Commonwealth champion Janieve Russell is currently among the world’s finest 400m hurdlers. Here the Jamaican and 2012 IAAF World U20 champion explains her unusual route into the discipline and her passion for the event.

Olympic champion Elaine Thompson retained her national 100m title with a hard fought victory over two-time Olympic and three-time world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce on Friday (22), the second day of the Jamaican Championships in Kingston.

Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands and Hellen Obiri of Kenya lit up the middle distance events at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rome on Thursday night (8), turning in a pair stunning performances to set world-leading times in their respective events at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea. 

After a strong breakout season that culminated in an unlikely appearance in the Olympic final, there’s little doubt that Janieve Russell is Jamaica’s latest rising star in the women’s 400m hurdles.

Almaz Ayana missed out on the women’s world 5000m record by just over five seconds at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rabat two weeks ago and came, agonisingly, even closer in Rome as she stopped the clock at 14:12.59 on Thursday (2), just 1.44 off the mark set by her Ethiopian compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba eight years ago.

Bahamian sprint star Shaunae Miller produced arguably the top performance of the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, when she sped to a 200m time of 22.14 on Saturday (7).