver and bronze medals, with just 0.6 seconds between the silver medallist and seventh-placed Greene. The race had a breadth of ages, with Trinidadian Gordon becoming the youngest ever finalist of any men's sprint event at the Championships, and 37-year-old McFarlane being the oldest ever to do the same feat. Clement became the third man to win two consecutive world titles in the event, after Ed Moses and Félix Sánchez.
Medalists Kerron Clement retained his world title. '''Gold''''''Silver''''''Bronze'''Kerron Clement''''Javier Culson''''Bershawn Jackson ''''
Records Prior to the competition, the following records were as follows. '''World record''''''46.78'''Barcelona, Spain6 August 1992'''Championship record''''''47.18'''Stuttgart, Germany19 August 1993'''World leading''''''47.94'''Monaco28 July 2009'''African record''''''47.10'''Zürich, Switzerland7 August 1991'''Asian record''''''47.53'''Sydney, Australia27 September 2000'''North American record''''''46.78'''Barcelona, Spain6 August 1992'''South American record''''''47.84'''Helsinki, Finland7 August 2005'''European record''''''47.37'''Lausanne, Switzerland5 July 1995'''Oceanian record''''''48.28'''Atlanta, United States31 July 1996
Qualification standards A timeB time 49.25 49.80
Schedule  Date Time RoundAugust 15, 2009  '''20:20'''   '''Heats'''August 16, 2009  '''20:15'''   '''Semifinals'''August 18, 2009  '''20:50'''  '''Final'''
Results ===Heats===Qualification: First 3 in each heat('''Q''') and the next 4 fastest('''q''') advance to the semifinals.Rank  Heat   Name  Nationality  Time  Notes3 Kerron Clement   48.39Q 3 Danny McFarlane   48.65Q 3 Jehue Gordon   48.66Q, '''NR''' 4  Dai Greene   48.76Q3 Félix Sánchez   48.76q, SB 1  Isa Phillips   48.99 Q1 Periklis Iakovakis   49.12Q,  SB2 Javier Culson   49.27Q 3 Omar Cisneros   49.27q10 2  Bershawn Jackson  49.34Q  111 Johnny Dutch   49.38Q 12 2  Kazuaki Yoshida   49.45Q, PB13 4  L. J. van Zyl   49.48 Q14 1  Andrés Silva    49.51  q, '''NR'''15 2  Tristan Thomas   49.53q16 1  Kenji Narisako   49.60 17  4  Brendan Cole   49.63Q18 4  Angelo Taylor   49.64   193 Michaël Bultheel   49.67PB20 4  Fadil Bellaabouss   49.73  21 4  Aleksandr Derevyagin    49.83   22 2  Rhys Williams   49.88 231Stanislav Melnykov  50.41   24 1  Mahau Suguimati    51.05   25 1  Jussi Heikkilä   51.42   26 2  Ibrahima Maïga   51.70  273 Jonathan Williams   52.41   2  Josef Robertson      DQ 2  Héni Kechi     DQ3 Joseph G. Abraham DQ   4  Kurt Couto     DQ     4  Ali Obaid Shirook        DNF'''Key''':  NR = National record, PB = Personal best, Q = qualification by place in heat, q = qualification by overall place, SB = Seasonal best===Semifinals===Qualification: First 3 in each semifinal('''Q''') and the next 2 fastest('''q''') advance to the final.Rank  Heat   Name  Nationality  Time  Notes 11 Kerron Clement    48.00    Q, SB  2 2  Bershawn Jackson   48.23  Q 3 2  Dai Greene    48.27  Q, PB 41 Félix Sánchez    48.34  Q, SB 51 Javier Culson    48.43 Q 61 Danny McFarlane    48.49  q 72 Periklis Iakovakis    48.73  Q, SB 81 Jehue Gordon    48.77 q 9 1  L. J. van Zyl     48.80    10 2  Isa Phillips    48.93   112 Omar Cisneros    49.21   122 Johnny Dutch    49.28   13 1  Andrés Silva    49.34  '''NR''' 14 2  Tristan Thomas     49.76  151  Brendan Cole    49.92   16 2  Kazuaki Yoshida    50.34  '''Key''':  NR = National record, PB = Personal best, Q = qualification by place in heat, q = qualification by overall place, SB = Seasonal best===Final===Clement beat Javier Culson to the gold.Rank     Name  Nationality  Time  Notes   Kerron Clement    47.91  ''' WL'''  Javier Culson     48.09  '''NR'''   Bershawn Jackson   48.23     4  Jehue Gordon    48.26  '''NR''' 5  Periklis Iakovakis    48.42   SB 6  Danny McFarlane    48.65   7   Dai Greene    48.68    8  Félix Sánchez    50.11   '''Key''':  NR = National record, SB = Seasonal best, WL = World leading (in a given season)
References ;General* 400 metres hurdles results. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-15.;Specific