With the first three in each of the two heats plus the two fastest losing teams advancing to tomorrow’s final of the women’s 4x400m relay the pre-event favourites Russia and the United States played it safe and lined-up two reserve runners each in tonight’s first round.
Although individual Olympic bronze medallist Natalya Antyukh and Russian champion Natalya Nazarova were dispensed from running in the qualification round, Russia took a commanding win in 3:23.52 more than half a second clear of Jamaica in second.
Similarly the United States team-leaders decided to keep US champion Monique Hennagan and individual Olympic finalist Dee Dee Trotter in the stands watching as Sanya Richards anchored their team-mates to a 3:23.79 win in the second heat.
With Russia and the United States a notch above the rest of the field the question tonight was which other teams will accompany those two in the final.
A solid performance of each of the four runners for Jamaica saw the Caribbean representatives advance to their sixth consecutive Olympic final in the event as Sandie Richards anchored the team to second in 3:24.92 slightly ahead of Grazyna Prokopek of Poland whose team-mates had previously done most of the job to secure the third automatic qualifying spot.
Following a strong third leg by Helen Kragounis who took Great Britain back in contention for one of the fastest losers spot after the Britons had been lying back in fifth was backed up by anchor leg Lee McConnell who was timed at the finish in 3:26.99 – a time which would be sufficient for a spot in the final.
Romania came in fifth in 3:27.26 and the team had to thank Olympic 400m Hurdles silver medallist Ionela Tirlea-Manolache for she took them back from seventh to fifth and ensured a spot in the final.
The second race was run under the thunderous cheers of the 70,000 capacity crowd who were hoping to see their national team advance to their first Olympic final in the history of the event.
And their own golden girls did not disappoint as they came in second behind the US in 3:26.70 with Olympic 400m Hurdles champion Fani Halkia controlling a surprising team of India in the last leg.
Manjeet Kaur anchored the Asian team to a superb 3:26.70 national record in third and ensured India would make its first Olympic 400m Hurdles final since 1984.
Despite a superb third leg by individual Olympic silver medallist Ana Guevara who took Mexico from sixth to second, anchor leg Mayra Gonzalez could not sustain the speed of her opponents and faded down a non qualifying fifth place. It still was a national record for Mexico in 3:27.75.
The European champions also failed to advance as Grit Breuer could not make up for the ground previously lost by her German team-mates and fell just 39 hundredths of a second short of the last qualifying spot.
LA
