Sidnija Maklaflina | Photo: Scanpix/Reuters
American Sydney McLaughlin won the 400-meter hurdles with a new world record at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene on Friday, while Shauna Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas won the 400-meter hurdles.
In the final, she beat her previous world record by 0.73 seconds, finishing in 50.68 seconds. The previous record (51.41 seconds) was set last month at the USA selection competition in Eugene. “We made the 400-meter hurdles something you want to watch,” McLaughlin said after the finish, adding that she was proud to have another great race. “The times shown are absolutely amazing and the sport just keeps getting faster and faster. You just have to figure out how to overcome the barriers. That’s the only way I get faster.”
The silver medal was won by Femke Bola from the Netherlands (52.27), and the bronze medal went to Delilah Muhammad (53.13) representing the USA. Two-time Olympic champion Miller-Uibo, wife of the Estonian all-rounder Maicel Uibo, celebrated the victory in the round race without barriers. After two silver and one bronze medal, it was her first victory at the world championships. Three years ago, she was the second, after Nigerian-born Bahraini athlete Salwa Aida Nasser, to be banned from the Tokyo Olympics due to an anti-doping rule violation. In Eugene, Miller-Uibo won with a time of 49.11 seconds.
The second place was taken by the sprinter Marilady Paulino of the Dominican Republic (49.60), the third place was taken by the athlete Sada Williams from Barbados. With her result, McLaughlin would have overtaken two athletes in the 400-meter hurdles final. American Michael Norman triumphed in the men’s one-lap race with a result of 44.29 seconds, easing the disappointment of fifth place at the Tokyo Olympics.
2011 world champion Kirani James from Grenada won silver with 44.48 seconds, while British Matthew Hudson-Smith took bronze (44.66). World record holder Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa, who won gold at the Rio Olympics in 43.03 seconds, finished fifth (44.97).
It has already been reported that Latvian thrower Līna Mūze won sixth place (61.26 meters) in the javelin competition on Friday. For the first time in history, the winner of the previous championship managed to defend the title, Australian Kelsey Lee Barber won the gold with a throw of 66.91 meters. American Cara Winger won the silver with 64.05 meters, while Japanese Haruka Kitaguchi won bronze with a throw of 63.27 meters, beating China’s Liu Shiyin by two centimeters and Australian Mackenzie Little by five centimeters.
In the qualification of the pole vault competition, the main favorite world record holder from Sweden Armands Duplantis easily entered the main competition, who managed two successful jumps at a height of 5.65 and 5.75 meters. “I didn’t want to do too many jumps,” said Duplantis, who set the stadium world record at 6.16m in Stockholm last month. “I just wanted to get into the main event safely. First of all, I want to win. This is the most important thing. If I can jump high, I will jump high. It would be nice, but gold is the most important thing for me right now.”
Also, the winner of the London Olympic Games and the five-time medalist of the world championships, the Frenchman Renaud Lavilleny, also entered the main competition, but the three-time medalist of the world championship races, the Pole Piotr Lisek, did not qualify. Finally, the two American 4×100 meter relay teams will run in the final, which previously had big problems with passing the baton and withdrawals or disqualifications. Team USA held a relay team training camp especially before the World Championships so that the athletes could improve their baton passing skills.
However, the Olympic champion Italy did not enter the finals, because the 100-meter champion of the Tokyo Games, Lamont Marcel Jacobs, is not in its lineup due to an injury. The world championship in athletics will take place in Eugene until July 24.
