Oregon22: Men’s 400m Hurdles Preview

Men's 400m hurdles (Day 2: 9.20pm Irish Time)

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Irish Athlete: Thomas Barr

Ireland's Thomas Barr (PB 47.97 Rio 2016) was unlucky to miss out on an Olympic final in Tokyo and will have his sights firmly set on progressing through the heats. Barr's SB of 49.53 would rank him 57th this season, but the Ferrybank star has a track record of saving his best performances for the biggest stage. Barr made it 10 national 400m hurdle title last month and has looked to be returning to full sharpness at the right time once more in what looks to be arguably the most high quality event of these championships.

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It proved the race of the Olympics in Tokyo – a riveting showdown that produced an unfathomably fast winning time of 45.94 – but the question now is this: can the encore at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 possibly live up to it?

The answer hinges on another series of questions.

One: how fit is Karsten Warholm after the hamstring injury he sustained in Rabat in early June? When the Norwegian lines up in Oregon, it will have been over 10 months since he last finished a race. 

Two: how much will the several weeks of missed training – due to a bad bout of Covid-19 and tendonitis in his upper hamstring – have taken out of USA’s Rai Benjamin?

And three: is Alison dos Santos – the 22-year-old Brazilian who’s the fastest in the world this year – truly ready to depose the two men who beat him in Tokyo and become the first ever South American to win a medal in this event at the World Championships?

While the heats and semifinals on 16/17 July should throw up some indications, it will likely only be in the final, on the evening of 19 July, that the picture comes into clear focus. 

So, back to the first of those questions: how is Warholm’s hamstring? 

On 4 July, the world record-holder said he was “still undergoing rehabilitation, but it's going the right way.” Though he also added: “It’s clear that I need the time to be 100% ready for the competition.”

His coach, Leif Olav Alnes, said they were “positive but realistic considering this type of injury needs time” and that they did “not want to take any chances of starting too early.”

Warholm holds two of the three fastest times in history, and four of the top 10. He hasn’t lost a 400m hurdles race that he finished since the 2018 Continental Cup. But no matter what level of fitness he brings to Hayward Field, his opponents are ready to take aim. 

Chief among them is Benjamin, who was so painfully denied gold after his astonishing 46.17 clocking in Tokyo last year. “If you would have told me that I was going to run 46.1 and lose,” he said then, “I would have probably beaten you up and told you to get out of my room.”
 

Benjamin was defeated by Dos Santos in Doha in May – 47.24 to 47.49 – and things only worsened thereafter, with Benjamin admitting at the recent US Championships that he’s been running through pain for several weeks. 

“No one really gives a s*** that you’re hurt – just come out here and do what you can do,” he said after powering to victory in 47.04. “This sport is so unforgiving; it doesn’t care who you are or what you’re doing. It’s a really rough year for the 400m hurdles, but I wouldn’t count the event out. I know (Warholm will) be fine. I just won’t believe anything until we all show up and line up.”

With the two fastest men in history carrying health concerns, Dos Santos could be primed to take advantage and take his first global title. The 22-year-old is undefeated this year at his specialist event and appears to be benefiting from a new stride pattern: last year he ran with 12 steps until the second hurdle; this year he does it to hurdle four. 

He’s relishing the chance to take on his two big rivals in Oregon. 

“Benjamin doesn’t like to lose, and Warholm too,” said Dos Santos in Eugene in May, where he clocked 47.23 on a cool, damp day. “We all train so hard to win, so we need to have focus and think, ‘I’ll do my best here.’”

Dos Santos said he “was expecting such (a) time” after running 46.80 in Stockholm and given he took 0.62 off his season’s best in Tokyo last year, he has reason to dream of the ultimate goal in Oregon. “I feel ready for the championships now and it will be very exciting,” he said.

And what about that mind-boggling time from Tokyo: 45.94?

“I think about the world record every day, every night,” he said. “I dream of that.”

A look into the three big contenders offers few answers as to who might prevail, and so just one question remains: could anyone else spring a surprise?

US duo Trevor Bassitt and Khalifah Rosser look the most likely if so, particularly on a track they know so well. Bassitt has enjoyed a breakthrough year, the 24-year-old winning world indoor silver over 400m in Belgrade and taking almost a second off his PB to finish second to Benjamin at the US Championships in 47.47. Rosser, 26, took almost half a second off his best when finishing third there in 47.65

It’s been a year of mishaps for Warholm and Benjamin, a year of utter magnificence by Dos Santos, and all the intrigue and uncertainty means this race is still shrouded in mystery. It means the sequel to that Tokyo showdown could prove just as stunning.

Preview courtesy @World Athletics