Juicio moral y conducta moral

1, (8) Volker Beck GDR 48.70 2, (2) Vasiliy ArkhipenkoUKR URS 48.86 3, (1) Gary Oakes GBR 49.11 4, (4) Nikolay VasilyevUKR URS 49.34 5, (5) Rok Kopitar SLO YUG 49.67 6, (7) Horia Toboc ROU 49.84 7, (6) Franz Meier SUI 50.00 8, (3) Yanko Bratanov BUL 56.35

(Competitors: 22; Countries: 19; Finalists: 8)

Edwin Moses (nine) and Harald Schmid (six) had the top 15 marks of the year, but were not in Moscow because of the US-led boycott. This event was seriously devalued without the best men in the event, as was shown by no-one breaking 50 seconds in the heats, and only Arkhipenko (49.80) and Vasilyev (49.87) ducking below that mark in the semi-finals.

Oakes blasted out from the gun in the final and led by a metre from Beck at halfway, with Arkhipenko third. The Soviet athlete worked hard around the final curve and caught the Briton at the eighth hurdle, with Beck appearing to be holding back. The East German kicked hard after the ninth hurdle, going past the tiring Oakes, and catching Arkhipenko at the final barrier. Beck was too strong for the Ukrainian over the last 40m and won by a long metre. Oakes was a further 2m back, well clear of Vasilyev, and won a medal which was wholly unex- pected for the British.

Los Angeles, 5 Aug 1984

1, (6) Edwin Moses USA 47.75 2, (4) Danny Harris USA 48.13

3, (5) Harald Schmid FRG 48.19 4, (3) Sven Nylander SWE 48.97

5, (7) Amadou Dia Bâ SEN 49.28

6, (1) Tranel Hawkins USA 49.42 7, (8) Michel Zimmerman BEL 50.69 8, (2) Henry Amike NGR 53.78

(Competitors: 45; Countries: 30; Finalists: 8)

Moses had won 89 finals in row before LA, and was a prohibitive favourite. He was fastest in the first round with 49.33, 0.01 quicker than Schmid, with all six heat winners breaking 50 seconds. Moses was again fastest in the semi-finals, this time with 48.51 while teammates Hawkins (48.94), and Harris, winner of the other semi-final in 48.92, were the next fastest.

After a rare false start by Moses the field was away at the second time of asking, and Moses was 4m clear of Schmid by the fifth hurdle (21.1 versus 21.6). The former champion was never in any danger as he won by 3m from Harris. The 18 year-old surged past Schmid after the ninth hurdle after he had accidentally caught the German with his right arm one hurdle earlier.

Three years later, at the World Championships, the order of the first five was the same in the best race of the decade, with Moses running 47.46 and the next two finishing just 0.02 behind him. It was in that year that Moses lost to Harris, after 107 consecutive wins since 1977. With his Los Angeles win Moses became the only man to regain an Olympic 400m hurdles title.

Seoul, 25 Sep 1988

1, (6) Andre Phillips USA 47.19OR

2, (5) Amadou Dia Bâ SEN 47.23 3, (3) Edwin Moses USA 47.56 4, (2) Kevin Young USA 47.94 5, (4) Winthrop Graham JAM 48.04

6, (7) Kriss Akabusi GBR 48.69 7, (1) Harald Schmid FRG 48.76 8, (8) Edgar Itt FRG 48.78

(Competitors: 37; Countries: 28; Finalists: 8)

Dave Patrick and Danny Harris ran 47.75 and 47.76 respectively at the US Trials but failed to make the US team. Only Schmid was thought capable of denting the USA’s hegemony, a view unaffected by the heats, where Phillips (49.34), Young (49.35) and Moses (49.38) were the three fastest. Bâ (49.41) and Schmid (49.77) were the other heat winners. Moses cranked things up in the semis, running 47.89 ahead of Young (48.50) and Schmid (48.93), while Phillips showed his strength in taking the other semi-final in 48.19, ahead of Graham (48.37) and Bâ (48.48).

