Two years ago in Kingston, the USA and Jamaica hogged the places on the podium after the women’s 400m.
In Grosseto, these two countries remained on top, but although the USA was still number 1 thanks to a personal best of 52.04 by 17 year old Natasha Hastings, a late rush by Jamaica’s Sonita Sutherland edged her past the fast starting Ashlee Kidd, to claim the silver medal in the narrowest of margins - 52.41 to 52.45.
Kidd, who has run 51.76 this season, ran strongly from the gun and was leading Hastings, who finished just 1 100th behind her at the recent US National Champs, down the back straight.
After the final bend, the two Americans were shoulder to shoulder, but Hastings had judged her effort better, and began to pull away, just as she had in the semi-finals when the two Americans had been drawn together in the same race.
Sensing that Kidd’s form was beginning to deteriorate, Sutherland dug deep and began to close the gap as the finish line approached, dipping past just in time. Russia’s Olga Soldatova set a personal best in fifth place with 52.99 and Annemarie Schulte of the Netherlands set a national junior record in seventh place with 53.67.
