400 Round Qualifying: All 3 Americans Advance, But Makwala Says “We want to take the 400 to Africa, to make it (an) African race.”
by LetsRun.com
August 5, 2017
LONDON — The men’s 400m qualifying rounds at the 2017 IAAF World Championships went largely according to form this morning. The heavy favorite, world record holder, Wayde Van Niekerk, won his heat in 45.27, the only of the six 400 qualifying rounds to be won in over 45 seconds. Van Niekerk may want to save as much energy as possible as he is attempting the 400/200 double and the first round of the 200 is on the day between the 400 semi and 400 final.
Van Niekerk’s chief challengers on paper coming into the meet all won their heats as Botswana’s Isaac Makwala, who is also attempting the 200/400 double, had the fastest time of the day (44.55), the Bahamas Steven Gardiner ran the second-fastest time of the day (44.75) as America’s Fred Kerley of the US ran 44.92 (5th fastest).
We now share with you some of the insight we got from talking to the runners after the race. At the end of the article, we give you full results.
Makwala was asked about the emerging success of African runners in the 400 and he wasn’t shy in his ambitions.”We want to take the 400 to Africa, to make it (an) African race. It was an American race, we want to take it to Africa,” he said. That will only add fuel to the fire of those who believe Botswana has a shot to defeat the US in the 4 x 400 (MB: Could Botswana challenge America in the 4×4?)
The focus with the media has been on van Niekerk attempting to the double, but Makwala, never higher than 5th in a global championshiops, said he can pull it off. Asked about the 400m final, he said, “The final is going to be crazy. It’s going to be hard because we are doubling.”
.45 behind Makwala in heat#5 in 45.00 was 2008 Olympic Champ LaShawn Merritt. Merritt hasn’t raced since USAs and has been battling injuries this year but is here to compete. “I haven’t been having the best of seasons. I’ve been dealing with a little bit here and there, (but) I’m a quarter miler, I’m going to lineup and go at it.”
Merritt acknowledged he’s battling father time. The crazy thing is at 31, he’s only a year older than Makwala (30) and we’re also not sure how familiar Merritt is even with Makwala as Merritt said of his heat, “I didn’t really push it , push it at the end, neither did the guy who won (speaking of Makwala).”
Merritt’s Post Race Comments
22 year old NCAA and US champ Fred Kerley is America’s best hope for gold in the 400 and Kerley looked great in heat 1. The only problem for Kerley was he was so far ahead in his race that he started looking around 300 meters into his race to see if he could shut it down. He continued to look around down the homestrech and nearly lost his balance and almost fell out of his lane. He threw up his hands to keep his balance but still got the heat win.
Michael Johnson on the BBC coverage didn’t see that Kerley nearly stumbled and thought he was just showboating, but he didn’t like Kerley looking around so early. Johnson said, “He is a real talent. I didn’t like this really. Just run the race. Get on with it. You can relax without having to look around. I’m not sure what that was throwing his hands out there. This is serious business. This is the preliminaries. He’s a young athlete. He’ll need to learn from that.”
Gil Roberts (44.92) and Wil London (45.10) of the US both advanced automatically as well to the semifinals by finishing second in their heats. London,who runs collegiately for Baylor, is only 19 and said running the Olympic Trials last year helped him deal with the huge morning session crowd here (the stadium was nearly full).
Results – Summary. Heat by heat results appear farther down.
POS | RANK | HEAT | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | RESULTS | MS* |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 5 | 708 | Isaac MAKWALA | BOT | 44.55 Q | |
2 | 1 | 4 | 667 | Steven GARDINER | BAH | 44.75 Q | |
3 | 1 | 3 | 712 | Baboloki THEBE | BOT | 44.82 Q | |
4 | 1 | 6 | 1071 | Nathon ALLEN | JAM | 44.91 Q | |
5 | 1 | 1 | 1413 | Fred KERLEY | USA | 44.92 Q | .912 |
6 | 2 | 6 | 1431 | Gil ROBERTS | USA | 44.92 Q | .917 |
7 | 2 | 3 | 1084 | Demish GAYE | JAM | 44.98 Q | |
8 | 2 | 5 | 1426 | LaShawn MERRITT | USA | 45.00 Q | |
9 | 2 | 1 | 1325 | Lalonde GORDON | TTO | 45.02 Q SB | |
10 | 3 | 5 | 766 | Jamal WALTON | CAY | 45.05 Q | |
11 | 3 | 1 | 688 | Kévin BORLÉE | BEL | 45.09 Q | |
12 | 4 | 1 | 833 | Pavel MASLÁK | CZE | 45.10 q SB | .091 |
13 | 2 | 4 | 1422 | Wilbert LONDON III | USA | 45.10 Q | .092 |
14 | 4 | 5 | 871 | Óscar HUSILLOS | ESP | 45.22 q PB | |
15 | 3 | 6 | 1266 | Abdalelah HAROUN | QAT | 45.27 Q | .264 |
16 | 1 | 2 | 1282 | Wayde VAN NIEKERK | RSA | 45.27 Q | .265 |
17 | 5 | 1 | 961 | Matthew HUDSON-SMITH | GBR | 45.31 q | |
18 | 3 | 4 | 1055 | Brian GREGAN | IRL | 45.37 Q | |
19 | 3 | 3 | 952 | Dwayne COWAN | GBR | 45.39 Q | |
20 | 4 | 3 | 1143 | Boniface Ontuga MWERESA | KEN | 45.58 q | |
21 | 5 | 3 | 1249 | Rafal OMELKO | POL | 45.69 q | |
22 | 4 | 4 | 689 | Jonathan BORLÉE | BEL | 45.70 q | |
23 | 2 | 2 | 1065 | Davide RE | ITA | 45.71 Q | |
24 | 5 | 4 | 843 | Luguelín SANTOS | DOM | 45.73 | |
25 | 5 | 5 | 1132 | Raymond KIBET | KEN | 45.75 | .748 |
26 | 6 | 5 | 977 | Martyn ROONEY | GBR | 45.75 | .750 |
27 | 3 | 2 | 1324 | Machel CEDENIO | TTO | 45.77 Q |
Steven Gayle of Jamaica was DQd.
