Report29 Aug 2011


Women's 400m - Final - Montsho over Felix in a thriller!

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Amantle Montsho of Botswana celebrates winning the 400m gold in Daegu (© Getty Images)

Amantle Montsho responded to the stimulus of Allyson Felix both early and late in a thrilling women’s 400m to become Botswana’s first World Championships medallist and first World Championships gold medallist.


Previously only Montsho had ever made a women’s final for her nation. She finished last in the Berlin 2009 400m. At the same championships, Gable Garenamotse became the only other top-eight for the African nation when he finished seventh in the Long Jump.


In Daegu on Monday night, Botswana struck gold.


Montsho, the dominant performer on the 2011 Samsung Diamond League circuit with five wins, sliced a quarter of a second off her previous best in running a national record 49.56.


She needed pretty well every hundredth: Felix, who had been drawn one lane inside the Botswana athlete in lane three, quickly made up the stagger on the first bend. Montsho responded immediately, as if she had been expecting the American.


Coming onto the final bend, Montsho went for another gear. Berlin 2009 silver medallist Shericka Williams had drawn lane seven, but Montsho and Felix clearly led on the stagger and the race for the gold medal was between them even before they straightened.


By right, the final straight should have belonged to Montsho, who is more accustomed to the demands of the one-lap distance than Felix, the three-time World champion at 200m.


Rhythm will carry you a long way in a 400m, however, and Felix has more rhythm than a symphony orchestra. Gradually she whittled down Montsho’s advantage until it looked like she must pass the Botswana.


Again, just as in the first 100, Montsho answered the challenge. Straining every sinew, she held nerve and, more importantly, form to cross the line 0.03 to the good. The 28-year-old champion trains at the IAAF High Performance Training Centre in Senegal.


The silver medallist still has her chance to win her fourth gold medal in the 200m with the heats on Thursday. Her gamble of going for a 400-200 double has not paid off to the maximum, though her run in the final produced a silver medal and personal best. It will be interesting to see if it has any impact on her 200m defence.


Defending champion Sanya Richards-Ross, who never looked a chance to retain her title until she ran 49.66 to win at the London SDL meeting on 5 August, found herself in lane one after being the slowest qualifier from the semi-final round. She never got into the race, finishing seventh in 51.32.


Anastasiya Kapachinskaya, the Paris 2003 200m World champion, took the bronze medal in 50.24. She still has the fastest time in the world for the year of 49.35 in the Russian national championship.


Francena McCorory of USA, who emerged as a medal threat after winning her semi-final, finished fourth in 50.45, Berlin 2009 bronze medallist Antonina Krivoshapka was fifth in 50.66 and Berlin silver medallist Shericka Williams seventh in 50.79.


Len Johnson for the IAAF


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