World Athletics Championships Doha 2019: All eyes on Dalilah Muhammad

Bengaluru/Doha, July 30: With less than two months to go for the IAAF World Championships to begin in the Qatari capital, Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad is the talk of the town after the American produced the performance of her life to break the 400M hurdles world record on the final day of the US Championships in Des Moines on Sunday (July 28).

Dalilah clocked 52.20 to clip 0.14 from the previous mark set 16 years ago by Russian Yuliya Pechonkina.

While the record may have been a surprise to many fans, Dalilah's coach, Lawrence Johnson, knew it was only a matter of time before it fell.

WORLD RECORD!!

52.20 from Dalilah Muhammad to win the 400m hurdles at the US Championships.

(pending ratification) pic.twitter.com/ndSP2h4mW1
— IAAF (@iaaforg) July 29, 2019

"My coach kept telling me it was there," said Dalilah, whose previous best was 52.64, set at the 2017 US Championships. "I just had to trust him and go for it. I wanted it so bad, I knew I had to go out there and prove myself.

"Funny enough, I got a little injured like two weeks ago," she added. "I had a crazy fall and so we've kind of been shutting down. It's just one of those things that you're just hoping for the best... I just trusted in what we had been working on at this point."

“My coach kept telling me it was there,” said @DalilahMuhammad. “I just had to trust that and go for it. I wanted it so bad, I knew I had to go out there and prove myself.”

📰: https://t.co/h2uG719l5S
— IAAF (@iaaforg) July 29, 2019

Dalilah will be joined on the US team for the World Championships by world Under-20 record-holder Sydney McLaughlin - the one athlete to have beaten her over the past year - and Olympic bronze medallist Ashley Spencer.

They may also be joined by defending champion Kori Carter or potentially someone else, should the IAAF Diamond League title be won by another US woman not currently on the team. In that case, the allocation of the wildcard will rest with USA Track and Field.

Whichever four women represent USA in the 400M hurdles at the IAAF World Championships, Dalilah will defintely be the star attraction in the World Championships to be held at Doha's Khalifa International Stadium from September 28 to October 6.

(With IAAF inputs)