Kemar Mowatt advances in 400m hurdles at Tokyo Olympics
TOKYO – First day of track and field action in the Tokyo Olympics had Arkansas alum Kemar Mowatt advancing to the semi-final of the 400m hurdles, which will be run on Sunday evening (JST) and viewable at 7:05 a.m. (CT).
Also racing in the first session of track and field were Razorback alums Shafiqua Maloney and Dominique Scott in the first round of the 800m and 5,000m, respectively.
Mowatt will race in the first of three semi-final heats from lane 9. The opening heat of the 400m hurdles also includes world record holder Karsten Warholm of Norway in lane 7 along with U.S. champion Rai Benjamin in lane 5. Advancement to the final is top 2 from each heat, and the next 2 fastest times.
In the first round of the 400m hurdles, Mowatt posted a time of 49.06 to place fourth in the opening heat and earn an automatic qualification to the semi-final. Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba claimed the heat in 48.38 in front of Brazil’s Alison dos Santos (48.42) and Algergia’s Abdelmalik Lahoulou (48.83).
The times by Samba and dos Santos were the top two times overall among the five heats contested. Mowatt’s effort ranked 12th among the 24 hurdlers who advanced.
Splits at 50m intervals in the race show Mowatt shared the fastest start at 50m (6.4) and 100m (11.7) with Ludvy Vaillant of France but slipped to fifth position by 300m (35.8) and equal fourth at 350m (42.3) before passing Vaillant (49.23) by a couple of strides in the final stages of the race.
Maloney was the first Razorback in action at the Olympic Stadium, returning to the venue where she carried the flag for St. Vincent and the Grenadines during the Opening Ceremony. Racing in the fifth heat of the 800m she ran 2:07.89 to place seventh in the heat and 41st overall. Maloney’s splits at 200m intervals included 28.7, 1:01.5 (400m), and 1:33.7 (600m).
Racing during the evening in Tokyo, Scott recorded a time of 15:13.94 to place 13th in the second heat of the 5,000m and placed 26th overall. The top 5 from each of the two heats and next 5 fastest times advanced to the final. Splits for Scott at each 1,000m included 3:04.1, 6:07.4 (2k), 9:12.3 (3k), and 12:13.3 (4k).
Tokyo Olympics | Arkansas schedule
Day 1 – Friday, July 30 NBC Broadcast (CT) Athlete | Result
| 10:25 a.m. | W 800m | Round 1 | Thursday, 8:25 p.m. | Shafiqua Maloney (7th in heat, 2:07.89) |
| 11:25 a.m. | M 400m Hurdles | Round 1 | Thursday, 9:25 p.m. | Kemar Mowatt (4th in heat, 49.06) ADVANCES |
| 19:00 p.m. | W 5,000m | Round 1 | Friday, 5:00 a.m. | Dominique Scott (13th in heat, 15:13.94) |
Day 2 – Saturday, July 31
| 9:00 a.m. | W 400m Hurdles | Round 1 | Friday, 7:00 p.m. | Sparkle McKnight (4th heat, lane 4) |
Day 3 – Sunday, August 1
| 21:05 p.m. | M 400m Hurdles | Semifinal | Sunday, 7:05 a.m. | Kemar Mowatt (1st heat, lane 9) |
Day 4 – Monday, August 2
| 19:20 p.m. | W Pole Vault | Qualifying | Monday, 5:20 a.m. | Sandi Morris, Tina Sutej |
| 20:35 p.m. | W 400m Hurdles | Semifinal | Monday, 6:35 a.m. | (Sparkle McKnight) |
Day 5 – Tuesday, August 3
| 12:20 p.m. | M 400m Hurdles | FINAL | Monday, 10:20 p.m. | (Kemar Mowatt) |
| 19:15 p.m. | M Shot Put | Qualifying A | Tuesday, 5:15 a.m. | Ryan Crouser |
| 20:40 p.m. | M Shot Put | Qualifying B | Tuesday, 6:40 a.m. | Ryan Crouser |
Day 6 – Wednesday, August 4
| 11:30 a.m. | W 400m Hurdles | FINAL | Tuesday, 9:30 p.m. | (Sparkle McKnight) |
Day 7 – Thursday, August 5
| 11:05 a.m. | M Shot Put | FINAL | Wednesday, 9:05 p.m. | (Ryan Crouser) |
| 11:30 a.m. | M 4×100 Relay | Round 1 | Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. | Kris Hari – Denmark |
| 19:20 p.m. | W Pole Vault | FINAL | Thursday, 5:20 a.m. | (Sandi Morris, Tina Sutej) |
Day 8 – Friday, August 6
| 22:50 p.m. | M 4×400 Relay | FINAL | Friday, 8:50 a.m. | (Kris Hari – Denmark) |
Day 9 – Saturday, August 7
| 19:45 p.m. | W 10,000m | FINAL | Saturday, 5:45 a.m. | Dominique Scott |
