Angelo Taylor, Olympic champion eight years ago, was the fastest in the 400m hurdles semi finals (© Getty Images)
The USA look set to claim their fourth sweep of the medals in the history of the men’s 400m Hurdles at the Olympic Games as Angelo Taylor, Bershawn Jackson and Kerron Clement were the fastest qualifiers for Monday’s final. And they didn’t even need to work that hard to make it through!
American intermediate hurdlers have claimed the top three places when the event was introduced back in 1920 and then again in 1956 and 1960 led by Glenn Davis’ back to back titles.
After failing to make it to the podium four years ago in Athens, Americans have now three realistic chances of setting the record straight.
First up were US champion Jackson and 2000 Olympic champion Taylor both drawn in the first semi final. And this time, it was Taylor who had been beaten into third at the national championships who looked the better of the pair. Taylor ran a perfectly balanced race coming off the final curve ahead of the field. Meanwhile, Jackson had dropped back down the field as, like in the first round, he ran a very conservative backstretch.
However unconventional Jackson’s tactics may be, they proved enough to easily make it through the 2005 World champion closing in on Taylor in the final stages of the race. Both shut it down before the finish with Taylor, in 47.94 just 8 hundredths ahead of his younger compatriot.
Both improved on their season’s best with Taylor, the only one to dip under 48 seconds in the semi finals, cutting off a massive 48 hundredths of a second off his best time of the year.
In third LJ van Zyl of South Africa, who is also third fastest in the world this year, was next across the finish in 48.57. It will be the first global senior final for the former World Junior champion and two-time African champion.
The US will be the only nation with three representatives in the final as World bronze medallist Marek Plawgo took the fourth and last qualifying spot in heat one. Running in 48.75, he left behind Jamaican Isa Phillips, Alexander Derevyagin of Russia and Pieter de Villiers of South Africa.
Reigning World champion Kerron Clement made just as good an impression winning heat two in 48.27 after running a pretty conservative 250 metres, stuttering ahead of the final barrier and fluidly closing in the run in.
Clement was trailing behind European champion Periklis Iakovakis coming off the final bend but the Greek was unable to counter Clement’s superior speed.
After the disappointment of not making it to the Olympic final in front of his home crowd four years ago, Periklis managed to hold on to fourth, the last qualifying position in a season’s best 48.69 as the Jamaican pair of Danny McFarlane and Markino Buckley sped past in the final stages of the race.
The defending Olympic silver medallist McFarlane easily set a new season’s best 48.33 with Buckley who had been the fastest in yesterday’s heats coming close to the personal best he set in the opening round in 48.69.
The third South African in the event, Alwyn Myburgh faded to fifth in 49.16 thus leaving van Zyl as the only African finalist.
Taylor could become the third American to win two Olympic titles after Davis and the legendary Edwin Moses, a winner in 1976 and 1984.
Laura Arcoleo for the IAAF
