2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 400 metres

Women's 400 metres
at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships
Photo of Lieke Klaver, Femke Bol, and Alexis Holmes wearing track suits and having medals around their necks
VenueCommonwealth Arena
LocationGlasgow, United Kingdom
Dates
  • 1 March 2024 (round 1 and semi-finals)
  • 2 March 2024 (final)
Competitors24 from 19 nations
Winning time49.17 s WR
Medalists
gold medal    Netherlands
silver medal    Netherlands
bronze medal    United States

The women's 400 metres at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships took place over three rounds at the Commonwealth Arena in Glasgow, United Kingdom, on 1 and 2 March 2024. This was the nineteenth time that the women's 400 metres was contested at the World Athletics Indoor Championships. Twenty-four athletes from nineteen different nations competed in the event.

The four heats of round 1 were held in the morning of 1 March, where twelve athletes qualified for the next round. Susanne Gogl-Walli of Austria set a national record of 51.43 seconds. The two heats of the semi-finals were held in the evening of 1 March, where six athletes qualified for the final round. Sharlene Mawdsley of Ireland was disqualified for obstruction.

The final was held in the evening of 2 March. Femke Bol of the Netherlands won the gold medal finishing in a new short track world record of 49.17 seconds, followed by Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands in 50.16 seconds and Alexis Holmes of the United States in 50.24 seconds. Gogl-Walli set another Austrian record of 51.37 seconds.

Background

The women's 400 metres had been contested at every edition of the World Athletics Indoor Championships, meaning the event had taken place eighteen times before.[1] The 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the indoor 200-metres track of the Commonwealth Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom.[2]

On 18 February 2024, Femke Bol of the Netherlands had broken the 400 metres short track world record with a time of 49.24 s at the Dutch Indoor Athletics Championships.[3] The championship record of 50.04 s had been set by Olesya Forsheva of Russia in 2006.[4]

Records before the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships[4]
Record Athlete (Nation) Time Location Date
World record  Femke Bol (NED) 49.24 Apeldoorn, Netherlands 18 February 2024
World leading
Championship record  Olesya Forsheva (RUS) 50.04 Moscow, Russia 12 March 2006

Qualification

For this event, the qualification period was from 1 January 2023 until 18 February 2024.[5] Athletes could qualify by running the entry standards (or faster) of 51.60 s on 200-metre indoor tracks or 50.50 s on 400-metre outdoor tracks, by receiving a wild card for winning the event at the World Athletics Indoor Tour in 2023 or 2024, or by their position on the World Athletics Ranking for the event up to the target of 30 athletes.[5] A final entry list containing twenty-five athletes from nineteen nations was issued on 24 February 2024.[6]

Results

Round 1

The four heats of round 1 were held on 1 March, starting at 10:22 (UTC) in the morning. Of the 24 competing athletes, the first two in each heat (Q) and the next four fastest (q) qualified for the semi-finals. In the second heat, Susanne Gogl-Walli set an Austrian record (NR) of 51.43 seconds. In the third heat, three athletes finished second in 52.229 seconds and all were advanced to the next round (Q), leaving only two instead of four time-fastest spots (q) for the semi-finals.[4]

Results of round 1[4]
Rank Heat Lane Name Nation Time Notes
1 2 6 Lieke Klaver  Netherlands 51.31 Q
2 2 4 Susanne Gogl-Walli  Austria 51.43 Q, NR
3 1 5 Laviai Nielsen United Kingdom Great Britain & N.I. 51.82 Q
4 2 5 Lada Vondrová  Czech Republic 51.94 q
5 4 6 Femke Bol  Netherlands 52.00 Q
6 2 3 Stacey-Ann Williams  Jamaica 52.16 q
7 3 5 Talitha Diggs  United States 52.17 (52.167) Q
8 1 6 Andrea Miklós  Romania 52.17 (52.168) Q
9 3 3 Sharlene Mawdsley  Ireland 52.23 (52.229) Q[a]
3 6 Henriette Jæger  Norway 52.23 (52.229)
3 4 Amandine Brossier  France 52.23 (52.229)
12 1 3 Tereza Petržilková  Czech Republic 52.31 [a]
13 4 5 Alexis Holmes  United States 52.53 Q
14 1 4 Cátia Azevedo  Portugal 52.92 [a]
15 4 4 Charokee Young  Jamaica 53.04
16 1 2 Eva Santidrián  Spain 53.07
17 2 1 Gunta Vaičule  Latvia 53.09 SB
18 4 1 Ayomide Folorunso  Italy 53.15
19 4 3 Tiffani Marinho  Brazil 53.48
20 4 2 Grace Claxton  Puerto Rico 54.62
21 3 2 Lauren Hoffman  Philippines 54.66
22 2 2 Yanique Haye-Smith Turks and Caicos Islands Turks and Caicos Islands 54.98 SB
23 1 1 Shalysa Wray  Cayman Islands 55.82 SB
24 3 1 Tábata de Carvalho  Brazil 57.73

Semi-finals

Photo of Lieke Klaver, Talitha Diggs, and Susanne Gogl-Walli running in the bend of a red 200-metres track
Lieke Klaver, Talitha Diggs, and Susanne Gogl-Walli during the first heat of the semi-finals

