Jamaica’s Clarke, BVI’s McMaster through to Men’s 400m hurdles final in Paris
BVI’s McMaster, who finished fourth at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, will have an opportunity to win his first Olympic medal after running 48.15 to win the second semifinal ahead of Estonia’s Rasmus Magi (48.16), now a finalist for the third successive Olympics.
Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba also made it through to the final out of that semi with 48.20 in third.
Jamaica’s Malik James-King looked set to finish in the top two in that semifinal before clipping the last hurdle and stumbling to seventh in 48.85.
Clarke ran comfortably on his way to 48.34 for second in the third semifinal behind American Rai Benjamin who won in 47.85.
Reigning Olympic champion and world record holder Karsten Warholm (47.67), France’s Clement Ducos (47.85) and 2023 World champion Alison Dos Santos (47.95) qualified from the first semifinal.
Jaheel Hyde ran 50.03 to finish seventh in that first semifinal.
The final is set for Friday at 2:45pm Jamaica Time (3:45pm ECT).