The women's 400 metres hurdles at the 2022 World Athletics Championships was held over three rounds at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from 19 to 22 July 2022. It was the nineteenth time that this event was contested at the World Athletics Championships. Athletes could qualify by running the entry standard of 55.40 seconds or faster, by winning selected competitions, or by their position on the World Athletics Rankings.

Thirty-seven athletes from twenty-six nations competed in round 1, where twenty-four athletes advanced to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, eight athletes advanced to the final, including Gianna Woodruff of Panama, who set a South American record of 53.69 s; Ayomide Folorunso of Italy and Viivi Lehikoinen of Finland set national records, but did not advance. The final was won by Sydney McLaughlin of the United States in a world record of 50.68 s, followed by Femke Bol of the Netherlands in second place in 52.27 s and Dalilah Muhammad of the United States in third place in 53.13 s.

McLaughlin's world record race was called "one of the greatest track performances of all time".Amy Tennery, "Mighty McLaughlin shatters 400 metres hurdles world record", Reuters, 23 July 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2025. At the time, it had the largest relative margin between a world record and the next-fastest athlete's time of any track event.

Background

In the 400 metres hurdles, athletes run one lap on a 400-metre track while jumping over ten hurdles."400 Metres Hurdles", World Athletics. Retrieved 2 June 2025. The women's world championship in this event was introduced in 1980 and had been contested eighteen times at the World Athletics Championships before 2022.Mark Butler (editor), "World Athletics Championships Oregon 2022 – Statistics Handbook", , World Athletics, 11 July 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2025.

Initially scheduled for 2021, these championships were postponed to 2022, following the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics to 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic."Dates confirmed for World Athletics Championships Oregon 2022", World Athletics, 22 November 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2025. They were held at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, that had been renovated in 2018–2020."Legends Will Compete for Glory, July 15–24, 2022", World Athletics. Retrieved 2 June 2025.

At the start of these championships, Sydney McLaughlin held the world record of 51.41 s set at the 2022 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on 25 June 2022, which was the world leading performance of the 2022 season until then, and Dalilah Muhammad held the championship record of 52.16 s set at the 2019 World Athletics Championships on 4 October 2019 and was the defending champion."400 Metres Hurdles Women - Round 1 – Summary", World Athletics, 19 July 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2025.

+ Global records before the 2022 World Athletics Championships Record Athlete (nation) Location Date World record 51.41 Eugene, United States 25 June 2022 World leading Championship record 52.16 Doha, Qatar 4 October 2019

+ Area records before the 2022 World Athletics Championships Record Athlete (nation) Location Date African record"Toplists – All time Top lists – Senior – 400 Metres Hurdles women – Africa", World Athletics. Retrieved 2 June 2025. 52.90 Seville, Spain 25 August 1999 Asian record"Toplists – All time Top lists – Senior – 400 Metres Hurdles women – Asia", World Athletics. Retrieved 2 June 2025. 53.96 Beijing, China 9 September 1993 Guangzhou, China 17 November 2001 European record"Toplists – All time Top lists – Senior – 400 Metres Hurdles women – Europe", World Athletics. Retrieved 2 June 2025. 52.03 Tokyo, Japan 4 August 2021 North, Central Americanand Caribbean record"Toplists – All time Top lists – Senior – 400 Metres Hurdles women – North And Central America", World Athletics. Retrieved 2 June 2025. 51.41 Eugene, United States 25 June 2022 Oceanian record"Toplists – All time Top lists – Senior – 400 Metres Hurdles women – Oceania", World Athletics. Retrieved 2 June 2025. 53.17 Seoul, South Korea 28 September 1988 South American record"Toplists – All time Top lists – Senior – 400 Metres Hurdles women – South America", World Athletics. Retrieved 2 June 2025. 54.20 Eugene, United States 21 August 2021

Qualification For this event, forty athletes could qualify by running the entry standard of 55.40 s or faster between 28 June 2021 until 26 June 2022, by winning the area championship of their continent in 2020–2022, by wild card for the defending champion of 2019 or the Diamond League champion in 2021, and by their position on the World Athletics Rankings on 26 June 2022. Only one athlete per nation could qualify by wild card. A maximum of three athletes per nation could participate, or four in case of a wild card."Qualification System and Entry Standards", World Athletics, 2 December 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2025. A final entry list with forty athletes from twenty-six nations was issued on 7 July 2022."Entry Lists by Event and Country", , World Athletics, 7 July 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2025.

Results Round 1

Thirty-seven athletes from twenty-six nations competed in the five heats of round 1 on 19 July in the afternoon, starting at 17:15 (UTC−7). Twenty-four athletes advanced to the next round: the first four athletes in each heat () and the next four fastest athletes overall () qualified for the semi-finals. In the third heat, Daniela Ledecká of Slovakia did not finish (). In the fourth heat, Kristiina Halonen of Finland ran a personal best () of 56.68 s, although she didn't advance to the next round. In the fifth heat, Amalie Iuel of Norway also ran a personal best () of 54.70 s, which was fast enough to advance.

