Update, July 10: Delilah Muhammad, an NCAA All-American, broke from the field early, winning by more than a second in 52.88. The 26-year-old secured a bid to her first Olympics by clocking the fifth-fastest American time for a woman ever in the event. Ashley Spencer, 24, took second in 54.02. But the biggest ovation came for 16-year-old Sydney McLaughlin, who took third at 54.15, setting a junior world record. She will be the youngest American track athlete in Rio.
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The top three athletes in each event who have achieved the Olympic qualifying standard will make Team USA, headed to compete in August at the Rio de Janeiro Games.
Below is a preview of the women’s 400-meter hurdles race, originally published in June. To see all of our event previews, go here.
World Record: Yuliya Pechenkina (Russia), 52.34 (2003)
American Record: Lashinda Demus, 52.47 (2011)
Olympic Trials Record: Sheena Johnson, 52.95 (2004)
Olympic Trials Qualifying Time: 56.95
Olympic Qualifying Time: 56.20
What to Watch For: Shamier Little, 21, a Texas A&M senior who is easily recognizable by her retro spectacles, hopes to earn her first trip to the Games. She’s a good bet, having earned 2015 world championships silver and Pan American Games gold. Cassandra Tate, 25, was right behind her at world championships in Beijing, earning bronze. Other top contenders include Delilah Muhammad, 26, a world championships silver medalist in 2013; Georganne Moline, 26, the runnerup at the 2012 Olympic Trials; and veterans Lashinda Demus, 33, and Tiffany Williams, 33. Demus is the American record holder.
Kit has been a health, fitness, and running journalist for the past five years. His work has taken him across the country, from Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, to cover the 2016 Olympic Trials to the top of Mt. Katahdin in Maine to cover Scott Jurek’s record-breaking Appalachian Trail thru-hike in 2015.
