Career Pursuit of 400m Hurdle Olympic Gold Finally Realized

By Scott Bush

When Kerron Clement was 22 years old, he stepped to the line of the 400m hurdle final at the Beijing Olympics. As the gun sounded, Clement got off to a quick start, running a fine race and coming into the homestretch it looked as though the rising star might capture gold. Running a near perfect race, Clement came up just short, taking home silver in 47.98, just short of fellow American Angelo Taylor's winning mark of 47.25.

On Thursday morning in Rio, Clement once again got off to a fast start, making up the stager on Jamaica's Annsert Whyte by the 200 meter mark. As he came off the final turn, Clement had a small lead on the field, ran a strong final 100 meters and ultimately held off a late charge by Kenya's Boniface Tumuti to win gold in 47.73, five-hundreths of a second ahead of Tumuti. 

For Clement, his individual gold was the culmination of a decade of focus, work and plenty of ups and downs. After missing the 2012 London Olympics, Clement found another level of focus and health over the past two years to get back to competing for top international acclaim.

On Thursday morning, Clement put a stamp on his career and brought home the gold. Mission accomplished.

Final Results - Men's 400m Hurdles

47.73 - Kerron Clement (USA)
47.78 - Boniface Tumuti (KEN)
47.92 - Yasmani Copello (TUR)
47.97 - Thomas Barr (IRL)
48.07 - Annsert Whyte (JAM)
48.40 - Rasmus Magi (EST)
49.09 - Haron Koech (KEN)
DQ - Javier Culson (PUR)

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