The two semi-final heats were held on 1 March, starting at 20:50 (UTC) in the evening. Of the twelve competing athletes, the first three in each heat qualified (Q) for the final. In the first heat, Lieke Klaver received a yellow card for disturbing the start, and Sharlene Mawdsley was disqualified (DQ) for obstruction during the race.[8] In an interview, Klaver said about the warning: "I immediately felt that my left leg was trembling a bit, so I knew that if they are giving something like a card, then it will be yellow for me. Yeah, I wasn't worried."[9]

Results of the semi-finals[10]
Rank Heat Lane Name Nation Time Notes
1 2 5 Femke Bol  Netherlands 50.66 Q
2 2 2 Alexis Holmes  United States 50.99 Q
3 1 5 Lieke Klaver  Netherlands 51.18 Q
4 1 6 Talitha Diggs  United States 51.28 Q
5 2 6 Laviai Nielsen United Kingdom Great Britain & N.I. 51.44 Q
6 2 3 Henriette Jæger  Norway 51.48
7 2 4 Andrea Miklós  Romania 51.83
8 1 3 Susanne Gogl-Walli  Austria 52.47 Q
9 2 1 Lada Vondrová  Czech Republic 52.48
10 1 1 Stacey-Ann Williams  Jamaica 52.72
11 1 2 Amandine Brossier  France 53.26
1 4 Sharlene Mawdsley  Ireland DQ TR17.1.2[O][b]

Final

Femke Bol raising her right hand in celebration after the finish in the foreground with the other five competitors in the background
Femke Bol ahead of the other competitors right after she broke the world record in the final

The final was held on 2 March, starting at 21:02 (UTC) in the evening. Femke Bol of the Netherlands led early in the race and had the fastest intermediate times at 100 metres of 11.89 s, at 200 metres of 23.61 s, and at 300 metres of 36.06 s. Bol won the race in 49.17 seconds, improving her own 400 metres short track world record (WR) by 0.07 seconds and the championship record by Olesya Forsheva by 0.87 seconds. She was followed 0.99 seconds later by Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands, who finished in second place in 50.16 seconds. Alexis Holmes of the United States finished third in 50.24 seconds in a new personal best (PB). Laviai Nielsen also ran a personal best of 50.89 seconds, and Susanne Gogl-Walli set another Austrian record (NR) of 51.37 seconds.[10][11]

For Reuters, Lori Ewing wrote that Bol "made it look effortless".[2] For Athletics Weekly, Jason Henderson described Bol's performance as one "that oozed controlled power".[12] For Olympics.com, Rory Jiwani reported that Bol "enhanced her status as one of the stars of track and field with a stunning triumph".[13] Bol herself said in an interview: "I knew I needed a really good race to win this gold. I knew I had to open fast, and once you open fast you have to keep going because you'll die anyway! It's amazing to also run a world record again. I was hoping to be in the 49... my coaches thought I could do it but I really wanted the gold."[13]

Results of the final[11]
Rank Lane Name Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 Femke Bol  Netherlands 49.17 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 6 Lieke Klaver  Netherlands 50.16
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3 Alexis Holmes  United States 50.24 PB
4 2 Laviai Nielsen United Kingdom Great Britain & N.I. 50.89 PB
5 4 Talitha Diggs  United States 51.23 =SB[14]
6 1 Susanne Gogl-Walli  Austria 51.37 NR

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Although only the top two places per heat were set to automatically advance, there was a three-way dead heat for 2nd place in the third heat. This meant that all three second-place finishers advanced, and because only twelve spots were available for the semifinals, there were two less time qualifiers than expected, and Tereza Petržilková and Cátia Azevedo did not advance in accordance with rule 21.4 of the competition rules.[4][7]
  2. ^ World Athletics rule TR17.1.2[O] for obstruction[10]

References

  1. ^ "A Look at the World Athletics Indoor Championships", World Athletics. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  2. ^ a b Lori Ewing, "Bol crushes world record, Kerr thrills home crowd at world indoors", Reuters, 3 March 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  3. ^ "Bol breaks world indoor 400m record with 49.24 in Apeldoorn", World Athletics, 18 February 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Results 400 Metres Women - Round 1" (PDF). World Athletics. 1 March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 March 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  5. ^ a b "World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 – Qualification System and Entry Standards", World Athletics. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Athletes by Event and Season Best", World Athletics. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  7. ^ "Competition & Technical Rules". World Athletics. 1 March 2024. p. 40. Archived from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024. 21.4 Where qualifying for the next round is based on place and time (e.g. the first three in each of two heats plus the next two fastest), and there is a tie for the last qualifying position based on place, placing the tied athletes in the next round shall reduce the number of athletes qualifying based on time.
  8. ^ "400 Metres Women – Semi-Final – Results – Revised", World Athletics, 1 March 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  9. ^ "Bol en Klaver naar finale en klaar voor duel om goud op 400 meter bij WK indoor" (in Dutch), NOS, 1 March 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  10. ^ a b c "Summary 400 Metres Women - Semi-Final" (PDF). World Athletics. 1 March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Results 400 Metres Women - Final" (PDF). World Athletics. 2 March 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 June 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  12. ^ Jason Henderson, "Femke Bol takes down world indoor 400m record again", Athletics Weekly, 3 March 2024 (updated 29 January 2025). Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  13. ^ a b Rory Jiwani, "World Athletics Indoor Championships 2024: Femke Bol breaks own world record to clinch 400m title", Olympics.com, 2 March 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2025.
  14. ^ "Talitha Diggs", World Athletics. Retrieved 11 May 2025.