Brazil will have two representatives in the semifinals of the 400-meter hurdles at the Paris Olympics in France. Alison dos Santos, known as Piu, from São Paulo, and Matheus Lima from Ceará secured their respective places in the heats held on Monday morning (5) at the Stade de France. The battle for classification to the final will be held on Tuesday (6), starting at 2:35 pm (Brasília time).
Purple track, purple hair 💜
2022 world champion @PiuzeR cruises to an easy 48.75 to advance to the 400m hurdles semi-finals.#Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/n6jTobuNbY
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 5, 2024
World champion in the event in 2022 and bronze medalist at the Tokyo Games in Japan a year earlier, Alison competed in the third heat of the day and finished in third place, in 48.75s. The Brazilian, favorite to win a medal in Paris, led for most of the course, but slowed down in the final stretch and was overtaken by American CJ Allen and Estonian Rasmus Magi. Even so, it was enough to qualify, as the top three advanced to the semifinals.
Matheus improved in the final meters of the fifth heat and advanced with the second best time, with 48s90, behind only Jamaican Malik James-King. A newcomer to the Olympics, the hurdler was a silver medalist at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, last year.
ON THE WAY TO THE SEMI! 🏃🏽
In his debut in the #Olympic GamesMatheus Lima finishes in second place in the heat, with a time of 48s90, and advances to the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles.
📸Wander Roberto/COB#TimeBrazil #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/tncuZiZl0q
— Time Brazil (@timebrasil) August 5, 2024
Piu’s main rivals in the fight for gold, Norwegian Karsten Walholm and American Rai Benjamin also advanced to the semifinals without difficulty. The first, Olympic champion in Tokyo and world record holder in the event, won the second heat with 47.58, while the second, silver medalist at the last Olympics, clocked 48.82 and came out on top in the heat that opened the competition on Monday.
The 400m hurdles final is scheduled for Friday (9), at 4:45 pm (Brasília time).
Other results
In the women’s 400m/hurdles event, Chayenne da Silva from Rio de Janeiro competed in the repechage. She finished in seventh and last place, with 56s56, not enough to advance to the semifinals. China’s Jiadie Mo and Britain’s Jessie Knight took the first two places and qualified.
Tiffani Marinho, also from Rio de Janeiro, came in seventh in her 400m heat, with a time of 52.62. She will compete again on Tuesday at 6:20 am (Brasília time) to try to secure a place in the semifinals through the race’s repechage.
In the pole vault, Juliana Campos from São Paulo stopped at 4.40 m and failed to advance to the final. The Brazilian, whose preparation for the Games was compromised by an injury to her right foot, was unable to clear the 4.55 m mark. To advance, she needed to reach 4.70 m or be among the top eight in the overall classification.
In the 200m, Rio de Janeiro’s Lorraine Martins and São Paulo’s Ana Carolina Azevedo competed in the repechage, but did not qualify. The former came in last place in the fourth heat, with 23.68. The latter had a better time (23.37), but also came last in the sixth heat.
* Text updated at 8:17 am to include the results obtained by other Brazilian athletes who completed the athletics events this Monday (5).
