Hands up if you saw this one coming. Not so much that Sydney McLaughlin would win gold in the 400m hurdles, adding the world title to her Olympic gold, and not just that she would break her own world record in Friday&rsquo;s final, but that the 22-year-old US superstar would break through an inconceivable, unfathomable barrier of 51 seconds for running one lap of the track and clearing 10 barriers &ndash; and not just break it, but utterly obliterate it.
50.68.
Let&rsquo;s just leave that time there, sitting on its own, because that&rsquo;s what it will now do on the all-time lists &ndash; by some distance the most spectacular performance to date at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.
It&rsquo;s a performance that will be looked at by all other 400m hurdlers, and indeed fans of the sport, as something out of this world, and that&rsquo;s exactly what it is &ndash; to everyone but Sydney McLaughlin. Because ever since her early teens, this is an athlete who&rsquo;s been an outlier among outliers, a woman who&rsquo;s taken what is implausible to others and made it seem routine. A native of New Jersey, she&rsquo;s been shredding all-time best marks for the past nine years. 
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jV_8KfaIY14" width="100%" height="475" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 McLaughlin holds the world 400m hurdles bests at every age from 14 to 19. She holds the world U18 record at 54.18 &ndash; no one has ever got within a second of it. She holds the fastest ever time by an U20 athlete at 52.75 &ndash; no one has got within 1.5 seconds of that.
And with a peerless, near-perfect performance at Hayward Field on Friday night, she again broke the senior world record for the third time in 12 months, her best mark now nine tenths of a second ahead of the next fastest in history &ndash; which equates to seven metres on the track.
Out there on her own &ndash; as it has so long been.
Silver went to Femke Bol of the Netherlands in 52.27, with bronze going to the previous world champion Dalilah Muhammad of USA in 53.13. USA&rsquo;s Shamier Little was fourth in 53.76.
After the race, McLaughlin sat on the track for considerable time. There were two reasons. &ldquo;I was just trying to process the lactic acid,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;and I was taking a moment to enjoy what had happened.&rdquo;
Later in the night, her fellow medallists were asked if they thought 50.68 was a time they ever thought possible. &ldquo;I definitely thought 50 was possible, and after that race I think 49 is possible &ndash; by Sydney,&rdquo; laughed Muhammad.
How close was it to the perfect race?
&ldquo;I think there&rsquo;s always more to improve upon,&rdquo; said McLaughlin. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s always more than can be shaven off, for sure. There&rsquo;s no such thing as a perfect race, but I don&rsquo;t think that was a super-clean race.&rdquo;
McLaughlin felt like she was in a &ldquo;flow state&rdquo; during those 50 seconds where she was &ldquo;putting everything you&rsquo;ve done in practice into the race, just letting your body do what it does &ndash; releasing the gifts and talents that God&rsquo;s given you.&rdquo;
What does the future hold after a performance like that?
McLaughlin said it could take any direction, either to a new event like the 400m or 100m hurdles or a possible double at the Paris Olympics, but she plans to heed the advice of her coach, Bobby Kersee.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s talk of doubles, talks of switching,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Honestly, I have no clue.&rdquo;
There was more success for the home crowd to cheer in the men&rsquo;s 400m where Michael Norman achieved what has long seemed his destiny: a global title. The 24-year-old had to come through one hell of a scrap to get it, though. 
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pZ0rlIR9nDc" width="100%" height="475" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 Kirani James ripped through the opening 200m in 20.95, with Norman a step behind at that point in 21.12, but as they turned for home the US sprinter launched his attack. He battled to the front just ahead of James, Matthew Hudson-Smith of Britain and Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa, whose challenge fell away over the last 50 metres &ndash; the world record-holder finishing fifth in 44.97.
Norman&rsquo;s technique became a little ragged as he fought fatigue down the home straight, but he held on to win in 44.29, with James second in 44.48 and Hudson-Smith taking bronze in 44.66. USA&rsquo;s Champion Allison finished fourth in 44.77.
&ldquo;It took a lot of work to get where I was,&rdquo; said Norman. &ldquo;Obviously last year was not a good year for me so I had to do a lot of hard work just to kind of get back to where I was. This moment here is going to be remembered forever.&rdquo;
Shaunae Miller-Uibo claimed her first world outdoor title with a dominant performance in the women&rsquo;s 400m, though the look on the Bahamian&rsquo;s face at the finish was more relief than elation.
The two-time Olympic champion utilised her rapid speed to shoot to the lead at halfway, but she had company coming off the turn with Sada Williams of Barbados just a step behind along with Marileidy Paulino of Dominican Republic.
