Berlin 400m final

[robin1]

@kitkat1

More relevant would be figures for the last time needed to enter an Olympic or World Championship 400m final (as distinct from time of the eighth-placed finisher in finals). I suspect often the time of the last guy to qualify (out of the semis) will be faster than the eighth-placed time in the subsequent final.

But the observation is more relevant now since the Tournament structure has changed in recent years, within this decade for certain: World and Olympic Championships have been reduced to three rounds, instead of the traditional four rounds.

Here are the times needed to qualify for each WC final:

'09: 44.97
'07: 44.86
'05: 46.03 (John Steffenson, BTW)
'03: 45.03
'01: 45.10
'99: 45.24
'97: 44.69
'95: 45.47
'93: 45.01
'91: 45.53
'87: 45.21
'93: 45.83

Last three Olympics:

'08: 44.91
'04: 45.27
'00: 45.53

If anything, there seems to be a trend towards faster times needed for qualification.

Interestingly, the times in the final clearly suffered after the tough semifinals of 2009, 2008 and 2007 (three rounds with two days between semifinals and final), but not in 1997 (four rounds with one day between semifinals and final). I have previously suggested on this forum that the 48h rest between semifinal and final now in place may allow for the onset of DOMS thus limiting performance in the final.