400 meter Running the Rounds at World Champs #Beijing2015

Let’s face it, 3 races in 4 days is not easy. Especially 400 meters.

But the 400m is so brutal on the body, and the less energy you can spend on the rounds, the better.

But it’s not always easy, especially when you have world class speed in the lanes next to you. Sometimes, you have no choice but to go hard or go home. You’ll pay the price, as clearly demonstrated by the stats below, compiled by Ian Graham.

Photo credits: Getty Images (c) copyright

Here we see 17 guys sub 45.00 seconds in today’s semi-finals.

Take a look at their heats and their semi-final times.

Legend: Heat time, Athlete, Semi-Final time, differential, DNQ = Did Not Qualify for the final…

43.93 Rusheen McDonald – 44.86 semi-final (0.93 slower) DNQ
43.93 Yousef Ahmed Masrahi – 44.40 semi-final (0.47 slower)
44.19 Isaac Makwala – 44.11 semi-final (0.08 faster)
44.42 Wayde Van Niekerk – 44.31 semi-final (0.11 faster)
44.43 David Verburg – 44.71 semi-final (0.28 slower) DNQ
44.45 Martyn Rooney – 45.29 semi-final (0.84 slower) DNQ
44.51 LaShawn Merritt – 44.34 semi-final (0.17 faster)
44.54 Machel Cedenio – 44.64 semi-final (0.10 slower)
44.54 Renny Quow – 44.70 semi-final (0.16 slower) DNQ
44.56 Kirani James – 44.16 semi-final (0.40 faster)
44.62 Luguelin Santos – 44.26 semi-final (0.36 faster)
44.65 Bryshon Nellum – 44.77 semi-final (0.05 slower) DNQ
45.24 Rabah Yousif – 44.54 semi-final (0.70 faster)

Looking at the list above, you can see how the veterans (Merritt, James, and Santos) ran smart, running just enough to get to the next round and conserving energy. And kudos goes to Rabah Yousif of Great Britain for the slowest heat time that made the finals!

And you can see how the 400 heats zapped the speed and strength in the legs from the fast heat times!