Canada clocked a championship record 44.76 to beat American Khaleb McRae as the Czech Republic’s Lourdes Gloria Manuel won the women’s 400m in a new format in Torun.
Christopher Morales Williams proved a worthy winner in the men’s 400m title at the World Indoor Championships in Torun on Saturday (March 21st).
Canada’s mighty past world record holder Khaleb McRae The United States in the home straight and set a championship record of 44.76, but fans were left debating the merits of the new format of these “400m finals”, which included two races and the fastest times to earn medals.
The rule change came about because sprinters appeared to be less likely to be fielded in narrow inside lanes. It’s the same reason the 200m was dropped from the major championships a few years ago.
So instead of one final with six athletes, we saw two finals with four athletes in each race.
But as it turned out, it was like a B-final followed by an A-run, with all the medalists coming in the second race.
American Chris Robinson won the first race in 45.55 ahead of European record holder Attila Molnar of Hungary, although they didn’t quite know how to celebrate before being sent to the beanbags where they were asked to wait until the second race took place.
Then in the second race, Morales Williams hung on behind McRae before passing him in the final meters. In third was Jeremy Richards of Trinidad and Tobago with a clocking of 45.39 that earned him the bronze medal.
Lourdes Gloria Manuel of the Czech Republic won gold in the women’s 400m, winning the second final with a time of 50.76. Manuel ran a fast first 200m in 23.27 ahead of Norway’s Henriette Jaeger before finishing the second leg in a painful 27.49 to win as Jaeger slipped on the finish line in the home straight to finish fourth as Haiti’s Wadelin Wenlog finished second in the 50.
The silver and bronze medalists, however, came from the first final. Natalya Bukowiecka, who was roaring on from her home crowd, set a Polish record of 50.83 as she passed Liek Claveri of the Netherlands in the final lap, with the Dutchwoman taking bronze in 51.02.
Wouldn’t it be great to see Bukovecka and Manuel in the same race though? When Bukovecka won his first race, he didn’t know how to celebrate either.
Will these fake timepieces stand the test of time?
