Dalilah Muhammad of USA wins the 400m hurdles at the 2007 IAAF World Youth Championships in Ostrava (© Getty Images)
Minutes after winning the world youth 400m hurdles title, USA's Dalilah Muhammad set her sights on becoming a world and Olympic champion.
Muhammad described herself as a hard worker; a quality she believes will help in her drive to stardom. While noting she is aware of the work and dedication it would take, Muhammad said with the help of her coach George Taylor and parents – who she describes as "very supportive" – her dreams could come true.
"I think I have worked pretty hard already, but to win an Olympic medal or world title, I am going to have to push harder," she said.
In a competitive home stretch, Muhammad showed determination to take the title in 57.25 ahead of Romania's Andreea Ionescu (57.33) and Ryann Krais (57.50), also of the USA.
Muhammad, who is a student at Benjamin Cardoza High School in New York, says it's a great feeling to be the world youth champion.
"I am really excited about being the world champion," said the 17-year-old, who is now aiming for a place on USA's World Junior Championships team for Bydgoszcz, Poland, next year.
"I am really happy with my performance. It was a hard race, I had to push to the end," she said while giving credit to the strong field.
Though she fell short of her personal best of 57.09, Muhammad said winning the gold was more important.
"I did feel a little uncomfortable going over most of the hurdles, so that kind of affected my time, but I am happy with my overall performance," she explained.
She entered the event as the world youth leader, but Muhammad was unsure about her ability to win.
"I was pretty confident, but I didn't know if I was going to win the gold," she said. "I was prepared to do my best to get a medal.
"It was anybody's race, but I won, and I am happy," added the new champion, who switched from the sprint hurdles at the age of 15.
"Since I was a 15-year-old, I started to work hard and practice more for the 400m hurdles. I guess I am just better at the 400m hurdles and that's why I stopped doing the 100m hurdles," she added.
She doesn't have a favourite athlete, but said: "I pretty much look up to all the athletes out there."
Anthony Foster for the IAAF
