The list of medal contenders looked to have been hit sharply by the disqualification of Russian champion Natalya Nazarova, who appeared to have strayed inside her lane line prematurely and drew a red flag, but was subsequently reinstated on appeal, qualifying with a time of 51.24. Britain’s Catherine Murphy into in second place in the heat, had the day’s second fastest time (51.89).
Tonique Williams of Bahamas (52.04) ran fearlessly to defeat Edmonton 400 Hurdles silver medallist, Yuliya Pechonkina of Russia (52.62), as the two pulled Britain’s Jennifer Meadows to a qualifying PB 52.74.
Germany’s Grit Breuer (52.10), Christine Amertil of Bahamas (52.15) and Svetlana Usovich of Belarus (52.20) likewise came away as heat winners.
Defending champion Sandie Richards of Jamaica (52.46) moved ahead to the semifinals Saturday afternoon, finishing second to Breuer, while Poland’s Grazyna Prokopek (52.72) had a time qualifier in the same race, breaking a 16-year-old national record.
