51 athletes were entered in the first round of the men’s 400m with the first three of each of the seven heats and the three fastest losers advancing to the semi finals of tomorrow afternoon.
Russia’s Valentin Kruglyakov clocked the fastest qualifying time with 46.48 with USA’s Keith Hinnant second fastest in 46.54. There were a total of four national records and nine personal bests set this morning.
It took USA’s Keith Hinnant a new personal best of 46.54 to win the first heat ahead of Panama’s Andres Rodriguez whose time of 47.02 in second improved his personal best by a massive 1.20 seconds! Running in lane five, Andretti Bain of Bahamas was the fastest out of the blocks with Rodriguez in lane three trying to close the gap at half way and gradually catching up as the athletes entered the final straight. Hinnant ran a more cautious race and came through in the final stages of the race to take a comfortable win. Trinidad and Tobago’s Renny Quow kicked in the last few metres to take the third and last automatic qualifying place in 47.19 leaving Bain in fourth and fastest loser.
The 2003 World Youth champion from Sherbrooke Nagmeldin Ali Abubakr of Sudan ran a very smooth race in heat two as he effortlessly clocked 46.68 for the win. Running in lane 7 and with no one in front of him, Abubakr ran virtually alone leaving the rest of the field to battle it out for the remaining qualifying positions. It looked like Cory Innes of New Zealand and Carlos Perez of Venezuela had their positions secured but while Innes managed to hold on to second with a new personal pest 47.31, Perez faded dramatically and had to be content with fourth as Australia’s Ben Offerens sped past him and finished in 47.54.
Russia’s Maksim Aleksandrenko won heat three in 47.47 with Japan’s Kazunori Ota second in 47.88 and Ruaan Grobler of South Africa 48.09. Nigeria’s Udomsinachi Erete, the ninth fastest 400m junior runner in 2004, was the first casualty of the championships as his fourth place 48.70 wasn’t good enough to advance to the semi finals.
US champion and the fastest junior in the world this year LaShawn Merritt was a superb winner of heat four as he effortlessly clocked 46.70, the fourth fastest time of round one. Australia’s Sean Wroe set a new personal best 47.17 to take second with Poland’s Damian Kempa holding on to third in 47.43, another personal best. Roger Polydore of Dominica improved the national 400m record to 47.43 and advanced to the semi finals as the third fastest loser.
There was another national junior record in the fifth heat as Serdar Tamac of Turkey clocked 47.14 to win the race. Tamac entered the home straight way behind Sri Lanka’s Manoj Pushpa Kumara who had run the strongest first half of the race but a fantastic final kick in the last 20 metres saw the Turk out-dip Kumara by just two hundredths of a second. Brazil’s Paulo Roberto Orlando was third in 47.48.
Russia’s Valentin Kruglyakov was an impressive winner of heat six as he powered through the final straight level with Italy’s Claudio Licciardello. With a superbe technique and impressive strength Kruglyakov sped away and crossed the finish line in 46.48 the fastest time of this morning’s heats. Licciardello faded and finished a disappointing fourth in 47.35 as Great Britain’s Richard Buck and Jamaica’s Michael Gardener took second and third respectively.
The final heat saw Botswana’s Obakeng Ngwigwa improve the national junior record to 46.92. The diminutive runner finished well clear of Croatia’s Zeljko Vincek and Yudai Sasaki of Japan.
