Beijing.- Dominican runner Luguelin Santos, the 400 meters Olympic silver medalist, finished in fourth place in the 400 meter finals at the World Championships in Beijing.
Santos, who was running in the seventh lane of the track,achieved a time of 44.11 seconds, after getting off to a slow start.
First place was won by Wayde Van Niekerk of South Africa with a time of 46.48 despite not being ranked among the pre-race favorites. Defending champion LaShawn Merritt from the US came second with a personal best of 43.65 seconds.
The Olympic gold medalist, Grenadian Kirani James, who was the favorite, finished third with a time of 43.78 seconds.
This was the first 400m race to feature three men running in under 44 seconds.