However, Miller-Uibo showed her class down the straight and opened an advantage that was growing with every stride as she hit the line in a world-leading 49.11, with Paulino taking silver in 49.60 and Williams becoming the first ever Barbadian woman to earn a World Championships medal in third with a national record of 49.75. Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands was fourth with 50.33. 
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zIhpBzwNhUE" width="100%" height="475" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 &ldquo;The times didn't matter to me, it was all about making sure we secured the gold medal,&rdquo; said Miller-Uibo. &ldquo;That's one thing we were missing.&rdquo;
In the women&rsquo;s javelin, Australia&rsquo;s Kelsey-Lee Barber retained her world title with a dominant performance, launching a world-leading 66.91m in the third round to seize command. No one else came close to that, but there was still some last-round drama in the battle for the minor medals.
China&rsquo;s Liu Shiying went into it in second place with the 63.25m she threw in the fourth round but was suddenly demoted to fourth, with Japan&rsquo;s Haruka Kitaguchi throwing 63.27m to move into second, but in the end that only proved good enough for bronze. That was because USA&rsquo;s Kara Winger found something special when it mattered, her 64.05m in the final round raising the roof at Hayward Field and handing her silver.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I always believed I have the capacity to go back to back,&rdquo; said Barber. &ldquo;I am cementing my place as one of the world's best javelin throwers and I want to keep building on that. This season has been trial and error a little bit. Today was always the goal. I am quite pleased with the way I performed.&rdquo;
The women&rsquo;s 800m semi-finals saw Olympic champion Athing Mu of USA, Britain&rsquo;s Keely Hodgkinson and Kenya&rsquo;s Mary Moraa all advance to the final with victories. Moraa used front-running tactics to advance in 1:59.65 ahead of USA&rsquo;s Ajee Wilson. Hodgkinson utilised her typical strong finish to edge Jamaica&rsquo;s Natoya Goule in 1:58.51, with USA&rsquo;s Raevyn Rogers also advancing in third with 1:58.77. Mu looked majestic while winning the third semi-final in 1:58.12, with Ethiopia&rsquo;s Diribe Welteji also highly impressive in second with a PB of 1:58.16. &ldquo;I feel there's a lot left in the tank,&rdquo; said Mu. &ldquo;I felt really comfortable.&rdquo; Slovenia&rsquo;s former 400m runner Anita Horvat had a breakthrough in third, her PB of 1:59.60 advancing her to the final on time.
In the men&rsquo;s 4x100m heats, a strong USA quartet of Christian Coleman, Noah Lyles, Elijah Hall and Marvin Bracy were highly impressive in winning in 37.87, and they should prove tough to stop with the same line-up expected in the final.
The British quartet followed them home in 38.49, while Ghana claimed the third automatic position in 38.58, with Japan and Nigeria both disqualified for changing the baton outside the zone. France claimed victory in the second heat in 38.09 ahead of Canada (38.10) and South Africa (38.31), with Jamaica advancing on time in fourth, clocking 38.33 after a botched second exchange that nearly cost them dearly. Brazil finished fifth in 38.41 and also advanced on time.
USA was also highly impressive in the women&rsquo;s 4x100m heats, their quartet of Melissa Jefferson, Aleia Hobbs, Jenna Prandini and Twanisha Terry taking victory in 41.56 ahead of Spain, who clocked a national record of 42.61, with Nigeria taking the third automatic spot in 42.68. Italy set a national record of 42.71 to advance in fourth with Switzerland also qualifying in fifth with 42.73. Great Britain and Northern Ireland took the win in the first heat in 41.99, with Jamaica second in 42.37 and Germany third in 42.44.
Mondo Duplantis made no mistake in pole vault qualification, advancing to the final with ease after his first-time clearance at 5.75m. Poland&rsquo;s Piotr Lisek was an early casualty after three failures at 5.65m, while 2016 Olympic champion Thiago Braz endured some nervous moments at 5.65m, clearing it on his third attempt before soaring over 5.75m to make the final. Christopher Nilsen, the only athlete besides Duplantis to clear six metres this season, made no mistake with three clearances at 5.50m, 5.65m and 5.75m to also advance.
&ldquo;If I am able to jump high, then I would jump high &ndash; that would be nice but the gold is the most important for me now,&rdquo; said Duplantis. &ldquo;I managed to save some energy for the final. I am feeling good, I cannot complain and I am ready for the final.&rdquo;
On Friday morning, Peru&rsquo;s Kimberly Garcia completed a special week of race walking when she won the 35km event in a South American record of 2:39:16 to add to her gold in the 20km. Poland&rsquo;s Katarzyna Zdzieblo took silver in 2:40:03 and China&rsquo;s Qieyang Shijie took bronze in an Asian record of 2:40:37. It was the first time the 35km event had been held at the World Athletics Championships, and Garcia made her decisive move shortly before the 20km event.
&ldquo;I have always dreamed of making history in a sport I am so passionate about and I have been practising since the age of five,&rdquo; said Garcia, who&rsquo;s coached by Ecuador&rsquo;s 2015 Pan-American Games 50km champion Andres Chocho, who is contesting the men&rsquo;s 35km on Sunday. &ldquo;I can't wait to celebrate with my family when I arrive home.&rdquo;
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

