Dalilah delights with world record

With Sydney McLaughlin breathing down her neck, Dalilah Muhammad knew she had to better her best. And that is precisely what the Olympic champion produced at the Khalifa International Stadium last night.

After having had to settle for silver at the 2013 Moscow and 2017 London Worlds, Dalilah bagged that elusive 400m hurdles gold medal by breaking her own world record at the IAAF World Championships in Doha.

It was the 29-year-old’s second world record in the space of three months and it couldn’t have come at a better time for her. McLaughlin, long anointed as Dalilah’s heiress apparent, gave a tough fight to her American compatriot but had to settle for silver in a personal best of 52.23, just .03 off Dalilah’s old record. Jamaica's Rushell Clayton took bronze with her own PB of 53.74.

“This means so much. It is difficult to describe. I just wanted the world title so much but to break the world record again is fantastic,” said Dalilah. “I just decided to go for it from the start and I felt Sydney coming at me around hurdle nine, then I just gave everything I’d got. It hasn’t really sunk but it feels good,” she added.

After the race, Dalilah was still coming to terms with her world record feat. “I did not expect to break the world record today, I was definitely just trying to win that race. Two world records, that sounds quite crazy, now that it is done. My coach told me that it is possible and I just had to go there and believe in it. I believe that we can drop under 52s, the race was so tight, that was anybody's race tonight. It was so close, we will continue to push each other. It is definitely possible,” she said.