Cedenio makes first 400m final

Cedenio made his move in lane five and charged through the field to finish slightly ahead of South Africa’s reigning world champion Wayde Van Niekerk who ran a controlled race from inside lane three and registered 44.21 secs.

The first semi-finals race was almost a re-run of the London Olympics final with the top four finishers battling for the automatic qualifying spots and to be among the two fastest losers to advance to the grand finale carded for tonight.

London gold-medallist, Grenada’s Kirani James started in lane four while Dominican Republic silver-medallist Luguelin Santos in lane seven, Trinidad and Tobago’s bronze-medallist LaLonde Gordon in lane three while American LaShawn Merritt who was fourth in 2012 was next to Santos in lane six.

After a blistering race for the coveted Olympics final spot, it was James who blasted away to clock the win in 44.02 secs and was followed home by Merritt in 44.21 while Bostwana’s youthful Karabo Sibanda recorded personal best of 44.47 and clinched one of the eight finalist starting positions today.

Gordon was a major disappointment and struggled throughout the one lap trip and finished eighth and last with 45.12.

Grenadian newcomer Bralon Taplin won the third semis in 44.44 and edged out Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith with a season’s best 44.48 and Bahrain’s Ali Khamis Khamis with a new national record of 44.49 in a blanket finish. All three advanced to the final.

London Olympics silver-medallist Luguelin Santos and bronze-medallist LaLonde Gordon failed to advance.

Cedenio’s brilliant strategy earned him a spot in lane three of today’s final while James is assigned lane six and his main rival Merritt of the US next to him in lane five.

Defending champion James and Merritt’s times were better than Cedenio who has created a record of sorts by reaching the Olympics final in his first outing.

Usually, the 20-year-old Cedenio would run a much slower first half of the trip and then charge through when they come around the final curve for a homestretch drive to the finish line. His new strategy of going out fast and maintaining the momentum through the curve is crucial against seasoned campaigners like James, Merritt and Niekerk who are all top class sprinters and push very fast to position themselves ahead of their challengers as they straighten for the final drive to the finish line.

James will start as favourite to win but world champion Niekerk is expected to blast from the start as he did last year at Beijing where he outpaced Merritt and James in that order to claim his first global gold.

Cedenio has to stay with his rivals and must believe that he can beat them at their own game. His personal best is 44.34 while the Trinidad and Tobago’s national 400-metre record of 44.21 secs held by Ian Morris is under serious treat. Cedenio is a former world youth champion like James and Santos.

Both got medals at London and Cedenio must show that he has matured and is ready to enhance his athletics credentials as one of the world’s greatest quarter-milers with history beckoning.

In the quarter-finals heats on Friday evening, Cedenio won the first heat in 44.98 while Taplin took the second in 45.15, Niekerk the third in 45.26, Gordon the fourth in 45.24, Merritt the fifth in 45.28, James the sixth in 44.93 and Khamis the seventh in 45.12.