In the final, Phillips reacted far quicker than the others (0.15 versus 0.21 for Moses, 0.22 for Bâ) and by the third hurdle was 0.19 up on Moses and 0.20 ahead of Bâ. At the fourth hurdle there were four con- tenders, with Phillips just ahead of Moses 20.93 to 21.00, Bâ (21.01) and Young (21.09). Phillips was pressured by Moses until the eighth hurdle, but the reigning champion began to tire, and Phillips led off the last hurdle by more than 2m. Bâ was second, but closed with a fero- cious finish to set an African record, becoming the number three per- former of all-time. The American chopped more than three tenths off his best, while Bâ’s run was the only sub-48 mark of his career.

Barcelona, 6 Aug 1992

1, (4) Kevin Young USA 46.78WR

2, (3) Winthrop Graham JAM 47.66 3, (5) Kriss Akabusi GBR 47.82

4, (6) Stéphane Diagana FRA 48.13 5, (8) Niklas Wallenlind SWE 48.63 6, (2) Oleg Tverdokhleb UKR EUN 48.63 7, (1) Stéphane Caristan FRA 48.86

8, (7) Dave Patrick USA 49.26

(Competitors: 47; Countries: 35; Finalists: 8)

Samuel Matete (ZAM), the second fastest of all-time with 47.10 in 1991, was the man to beat, and he coasted through his heat, the slowest, in 49.89. The fastest man was Erick Keter (KEN) who set a national record with 48.28. In all, 24 athletes broke the once-feared 50-second barrier. Keter was eliminated in his semi, running 49.01 in a race won by Akabusi in 48.01, with 48.47 by Patrick, the final qualifier. More surprisingly, Matete failed to qualify in the other heat; hindered by a hamstring problem he knocked over a hurdle in the lane adjacent to his in the finishing straight and, though crossing the line third in 48.86, was disqualified. Up ahead Graham was running a Jamaican record of 47.62, ahead of Young’s best ever of 47.63.

Graham and Diagana led early on in the final, then were caught by Young at the fourth hurdle. Young passed halfway in 22.6 and by the ninth hurdle the tall (1.93) American’s 13 stride pattern had broken the race apart. At that point he was 5m ahead of Graham and, despite hit- ting the 10th hurdle was still going away, 7m up at the finish. He achieved the first sub-47 clocking ever. Graham held off Akabusi for second, with Diagana fourth, well ahead of Wallenlind.

Atlanta, 1 Aug 1996

1, (6) Derrick Adkins USA 47.54 2, (1) Samuel Matete ZAM 47.78 3, (5) Calvin Davis USA 47.96 4, (4) Sven Nylander SWE 47.98 5, (8) Rohan Robinson AUS 48.30 6, (7) Fabrizio Mori ITA 48.41 7, (3) Everson Teixeira BRA 48.57

8, (2) Eronilde de Araújo BRA 48.78

(Competitors: 55; Countries: 35; Finalists: 8)

Five of the seven heats were won with times quicker than 49 seconds, with Matete running the fastest ever preliminary in 48.21. The standard was very high, and continued in the semi-finals, with 14 of the 16 con- testants running under 49 seconds. Heading the list was local man Adkins, who won the first semi-final with 47.76 from Swedish veteran Nylander, who set a national record of 48.21. Behind them US Trials winner Bryan Bronson ran out of gas in the last 100m and finished last in 50.32. Davis, a recently converted 400m man, won the other race in 47.91. Behind him Teixeira, Robinson (both 48.28), Neil Gardner (JAM, 48.30), Laurent Ottoz, son of 1968 110m hurdles medallist Eddy (48.52), Ibou Faye (SEN, 48.84) and Marc Dollendorf (BEL – 48.91) all ran lifetime bests. Only Matete, third in 48.28, missed his personal record.

Nylander, in his last serious attempt at a championship, ran hard from the gun, leading to halfway in 22.9, with Adkins and Robinson right with him. Matete, in fifth at the fifth hurdle, and not enthralled with his lane 1 draw, moved up, and he and Adkins were level at hur- dles 8-10, with Nylander 4m behind and a metre clear of Davis, de Araújo and Robinson. Adkins accelerated away from Matete on the run-in despite being half blinded from all the camera flashbulbs in the crowd, while Davis astonishingly gained 4m on Matete in the last 40m, leaving Nylander to settle for fourth despite setting his second national record within 22 hours.

