in the 400m gold, Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Ubio brings diversity to the sprint
It’s very simple: titles or podium places, since the Worlds began in Eugene, Oregon, sprint events have become the quasi-property of Americans or Jamaicans.
The two 100 meters, the two 200 meters, the 110 meters hurdles, the two 400 meters hurdles and the two 400 meters… The made in USA team won thirteen medals and Jamaica, five. That’s 18 medals out of a provisional total of 27 (in the individual events, only the 100-meter hurdles remains to be run in the final weekend of competition).
In this landscape, some rare exceptions appear. Brazilian Alison dos Santos in the over 400 meter hurdles, Tuesday July 19. Or Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo in the lap, Friday July 22.
No American athlete (eliminated in the semi-finals) or Jamaican (two present in the final) made it to the podium in the women’s 400 meters. The first since July 16. Three other Caribbean countries stand out: the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic and Barbados.
We expect an epic battle between Shaunae Miller-Uibo and the Dominican Marileidy Paulino, the former in the end never trembled, with the luxury of ending by liberation. The competitor from Barbados, Sada Williams, took the bronze medal. The two Jamaican riders entered the final finished 5e and 7e.
There was no American or Jamaican sprinter on the women’s 400m podium
Shaunae Miller-Uibo, double Olympic champion, has never won a world title. He failed twice, silver medalist in 2015 and the last time in 2019, losing in Doha to Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser. The latter achieved a stunning time of 48.19 seconds in the final, almost a second better than his best performance at the time.
The Bahamian learned a few months after his second place finish that his rival had failed three times in his obligations in the context of the fight against doping. And even for the fourth time after the Worlds… Eid Naser was first suspended, then cleared, before finally being suspended for two years in 2021.
“My concern is for World Athletics and the IAU [Unité de l’intégrité de l’athlétisme] and the role they playMiller-Uibo was furious. The recent turn of events, with their many mistakes, in my opinion, opens the door to many questions: what took them so long to make this information public? How can this case last until the 2019 World Championships? »
This time, Shauna Miller-Uibo got her regular revenge. She asserted herself as a worthy successor to Marie-José Pérec, double Olympic and world champion in the 400 meters and still holder of the Olympic record for the distance.
Before the World, the two champions met in Paris by The team. “Everyone who does the 400m is a fan [de Pérec] ! He’s my favorite athlete, he’s always been my role model, I’ve watched his races and we have a lot in common, height, speed, 200m and 400m.has entrusted the Bahamian. I hope he can be as strong as me. »
At 25, Marileidy Paulino, corporal in the Dominican Air Force, once again earned military honors with a second individual silver medal. The first woman from her country to win an Olympic medal in athletics in Tokyo last year – she raised her spikes and… the Bible after her first silver medal.
At the opening of the Worlds, a week ago, the mixed relay team, of which he was the center, won the title in Eugene.
✅Marileidy Paulino? ?Two silver medals in Tokyo 2020 athletics: 400 my relevos mixtos 4×400 m ?Es la muje… https://t.co/zEFcIwyCcX
A legendary world record
Things returned to “normal” – much to the delight of the home crowd – in the men’s 400m and women’s 400m hurdles finals. The fear of the 400 meter hurdles, Sydney McLaughlin pushed her limits, thanks to another world record, her fourth since June 27, 2021 and her second in a month. The American was the first woman under 51 seconds.
The next two world champions were both members of the United States team. Michael Norman was fastest in 44.29 seconds, thanks to a superb final stretch that put him ahead of Grenadian Kirani James, 44.48 seconds. Briton Matthew Hudson-Smith finished third.
The inescapable Sydney McLaughlin, world record holder, has no mercy on her opponents. With a new world record of 50.68 seconds, she crushed the Dutch Femke Bol (52.27 seconds) and her compatriot Dalilah Muhammad (53.13 seconds). In many respects, this world record resembles that achieved in Tokyo in the Olympic final by Norwegian Karsten Warholm, who was the first 400m hurdles runner to drop 46 seconds.
