Previews05 Sep 2018


Preview: women's 400m – IAAF Continental Cup Ostrava 2018

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Salwa Eid Naser in the 400m at the IAAF World Championships London 2017 (© Getty Images)

World silver medallist Salwa Eid Naser has been in great form all season. The 20-year old from Qatar bettered 50 seconds six times, peaking with an Asian record of 49.08 in Monaco.

Arguably her most impressive achievement came recently, when she scored a decisive victory at the IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels in 49.33 only a day after taking gold and silver in the relays at the Asian Games in Jakarta. She also emerged with an individual gold from the latter event.

The world's top 800m runner, Caster Semenya, has given more attention to racing over one lap this year and took the African title in 49.96. She was unchallenged in all her races over the distance so far, so it remains to be seen whether she can go even better when facing faster runners.

Shakima Wimbley is another woman to have broken 50 seconds for the first time this year, with 49.52 earning her a US national title. She recently finished third in Brussels.

Her Americas teammate Stephenie-Ann McPherson of Jamaica is yet another contender for strong points, with a season's best of 50.31, NACAC gold and Commonwealth Games bronze to her name this year.

The European challenge will be led by the continental champion Justyna Swiety-Ersetic of Poland, with a best of 50.41.

Rounding out the field are the European bronze medallist Lisanne de Witte of the Netherlands and Christine Botlogetswe of Botswana, both of them sub-51 runners this year.

Pawel Jackowski for the IAAF

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