World Athletics Championships, Oregon 2022

The 22-year-old US superstar broke through an inconceivable, unfathomable barrier of 51 seconds for running one lap of the track and clearing 10 barriers

50.68! McLaughlin runs earth-shattering world 400m hurdles record on day eight in Oregon

Sydney McLaughlin has done it again. For the fourth time in her remarkable 400m hurdles career, the 22-year-old has broken the world record, obliterating her previous best with 50.68 at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on Friday (22).
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s unreal,&rdquo; she said trackside, with the Hayward Field crowd looking on in awe. &ldquo;I just wanted to run and go for it.&rdquo;
She certainly went for it. Shaving 0.73 from her previous world record, set on the same track less than a month earlier, she left her rivals &ndash; including two of the three fastest hurdlers the world has ever seen &ndash; with no response as she won her first world title in the event by more than a one-and-a-half seconds.
Netherlands&rsquo; Olympic bronze medallist Femke Bol &ndash; No.3 on the all-time list &ndash; followed her over the finish line in 52.27 to equal her season&rsquo;s best, while USA&rsquo;s former world record-holder Dalilah Muhammad &ndash; No.2 all time &ndash; clocked 53.13 for bronze.
It is the third world record that McLaughlin has set at Hayward Field. Her first came at the 2021 US Olympic Trials, when she clocked 51.90 to improve on the 52.16 global mark that Muhammad had achieved when winning the 2019 world title ahead of her compatriot.
Just over a month later, McLaughlin ran 51.46 to win the Olympic title in Tokyo, and she broke the record for a third time at this year&rsquo;s US Championships in Eugene on 25 June, clocking 51.41.
Such is the standard, this latest world record time would put McLaughlin 19th on this season&rsquo;s top list for the 400m flat. Yet the US hurdles star achieved it with 10 barriers in the way.
&nbsp;
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jV_8KfaIY14" width="100%" height="475" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 She reached the first of those barriers at roughly the same point as Muhammad made hers, and they remained pretty evenly matched at the second hurdle. But from that point on, the race looked like it would only be going one way.
With Muhammad to her right and Bol to her left, McLaughlin caught her compatriot along the back straight and blazed past her heading into the curve. By the time she left the bend, it was McLaughlin against the clock and time seemed to stand still as she surged ever closer.
Behind her, Bol drew level and then overtook Muhammad as they entered the home straight, McLaughlin striding away in the distance.
The question wasn&rsquo;t whether McLaughlin was going to break the world record, but by just how much. With the crowd on their feet, the answer soon came as the scoreboard showed 50.68.
Since 2019 &ndash; in less than three years &ndash; the world record has been improved by almost two seconds. That mark of 52.34 had stood for 16 years before Muhammad took it to 52.20 and then 52.16. On 27 June 2021, McLaughlin began her reign.
Now that previous world record mark of 52.34 is just 14th on the world all-time list.
&ldquo;The time is absolutely amazing and the sport is getting faster and faster,&rdquo; McLaughlin said of her latest performance. &ldquo;Just figuring out what barriers can be broken. I only get faster from here.
&ldquo;I executed the race the way Bobby (Kersee, her coach) wanted me to. I knew coming home that if I just kept my cadence and stayed on stride pattern, we could do it and it happened.
&ldquo;The level in the 400m hurdles is certainly improving. We have a full group of girls that are willing to push our bodies to the next level and we are seeing times drop.&rdquo;
In line with World Athletics&rsquo; commitment to further advance gender equality in the sport, the women&rsquo;s world record programme in Oregon is being supported by World Athletics as part of its International Women&rsquo;s Day #WeGrowAthletics pledge, and this saw McLaughlin receive a cheque for US$100,000 along with her gold medal.
Securing silver after a strong finish was Bol, and the 22-year-old was delighted to go one better than her Olympic bronze.
&ldquo;I ran against the best in the world, Sydney is just very strong,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;She was so far in front at the end, so I was always doubting if I really had a good race because it felt very good. Then I saw the time and I was like: &lsquo;Wow&rsquo;. It is amazing to be a part of it and to come out second in such a race.&rdquo;
For Muhammad, it is a fourth world 400m hurdles medal and she has now completed the set after gold in 2019, silver in 2013 and 2017 and now bronze in 2022.
&ldquo;I'm having mixed emotions, to be honest,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It's great to get a medal but I came into these championships on the strength of having always gotten a medal at any championships, despite any injuries. But as a competitor, you always want more.&rdquo;
US athletes filled four of the top five spots, with 2015 world silver medallist Shamier Little fourth in 53.76 and Britton Wilson fifth in 54.02.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
&nbsp;
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">WOMEN'S 400m HURDLES MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">Sydney McLaughlin 🇺🇸 USA</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">50.68 WR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Femke Bol 🇳🇱 NED</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">52.27 =SB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Dalilah Muhammad 🇺🇸 USA</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">53.13 SB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-championships/oregon22/results/women/400-metres-hurdles/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

