Antonio Watson set the tone in the semifinals of the men’s 400m at the World Championships Athletics in Budapest where he won the opening heat in a massive Personal Best (PB) of 44.13s!
He pulled a big stunner on the field that included World Record holder, Wayde van Niekerk while Vernon Norwood finished brilliantly, charging through to take 2nd in a new PB of 44.26s. Niekerk’s time of 44.65s in 3rd was able to get him into the final as one of the non-automatic qualifiers for Thursday’s final.
Keeping the momentum, Matthew Hudson-Smith clocked a PB of 44.26s to win the second semifinal, breaking the long-standing European Record by Thomas Schonlebe from 1987!
He led the race from Kirani James who improved to a Season’s Best (SB) of 44.58s while Havard Bentdal Ingvaldsen came through for 3rd in 44.70s.
The final heat saw Bayapo Ndori pull up before the 100m mark and then dramatically, defending champion Steven Gardiner who was in the lead did the same just as he hit 300m, leaving Quincy Hall to take the win in 44.43s. He brought with him Jamaican Champion, Sean Bailey who ran 44.94s into the final.
