You’ve got my rep pts, thanks Robin1, this is valuable information and we appreciate you putting in the time to research the data. I’m also going to copy it across to the lactate threshhold thread which has de facto been the receptical of all matters 400m.
Yes, many athletes have run slower in the final than the semis and I’m with you on the reasons which appear obvious, but then someone will come along and smash the final as Merritt did in Beijing. The only thing I can think of is that his speed reserve has become more significant than his aerobic power (think huge tempo base)in coping with the constricted format which emphasises speed from the first round. At Beijing we saw quarter-milers running sub-45 in their first-round heats because these now are akin to the quarter-finals of the defunct 4-round tournament format.
I suspect therefore the obvious implication for training/coaching for this event in a tournament situation is that the development or at least emphasis on the speed-power thread not be left until late in the preparation period, but rather emphasised virtually from Day-1 and pursued carefully but continuously.
Obviously how we do that is the trick and my colours are well and truly pinned to the mast of the so-called “concurrent” program model.