And it’s off to the finals for eight top qualifiers after the Men’s 400m hurdles semifinal today, August 16, in the National Stadium. The formidable United States trio of Angelo Taylor, Bershawn Jackson and Kerron Clement produced the fastest times today with 47.94 (a season best), 48.02 (also a season best), and 48.27 respectively. All three of these times were faster than the fastest times of yesterday’s heats.
Angelo Taylor was the Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medalist and Athens 2004 semifinalist.
Bershawn Jackson was 2005 world champion in Helsinki and won the 2008 Golden League meetings in Oslo and Berlin.
Kerron Clement was world champion in Osaka 2007 and won the 2008 Golden League meetings in Paris Saint-Denis and Rome. After the semifinal today, he was asked about his loss of rhythm on the tenth hurdle. He replied, “It just happened that way, but I will be better in the final.”
All three are revved and ready for Olympic medals tomorrow, once again at the National stadium at 10:00pm (UCT/GMT+8).
(Source: en.beijing2008.cn)