Two small hundredths, that's what Wilfried Happio (47′'41) missed to get on the podium in the 400m hurdles after a completely crazy final won by the Brazilian Alison Dos Santos in 46′'29 ( championship record).
Third a handful of meters from the finish, the Frenchman could not contain the return of the American Trevor Bassitt, who snatched the bronze medal from him on the wire.
Wilfried Happio came very close to a real feat, the 400m hurdles being one of the toughest events currently (Norwegian Karsten Warholm, who broke the world record in the final of the Olympic Games, delayed in his preparation by a injury only finished 7th).
Happio fails just 4 hundredths of Stéphane Diagana's French record (47′'37), but greatly lowers his best mark (48′'14 in the playoffs; 48′'57 before coming to Eugene and now 47′'41 ).
🥺🇬🇧 Wilfried Happio one breath away from the podium in the 400 meter hurdles!
The Frenchman ranks fourth, two hundredths from the bronze medal …
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A few minutes after his race, Wilfried Happio still had tears in his eyes, frustrated to have passed, at 23, very close to a world podium.
“It's always disappointing to be at the foot of the podium, he breathes.
The lap time is more than satisfactory, I know that I'm passing a milestone in this race, but I still have trouble putting things into perspective.
“Absent from the Olympic final last year in Tokyo, the French made an almost perfect race on the Hayward Field track.
“I knew I was going to have to start hard so as not to be overwhelmed by Dos Santos, who was right in front of me
(in lane 5)
.
I feel good at the start of the race, I feel fast, I try to grind before my hurdles, as Stéphane Diagana advised me
(world champion in the 400m hurdles in 1997)
.
The last hurdles, we know that they are more complicated than the others, I missed them a little bit.
I don't know how the American managed his race, if he had saved some juice, he grabbed the two hundredths to be on the podium, it's the last time he'll do that to me!
»
“In a few days I will be happy”
Wilfried Happio finally smiles.
“I repeated myself so much
stop saying that there is Warholm, because if you say that it is the strongest, you will never finish first
, I have made these images so much in my head where I pass Warholm, then Benjamin, then Dos Santos (Editor's note: three runners with stratospheric times), that during the race, I had a feeling of deja vu.
The Frenchman stops and resumes.
“I lie of phew, he laughs.
When I passed I thought
oh but there is Warholm!
I didn't quite understand what was going on.
I told myself that I was going to beat him.
Wilfried Happio continues.
“For the moment, I have this 4th place in my head, but in a few days I will be happy, I am getting closer to Stéphane's time
(Diagana)
, who is an example for me, a mentor.
If someone had told me a few days ago that I would finish 4th, I would not have believed it.
“The French, physically assaulted a few weeks ago and under the influence of a complaint for sexual assault, managed to get Eugene talking about him thanks to his performances.
In August in Munich, he will participate in the European Championships, this time as a favorite for a medal.