EUGENE, Oregon – American Michael Norman finally broke his jinx and delivered at a major championship after winning the men’s 400 meters final at the World Athletics Championships 2022 on Friday night (22). Norman clocked 44.29 seconds to win the title with a commanding performance.
The former Vista Murrieta High and USC standout, 24-year-old, entered the final 100m locked in an intense battle with 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James of Grenada, world record holder, South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk, and British national record holder Matthew Hudson-Smith, but this time he managed to hold his form under pressure and pull away for the win.
James finished with the silver medal in 44.48 secs while Hudson-Smith, who is finally now fully fit after a series of injury-plagued seasons, took the bronze medal in 44.66 secs. Read more: Women’s 400m final results; Miller-Uibo dominates to win first outdoor title – World Athletics Championships 2022
Micheal Norman – I am happy to make for Olympics failure
“It is an amazing feeling for sure. I want to remember what took me here and I am just thankful to everybody who supported me throughout the whole career,” Norman told reporters.
“Last year was not a good year for me so I had to do a lot of hard work just to get back to where I was. This moment is going to be remembered forever. I want to make sure that I never doubt myself and I will take some time to reflect what it means to be a champion and what it takes to get there.”
Van Niekerk, who is slowly rounding back into shape, was in a good position to secure a medal up until about 340m, but the Rio 2016 Olympic champion ran out of steam in the end and had to settle for fifth place in 44.97 secs.
400 METRES MEN FINAL RESULTS – WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022
| RESULT | |||
| POS | COUNTRY | ATHLETE | MARK |
| 1 | USA | Michael NORMAN | 44.29 |
| 2 | GRN | Kirani JAMES | 44.48 |
| 3 | GBR | Matthew HUDSON-SMITH | 44.66 |
| 4 | USA | Champion ALLISON | 44.77 |
| 5 | RSA | Wayde VAN NIEKERK | 44.97 |
| 6 | BOT | Bayapo NDORI | 45.29 |
| 7 | JAM | Christopher TAYLOR | 45.3 |
| 8 | BAR | Jonathan JONES | 46.13 |
Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images for World Athletics
