TOKYO2025: Mercy Oketch falls short in 400m semifinals
Reading Time: 2min | Tue. 16.09.25. | 15:58
The 22-year-old, a former football striker turned sprinter, had shown promise in the heats where she clocked 50.76 seconds to secure automatic qualification on Sunday afternoon
Reigning Africa Military Games 400m silver medallist Mercy Oketch Adongo saw her dream of reaching the women’s 400m final slip away after finishing seventh in the semifinals at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, 16 September.
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The 22-year-old, a former football striker turned sprinter, had shown promise in the heats where she clocked 50.76 seconds to secure automatic qualification on Sunday afternoon.
But in the semifinals, she faced one of the toughest lineups of the night, including 2019 world champion Salwa Eid Naser and Jamaican multiple-medalist Stacey Ann Williams.
Oketch battled hard but could not keep up with the searing pace in the homestretch, eventually fading to seventh in 51.36 seconds.
Naser was unstoppable, running from gun to tape to claim victory in 49.47 seconds.
Cuba’s Roxana Gomez produced a season-best 49.78 for second place, while American Isabella Whittaker crossed third in 50.20 to complete the top three.
Earlier in the afternoon, the first semifinal delivered another major talking point.
Olympic and Budapest champion Marileidy Paulino was expected to dominate, but it was Poland’s Natalia Bukowieka who stole the spotlight.
Paulino stayed composed on the inside lane, but Bukowieka surged ahead and held off a late charge to win with a season-best 49.67 seconds. Paulino finished second in 49.82, securing her ticket to the final.
In the third semifinal, Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin Levrone lived up to the billing, easily cruising to the finals after registering a World Lead of 48:29.
Great Britain's Amber Anning came in second in a season best of 49:38, as Jamaica's Pryce Nickisha completed the podium in 49:46 in a season best.
