Event Report - Women's 400m - Final

At last! After a career punctured by abject disappointment at global championships Sanya Richards finally, finally delivered the individual 400m title her talent so richly deserves.

Richards has dominated the women's 400m for pretty much the past four seasons but had always suffered heartache at the major events.

As a 20-year-old at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki she had to play second fiddle to Tonique Williams-Darling of the Bahamas. Two years later illness cost her a crack at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka and last year a tactical misjudgement allied to a lack of condition in the final cost her what many expected to be certain gold. She instead won 'only' Olympic bronze.

This season the charismatic American has again dominated. Winning four out of four in the ÅF Golden League series and bagging the world's fastest time in the world.

But here in the Berlin Olympic Stadium she finally got it absolutely right on the big stage with a textbook 400m peformance. Richards stopped the clock in a World leading mark of 49.00 to become the first American to land this title since Jearl Miles took gold the last time the World Championships were hosted in Germany 16 years ago.

Behind her Shericka Williams, the Olympic silver medallist, again had to settle for second place on the podium - albeit with the consolation of a personal best of 49.32 - just 0.02 behind Lorraine Fenton's Jamaican record.

In the race for bronze, Antonia Krivoshapka of Russia edged Jamaica's Novlene Williams-Mills, the 2007 bronze medallist, by 0.06 in 49.71.

An elated Richards who recorded the third fastest winning time in the history of the event, said: "To come here and to win the race, it means the world to me. Finally, I have own a major title! Finally the hard work has paid off. I felt very confident, I hit my marks in the rounds. Before, I had difficulties standing the pressure. But now I am a better athlete."

At the start of the race all eyes were fixed on Richards, who was ideally drawn in lane three and had most of her key rivals to work off on her outside.

For the first 100m Richards set off at a blistering pace and virtually made up the stagger on Williams in lane four.
 
One or two feared this may be Beijing revisited - when she set off a little too quickly in the Olympic final only to tie up down the straight. But on this occasion she seemed much more in control and at halfway Krivoshapka, the European Indoor Champion, held a slight advantage.

However, Richards made her decisive move around the final curve and held a slight lead as she entered the final stretch. Behind her Williams started to move through to the silver medal position with Krivoshapka and Williams-Mills locked in a battle for bronze.

The final 100m was a virtual demonstration by the soon to be crowned champion, who in the concluding stages of the race let out a huge smile knowing the gold medal was hers.

Williams bravely battled to the finish to produce the greatest performance of her career while Krivoshapka earned, surprisingly, Russia's first ever World Championship medal in this event - if we discount medals attained in the Soviet Union era.

The dethroned champion Christine Ohuruogu of Great Britain finished strongly, but on this occasion the Olympic gold medallist had to settle for fifth in 50.21.

America's Debbie Dunn was sixth from lane one in 50.35 with the second string Russian Anastasiya Kapachinskaya seventh in 50.53. Amantle Montsho of Botswana was eighth (50.65).

But tonight was all about Richards' redemption for past disappointments.

Steve Landells for the IAAF