Heat by Heat Results
Heat 1
POS | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | REACTION TIME |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1413 | Fred KERLEY | USA | 44.92 Q | 0.151 |
2 | 1325 | Lalonde GORDON | TTO | 45.02 Q SB | 0.187 |
3 | 688 | Kévin BORLÉE | BEL | 45.09 Q | 0.147 |
4 | 833 | Pavel MASLÁK | CZE | 45.10 q SB | 0.198 |
5 | 961 | Matthew HUDSON-SMITH | GBR | 45.31 q | 0.152 |
6 | 714 | Lucas CARVALHO | BRA | 45.86 | 0.169 |
7 | 857 | Lucas BÚA | ESP | 46.00 | 0.153 |
8 | 1129 | Collins Omae GICHANA | KEN | 46.10 | 0.192 |
9 | 768 | Bachir MAHAMAT | CHA | 47.50 | 0.224 |
POS | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | REACTION TIME |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1282 | Wayde VAN NIEKERK | RSA | 45.27 Q | 0.185 |
2 | 1065 | Davide RE | ITA | 45.71 Q | 0.163 |
3 | 1324 | Machel CEDENIO | TTO | 45.77 Q | 0.216 |
4 | 915 | Teddy ATINE – VENEL | FRA | 45.90 | 0.153 |
5 | 813 | Yoandys LESCAY | CUB | 45.93 | 0.228 |
6 | 1289 | Luka JANEŽIC | SLO | 46.06 | 0.244 |
7 | 654 | Steven SOLOMON | AUS | 46.27 | 0.220 |
8 | 1456 | Kimorie SHEARMAN | VIN | 47.05 | 0.172 |
802 | Nery BRENES | CRC | DQ | 0.194 |
POS | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | REACTION TIME |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 712 | Baboloki THEBE | BOT | 44.82 Q | 0.184 |
2 | 1084 | Demish GAYE | JAM | 44.98 Q | 0.206 |
3 | 952 | Dwayne COWAN | GBR | 45.39 Q | 0.162 |
4 | 1143 | Boniface Ontuga MWERESA | KEN | 45.58 q | 0.219 |
5 | 1249 | Rafal OMELKO | POL | 45.69 q | 0.271 |
6 | 868 | Samuel GARCÍA | ESP | 46.37 | 0.176 |
7 | 1272 | Pieter CONRADIE | RSA | 46.62 | 0.141 |
8 | 1288 | Warren HAZEL | SKN | 46.96 | 0.173 |
9 | 630 | Narek GHUKASYAN | ARM | 49.70 SB | 0.198 |
POS | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | REACTION TIME |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 667 | Steven GARDINER | BAH | 44.75 Q | 0.230 |
2 | 1422 | Wilbert LONDON III | USA | 45.10 Q | 0.221 |
3 | 1055 | Brian GREGAN | IRL | 45.37 Q | 0.186 |
4 | 689 | Jonathan BORLÉE | BEL | 45.70 q | 0.174 |
5 | 843 | Luguelín SANTOS | DOM | 45.73 | 0.182 |
6 | 929 | Mamoudou Eliman HANNE | FRA | 45.89 | 0.137 |
7 | 794 | Yilmar HERRERA | COL | 47.18 | 0.204 |
1085 | Steven GAYLE | JAM | DQ | 0.198 |
POS | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | ms* | REACTION TIME |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 708 | Isaac MAKWALA | BOT | 44.55 Q | 0.232 | |
2 | 1426 | LaShawn MERRITT | USA | 45.00 Q | 0.219 | |
3 | 766 | Jamal WALTON | CAY | 45.05 Q | 0.153 | |
4 | 871 | Óscar HUSILLOS | ESP | 45.22 q PB | 0.167 | |
5 | 1132 | Raymond KIBET | KEN | 45.75 | .748 | 0.252 |
6 | 977 | Martyn ROONEY | GBR | 45.75 | .750 | 0.145 |
7 | 1328 | Renny QUOW | TTO | 45.95 | 0.149 | |
8 | 1032 | Winston GEORGE | GUY | 46.02 | 0.239 | |
9 | 909 | Sailosi TUBUILAGI | FIJ | 48.98 | 0.173 |
POS | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | MARK | REACTION TIME |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1071 | Nathon ALLEN | JAM | 44.91 Q | 0.144 |
2 | 1431 | Gil ROBERTS | USA | 44.92 Q | 0.226 |
3 | 1266 | Abdalelah HAROUN | QAT | 45.27 Q | 0.204 |
4 | 1049 | Muhammed Anas YAHIYA | IND | 45.98 | 0.155 |
5 | 1208 | Samson Oghenewegba NATHANIEL | NGR | 46.63 | 0.200 |
6 | 1113 | Takamasa KITAGAWA | JPN | 47.35 | 0.158 |
7 | 711 | Karabo SIBANDA | BOT | 47.44 | 0.153 |
1016 | Emmanuel DASOR | GHA | DNS |