Sydney, 27 Sep 2000

1, (1) Angelo Taylor USA 47.50 2, (4) Hadi Al-Somaily KSA 47.53 3, (6) Llewellyn Herbert RSA 47.81

4, (5) James Carter USA 48.04 5, (8) Eronilde de Araújo BRA 48.34 6, (2) Paweł Januszewski POL 48.44 7, (3) Fabrizio Mori ITA 48.78 8, (7) Gennadiy Gorbenko UKR 49.01

(Competitors: 62; Countries: 46; Finalists: 8)

In very windy conditions, the first round brought only one sub-49 clocking (by Samuel Matete – 48.98). The semi-finals saw most of the

top runners unfurl their banners. Al-Somaily set a national record in taking the first race in 48.14, with Mori (48.40), the surprising Gorbenko (48.40) and Januszewsi (48.42) all qualifying. Herbert (48.38) and Carter (48.48) were the other heat winners, the latter earn- ing boos from the crowd by his taunting his opposition on the run-in.

Al-Somaily led from the gun in the final, with Carter and Herbert his closest pursuers. Taylor moved up from 4th at the 8th barrier to second at the last hurdle, and finally caught Al-Somaily with his last stride. Taylor became the 10th fastest of all-time and only the third man (after Morgan Taylor in ’24 and Akii-Bua in ’72) to have won from the con- fines of lane 1.

Athens, 26 Aug 2004

1, (6) Felix Sánchez DOM 47.63 2, (5) Danny McFarlane JAM 48.11 3, (7) Naman Keïta FRA 48.26 4, (4) James Carter USA 48.58 5, (2) Bayano Kamani PAN 48.74

6, (3) Marek Plawgo POL 49.00 7, (1) Alwyn Myburgh RSA 49.07 8, (8) Bennie Brazell USA 49.51

(Competitors: 35; Countries: 24; Finalists: 8)

McFarlane ran 48.35 for the fastest time of the first round, and then Sánchez showed his status as favourite with a 47.93 semi, while McFarlane (48.00) and Carter (48.18) were the other semi-final win- ners. Kemel Thompson (JAM) ran an excellent 48.25 but was eliminat- ed as ninth fastest, joining reigning champion Taylor and Sydney bronze medallist Herbert.

Sánchez and Keïta started fastest in the final, and by halfway Sánchez and Carter led the field. The American went into the lead, and was marginally ahead as the athletes came off the final bend. Sánchez then took over, and steadily pulled clear, winning by 4m. McFarlane took a firm hold on second place by the ninth hurdle, while Keïta closed impressively to move from seventh at the eighth hurdle to stride past Carter 15m from the finish. The hapless American finished fourth for the second time, while Sánchez’s win was the first ever for the Dominican Republic.

Beijing, 18 Aug 2008

1, (6) Angelo Taylor USA 47.25 2, (4) Kerron Clement USA 47.98 3, (7) Bershawn Jackson USA 48.06 4, (5) Danny McFarlane JAM 48.30

5, (8) LJ van Zyl RSA 48.42 6, (3) Marek Plawgo POL 48.52 7, (9) Markino Buckley JAM 48.60 8, (2) Periklis Iakovakis GRE 49.96

(Competitors: 26; Countries: 19; Finalists: 8)

Jackson, winner of the US Trials was co-favourite with the gifted Clement, who with 47.79 was the only man quicker than 48 seconds in 2008. With only 26 athletes across four heats, the first round was not too competitive, with Taylor (48.67) and Buckley (48.65) the fastest. Taylor won the first semi-final in 47.94, his quickest since his 2000 Olympic win, just edging Jackson (48.02), while Clement won the other semi in 48.27 from McFarlane (48.50).

