400 metres Hurdles, Women
| Date | 28 – 31 July 1996 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia |
| Participants | 30 from 21 countries |
At the 1995 World Championships, Kim Batten (USA) won the gold with her teammate Tonja Buford in second, and Jamaica’s Deon Hemmings in third. Batten had also broken the world record in 1995, running 52.61 in Göteborg, Sweden. The defending champion, Sally Gunnell, was back and was a threat, but she was slightly injured and did not finish her semi-final. Hemmings and Batten led the qualifiers in the semi-finals, and Tonja Buford-Bailey also qualified easily. Hemmings took the lead from the second hurdle. Batten was in the lane outside her and she almost made up the stagger on her on the backstretch. But by the eighth hurdle, Batten, Hemmings and Buford-Bailey were virtually even. Hemmings then put the hammer down, pulling away on the run-in, and won the race by 2-3 metres, with Batten getting the silver medal over her teammate.
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3473 | Deon Hemmings |  JAM | 54.70 (1 h4) | 52.99 (1 h1) | 52.82 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 3817 | Kim Batten |  USA | 54.92 (1 h3) | 53.65 (1 h2) | 53.08 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 3822 | Tonja Buford | USA | 55.23 (1 h2) | 53.38 (2 h1) | 53.22 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 3479 | Debbie-Ann Parris | JAM | 55.64 (2 h1) | 54.72 (4 h2) | 53.97 (4) | |||
| 5 | 3365 | Heike Meißner |  GER | 55.05 (2 h4) | 54.27 (3 h1) | 54.03 (5) | |||
| 6 | 3131 | Rosey Edeh |  CAN | 55.64 (4 h2) | 54.49 (3 h2) | 54.39 (6) | |||
| 7 | 3666 | Ionela Târlea |  ROU | 55.42 (4 h4) | 54.41 (4 h1) | 54.40 (7) | |||
| 8 | 3373 | Silvia Rieger | GER | 55.33 (3 h2) | 54.27 (2 h2) | 54.57 (8) | |||
| 5 h1 r2/3 | 3426 | Susan Smith |  IRL | 55.22 (3 h4) | 54.93 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 5 h2 r2/3 | 3427 | Guðrún Arnardóttir |  ISL | 54.88 (1 h1) | 54.81 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 6 h1 r2/3 | 3066 | Ann Mercken |  BEL | 55.88 (3 h3) | 54.95 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 6 h2 r2/3 | 3758 | Michèle Schenk |  SUI | 55.70 (3 h1) | 55.96 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 7 h1 r2/3 | 3084 | Tatsiana Ledauskaya |  BLR | 55.82 (4 h1) | 54.99 (7 h1) | – | |||
| 8 h1 r2/3 | 3811 | Tetiana Tereshchuk |  UKR | 55.82 (2 h3) | 55.34 (8 h1) | – | |||
| AC h2 r2/3 | 3309 | Sally Gunnell |  GBR | 55.29 (2 h2) | – (DNF h2) | – | |||
| 4 h3 r1/3 | 3690 | Anna Knoroz |  RUS | 56.21 (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 5 h4 r1/3 | 3530 | Lana Jēkabsone |  LAT | 56.18 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 5 h2 r1/3 | 3507 | Nataliya Torshina |  KAZ | 55.94 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 5 h3 r1/3 | 3483 | Catherine Pomales-Scott | JAM | 56.21 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 5 h1 r1/3 | 3442 | Virna De Angeli |  ITA | 57.12 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 6 h1 r1/3 | 3891 | Mary-Estelle Kapalu |  VAN | 58.68 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 6 h2 r1/3 | 3761 | Martina Stoop | SUI | 56.32 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 6 h3 r1/3 | 3671 | Karen van der Veen |  RSA | 57.00 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 6 h4 r1/3 | 3091 | Neli Vorankava | BLR | 56.97 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 7 h1 r1/3 | 3781 | Hsu Pei-Chin |  TPE | 58.80 (7 h1) | – | – | |||
| 7 h2 r1/3 | 3223 | Miriam Alonso |  ESP | 56.53 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 7 h3 r1/3 | 3083 | Tatsiana Kurochkina | BLR | 57.28 (7 h3) | – | – | |||
| 7 h4 r1/3 | 3243 | Eva Paniagua | ESP | 58.10 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| 8 h2 r1/3 | 3589 | Lade Akinremi |  NGR | 56.83 (8 h2) | – | – | |||
| 3831 | Sandra Farmer-Patrick | USA | [55.55] (DQ h1) | [54.73] (DQ h2) | – | 1 |
Round One (28 July 1996)
Top three in each heat and next four fastest advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One (11:30)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | Reaction Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Guðrún Arnardóttir | ISL | 54.88 | 0.247 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Debbie-Ann Parris | JAM | 55.64 | 0.252 | |||
