Defending World champion and 1996 Olympic gold medallist, American Derrick Adkins was eliminated from Monday night’s final after finishing 5th in the 2nd Semifinal of the 400 meters hurdles in 48.95. The heat was won by Russian Ruslan Mashchenko with a season’s best of 48.54, with Jamaican Dinsdale Morgan in 2nd with 48.56, running in lane 8.
Adkins was 2nd behind Mashchenko at the 10th hurdle, but struggled in the last meters and fell to a disappointing 5th place.
The best time of the semifinals was set by 1997 world leader, American Bryan Bronson, who showed a very good form and took the 3rd heat in 47.83, in a race where 3 national records were improved. Italian Fabrizio Mori, 2nd in 48.17, Czech Republic’s Jiri Muzic, 3rd in 48.27 and Hungary’s Dusan Kovacs 4th in 48.45 were the men who set new standards for their countries, although Kovacs missed the final by 1/100 of second.
European record holder, France’s Stephane Diagana took the 1st semifinal with a season’s best of 48.14, ahead of South Africa’s Llewellyn Herbert (48.31) and 1991 World Champion, Zambia’s Samuel Matete (48.44) who advanced to the final as the 2nd fastest qualifier by time