Taylor was off quickest in the final, and led by a metre at the first hurdle, and was almost 2m clear of Clement crossing the fifth hurdle, reached in 20.7. McFarlane was a clear third with Iakovakis and Jackson next. Clement closed to within half a metre at the eighth, but Taylor’s stride pattern was more certain than Clement’s and he came off the final barrier 2m clear. This was extended to more than 5m by the finish. Jackson went past McFarlane at the final hurdle and almost caught the easing Clement. Taylor’s time broke his lifetime best, set in Sydney in 2000, while McFarlane (36) lowered his world master’s best to 48.30.

London, 6 Aug 2012

1, (7) Felix Sánchez DOM 47.63 2, (6) Michael Tinsley USA 47.91 3, (5) Javier Culson PUR 48.10 4, (3) David Greene GBR 48.24

5, (4) Angelo Taylor USA 48.25

6, (8) Jehue Gordon TTO 48.86 7, (9) Leford Green JAM 49.12 8, (2) Kerron Clement USA 49.15

(Competitors: 49; Countries: 33, Finalists: 8)

Undefeated in 2012 prior to London, Culson was a slight favourite over Greene, the reigning World Champion. The Puerto Rican was fastest in the heats with 48.33. In the semis that distinction went to former cham- pion Sánchez with an ominous 47.76, his quickest for eight years.

Culson led early on in the final, but Taylor was even with him by the third hurdle, and these two led until the eighth barrier, when Sánchez caught the two leaders. Tinsley also gained in the straight, closing on everyone except Sánchez, who went clear after the ninth hurdle. Sánchez won by three metres from Tinsley, with Culson a metre clear of Greene, who had started too slowly.

The Dominican emulated Taylor and Moses in regaining his title, and in exactly the same time as in 2004. He dedicated his newest gold medal to his late grandmother Lillian, whose picture was attached to the inside of his bib. His tears at the medal ceremony and the warm reception he got from the crowd were one of the emotional highlights of the Games.

MEN’S 400 METRES HURDLES The Best on Points

22 Edwin Moses USA 1976-1, 1984-1, 1988-3 20 Morgan Taylor USA 1924-1, 1928-3, 1932-3 Angelo Taylor USA 2000-1, 2008-1, 2012-5 16 Glenn Davis USA 1956-1, 1960-1

Most Finals 3 M Taylor Moses A Taylor 2 23 men Most Appearances

4 Luigi Facelli ITA 1924-4s1, 1928-6, 1932-5, 1936-3h2 Samuel Matete ZAM 1988-6h2, 1992-dq/s2, 1996-2,

2000-3s3

Félix Sánchez DOM 2000-7s2, 2004-1, 2008-5h4, 2012-1 A Taylor 2000-1, 2004-4s1, 2008-1, 2012-5 Periklís Iakovákis GRE 2000-3h4, 2004-4s2, 2008-8, 2012-

5h5 3 23 men Placing Table G S B 4 5 6 7 8 M Points USA 18 12 10 9 2 3 - 3 40 353 GBR 2 1 5 3 2 1 - 1 8 80 URS/EUN - 2 1 3 1 1+1= 1 1 3 47.5 GER 1 1 1 1 1 - 2 1 3 35 FRA - 1 1 3 1 - 1 - 2 34 SWE - - 1 3 2 1 - - 1 32 ITA - - 1 - 1 5 1 1 1 28 JAM - 2 - 1 1 - 2 - 2 27 DOM 2 - - - 2 16 RSA - - 1 - 1 1 1 - 1 15 CAN - 1 1 - - - 2 13 AUS - - - 1 2 - - - 0 13 FIN - 1 - - 1 - - - 1 11 SEN - 1 - - 1 - - - 1 11 BRA - - - - 2 - 1 1 0 11 POL - - - 3 - - 0 9 IRL 1 - - - 1 8 UGA 1 - - - 1 8 KSA - 1 - - - 1 7 SRI - 1 - - - 1 7 ZAM - 1 - - - 1 7 GRE - - - 1+1= - 1 0 6.5 NZL - - 1 - - - 1 6 PHI - - 1 - - - 1 6 PUR - - 1 - - - 1 6 SUI - - - 1 1 - 0 5