| 3 | 8 | Michèle Schenk | SUI | 55.70 | 0.391 | |||
| 4 | 5 | Tatsiana Ledauskaya | BLR | 55.82 | 0.334 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Virna De Angeli | ITA | 57.12 | 0.582 | |||
| 6 | 6 | Mary-Estelle Kapalu | VAN | 58.68 | 0.564 | |||
| 7 | 3 | Hsu Pei-Chin | TPE | 58.80 | 0.276 | |||
| 7 | Sandra Farmer-Patrick | USA | [55.55] | [0.334] | 2 |
Heat Two (11:37)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | Reaction Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Tonja Buford | USA | 55.23 | 0.210 | |||
| 2 | 8 | Sally Gunnell | GBR | 55.29 | 0.337 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Silvia Rieger | GER | 55.33 | 0.300 | |||
| 4 | 7 | Rosey Edeh | CAN | 55.64 | 0.366 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Nataliya Torshina | KAZ | 55.94 | 0.291 | |||
| 6 | 6 | Martina Stoop | SUI | 56.32 | 0.257 | |||
| 7 | 5 | Miriam Alonso | ESP | 56.53 | 0.289 | |||
| 8 | 1 | Lade Akinremi | NGR | 56.83 | – |
Heat Three (11:44)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | Reaction Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Kim Batten | USA | 54.92 | 0.340 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Tetiana Tereshchuk | UKR | 55.82 | – | |||
| 3 | 3 | Ann Mercken | BEL | 55.88 | 0.251 | |||
| 4 | 4 | Anna Knoroz | RUS | 56.21 | 0.245 | |||
| 5 | 8 | Catherine Pomales-Scott | JAM | 56.21 | 0.443 | |||
| 6 | 6 | Karen van der Veen | RSA | 57.00 | 0.345 | |||
| 7 | 5 | Tatsiana Kurochkina | BLR | 57.28 | 0.404 |
Heat Four (11:51)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | Reaction Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Deon Hemmings | JAM | 54.70 | 0.437 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Heike Meißner | GER | 55.05 | 0.411 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Susan Smith | IRL | 55.22 | 0.278 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Ionela Târlea | ROU | 55.42 | 0.229 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Lana Jēkabsone | LAT | 56.18 | 0.219 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Neli Vorankava | BLR | 56.97 | 0.276 | |||
| 7 | 6 | Eva Paniagua | ESP | 58.10 | – |
Semi-Finals (29 July 1996)
Top in each heat and next fastest advanced to the .
Heat One (21:24)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | Reaction Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Deon Hemmings | JAM | 52.99 | 0.314 | |||
| 2 | 6 | Tonja Buford | USA | 53.38 | 0.303 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Heike Meißner | GER | 54.27 | 0.316 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Ionela Târlea | ROU | 54.41 | 0.218 | |||
| 5 | 8 | Susan Smith | IRL | 54.93 | 0.275 | |||
| 6 | 1 | Ann Mercken | BEL | 54.95 | 0.191 | |||
| 7 | 7 | Tatsiana Ledauskaya | BLR | 54.99 | 0.358 | |||
| 8 | 5 | Tetiana Tereshchuk | UKR | 55.34 | – |
Heat Two (21:40)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | Reaction Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Kim Batten | USA | 53.65 | 0.351 | |||
| 2 | 7 | Silvia Rieger | GER | 54.27 | 0.383 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Rosey Edeh | CAN | 54.49 | 0.240 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Debbie-Ann Parris | JAM | 54.72 | 0.384 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Guðrún Arnardóttir | ISL | 54.81 | 0.297 | |||
| 6 | 8 | Michèle Schenk | SUI | 55.96 | 0.327 | |||
| 3 | Sally Gunnell | GBR | – | 0.276 | ||||
| 5 | Sandra Farmer-Patrick | USA | [54.73] | [0.305] | 3 |
Final (31 July 1996 — 19:40)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | Reaction Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Deon Hemmings | JAM | 52.82 | 0.348 | |||
| 2 | 6 | Kim Batten | USA | 53.08 | 0.283 | |||
| 3 | 4 | Tonja Buford | USA | 53.22 | 0.274 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Debbie-Ann Parris | JAM | 53.97 | 0.217 | |||
| 5 | 1 | Heike Meißner | GER | 54.03 | 0.272 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Rosey Edeh | CAN | 54.39 | 0.324 | |||
| 7 | 8 | Ionela Târlea | ROU | 54.40 | 0.343 | |||
| 8 | 3 | Silvia Rieger | GER | 54.57 | 0.297 |