+ Results of round 1 Rank Heat Lane Athlete Nation Notes 1 3 8 53.90 2 1 8 53.95 3 4 3 54.45 4 2 5 54.52 5 5 4 54.54 6 5 5 54.69 7 5 7 54.70 , 8 2 8 54.77 9 4 2 54.91 10 1 2 54.93 11 2 3 54.95 12 5 2 54.99 13 3 7 55.05 14 1 7 55.09 15 3 6 55.21 16 2 2 55.27 17 1 5 55.42 18 3 2 55.48 19 3 4 55.72 20 2 7 55.72 21 4 4 55.89 22 1 6 55.90 , 23 2 6 56.09 24 5 3 56.24 25 4 5 56.24 26 1 4 56.40 27 5 6 56.67 28 4 6 56.68 29 2 4 56.78 30 5 8 56.79 31 4 1 57.01 32 4 7 57.12 33 4 8 57.42 34 2 1 57.99 35 3 5 Quách Thị Lan 58.84 36 1 3 59.46 3 3

Semi-finals

Twenty-four athletes of sixteen nations competed in the three heats of the semi-finals on 20 July in the evening, starting at 18:15 (UTC−7). Eight athletes, the first two athletes in each heat () and the next two fastest athletes overall (), qualified for the final. In the first heat, Zenéy van der Walt of South Africa set a personal best () of 54.81 s, but did not advance. In the second heat, Rushell Clayton set a personal best () of 53.63 s, which made her advance, and Viivi Lehikoinen of Finland set a national record () of 54.60 s, which was not fast enough to advance. In the third heat, Gianna Woodruff of Panama set a South American record () of 53.69 s, which made her advance, and Ayomide Folorunso of Italy set a national record () of 54.34 s, which was not fast enough to advance.

+ Results of the semi-finals Rank Heat Lane Athlete Nation Notes 1 3 6 52.17 2 2 3 52.84 3 1 4 53.28 , 4 2 6 53.61 , 5 2 8 53.63 , 6 3 7 53.69 , 7 2 5 53.72 8 3 3 54.16 9 3 8 54.24 10 3 5 54.34 11 2 7 54.49 12 1 5 54.51 13 2 4 54.60 14 1 6 54.66 15 3 4 54.81 16 1 3 54.81 17 3 1 55.13 18 2 2 55.39 19 1 8 55.42 20 1 1 55.53 21 1 7 55.57 22 1 2 55.90 23 2 1 56.04 24 3 2 56.31

Final

Eight athletes from five nations competed in the final on 22 July in the evening, starting at 19:50 (UTC−7). After 100 metres, Sydney McLaughlin of the United States was ahead of the other runners, followed by Dalilah Muhammad of the United States and Femke Bol of the Netherlands. In the second 100 metres, McLaughlin continued to lead the race, while Bol had passed Muhammad. In the last 200 metres of the race, McLaughlin, Bol, and Muhammad kept hurdling in this order. McLaughlin won the race, improving her own world record () with 0.73 s to 50.68 s, Bol finished in second place equalling her season's best performance (=) of 52.27 s and Muhammad finished in third place with a season's best performance () of 53.13 s."400 Metres Hurdles Women - Final – Results", World Athletics, 22 July 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2025."400 Metres Hurdles Women – Final – Race Analysis", World Athletics, 22 July 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2025.

Scott Cacciola of The New York Times wrote that McLaughlin "broke the world record for the fourth time in two years, demolishing a deep and decorated field".Scott Cacciola, "Sydney McLaughlin Broke Her Own World Record. Again.", The New York Times, 22 July 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2025. Amy Tennery of Reuters said that McLaughlin "produced one of the greatest track performances of all time (...) by shattering her own 400 metres hurdles world record". Scott M. Reid of The Orange County Register thought that McLaughlin's performance was "worthy of the sport's ultimate compliment – Beamonesque".Scott M. Reid, "Sydney McLaughlin obliterates her own world record in 400 hurdles", The Orange County Register, 5 January 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2025. And Euan Crumley of Athletics Weekly wrote as a headline for his report of the final: "McLaughlin produces another moment of real magic".Euan Crumley, "McLaughlin produces another moment of real magic", Athletics Weekly, 18 February 2025. Retrieved 2 June 2025. Jon Mulkeen of World Athletics calculated that the margin between McLaughlin's time and that of the next-fastest athlete of all time was 1.78%, the largest relative margin of all track world records at the time.Jon Mulkeen, "From anonymity to award-winner, McLaughlin-Levrone plots future path", World Athletics, 6 December 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2025.

In an interview after the race, McLaughlin said: "The time is absolutely amazing and the sport is getting faster and faster. Just figuring out what barriers can be broken. I only get faster from here. I executed the race the way Bobby wanted me to. I knew coming home that if I just kept my cadence and stayed on stride pattern, we could do it and it happened."Jess Whittington, "McLaughlin obliterates world 400m hurdles record with 50.68 in Oregon", World Athletics, 23 July 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2025. Bol said: "I ran against the best in the world, Sydney is just very strong. She was so far in front at the end, so I was always doubting if I really had a good race because it felt very good. Then I saw the time and I was like: 'Wow'. It is amazing to be a part of it and to come out second in such a race." Muhammad said: "I'm having mixed emotions, to be honest. It's great to get a medal but I came into these championships on the strength of having always gotten a medal at any championships, despite any injuries. But as a competitor, you always want more."

+ Results of the final Rank Lane Athlete Nation Notes 5 50.68 4 52.27 = 6 53.13 4 3 53.76 5 1 54.02 6 2 54.36 7 7 54.75 8 8 54.93

References

External links