US hurdles superstar becomes the first to go sub-51 seconds in the event

McLaughlin obliterates world 400m hurdles record with 50.68 in Oregon

A team of 151 athletes will represent the USA on home soil at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on 15-24 July.
Multiple global champions and world record-holders feature in the squad as Eugene&rsquo;s Hayward Field gets ready to welcome the world for the first-ever outdoor World Athletics Championships to be hosted in the USA.
World record-holder and Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin will take on the former world record-holder and reigning world champion Dalilah Muhammad as they look to further cement the US women&rsquo;s global dominance in the 400m hurdles final on 22 July.
In the men&rsquo;s shot put on 17 July, world record-holder and Olympic champion Ryan Crouser will go after the one title that has so far eluded him &ndash; that of world champion &ndash; and will take on two-time world champion Joe Kovacs.
Such is the strength of the women&rsquo;s 800m squad of Athing Mu, Ajee Wilson and Raevyn Rogers, as well as the men&rsquo;s 200m team of Noah Lyles, Erriyon Knighton, Fred Kerley and Kenny Bednarek, that athletes will be aiming for USA medal sweeps.
Returning to defend the titles they won in Doha in 2019 are Nia Ali (women's 100m hurdles), Donavan Brazier (men's 800m), Christian Coleman (men's 100m), Grant Holloway (men's 110m hurdles), Kovacs (men's shot put), Lyles (men's 200m), Muhammad (women's 400m hurdles), DeAnna Price (women's hammer) and Christian Taylor (men's triple jump).
Making her 10th World Championships appearance will be Allyson Felix, who has 18 world medals, including 13 golds, to her name and will be in the mixed 4x400m pool.
&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t be prouder to lead this amazing team for this once-in-a-lifetime event,&rdquo; said USATF CEO Max Siegel. &ldquo;We have been given the unique opportunity to impact the track and field landscape in the US, and we&rsquo;ve put our best team forward.&rdquo;
USATF for World Athletics
<h2>USA team for Oregon</h2>
Women 100m: Aleia Hobbs, Melissa Jefferson, Twanisha Terry 200m: Tamara Clark, Jenna Prandini, Abby Steiner 400m: Talitha Diggs, Kendall Ellis, Lynna Irby 800m: Athing Mu, Raevyn Rogers, Ajee Wilson 1500m: Sinclaire Johnson, Cory McGee, Elle St. Pierre 5000m: Elise Cranny, Emily Infeld, Karissa Schweizer 10,000m: Alicia Monson, Natosha Rogers, Karissa Schweizer Marathon: Emma Bates, Keira D&rsquo;Amato, Sara Hall 3000m steeplechase: Emma Coburn, Courtney Frerichs, Courtney Wayment 100m hurdles: Nia Ali, Alia Armstrong, Keni Harrison, Alaysha Johnson 400m hurdles: Shamier Little, Sydney McLaughlin, Dalilah Muhammad, Britton Wilson Heptathlon: Michelle Atherley, Anna Hall, Kendell Williams, Ashtin Zamzow-Mahler High jump: Vashti Cunningham, Rachel Glenn, Rachel McCoy Pole vault: Gabriela Leon, Sandi Morris, Katie Nageotte Long jump: Quanesha Burks, Tiffany Flynn, Jasmine Moore Triple jump: Tori Franklin, Jasmine Moore, Keturah Orji Shot put: Adelaide Aquilla, Chase Ealey, Maggie Ewen, Jessica Woodard Discus: Valarie Allman, Rachel Dincoff, Veronica Fraley, Laulauga Tausaga-Collins Hammer: Brooke Andersen, Annette Echikunwoke, Janee Kassanavoid, DeAnna Price Javelin: Ariana Ince, Maggie Malone, Kara Winger 20km race walk: Robyn Stevens, Miranda Melville 35km race walk: Stephanie Casey, Miranda Melville, Maria Michta-Coffey 4x100m: Celera Barnes, Tamari Davis, Gabby Thomas (plus athletes named in individual sprints) 4x400m: Wadeline Jonathas, Jaide Stepter, Kaylin Whitney (plus athletes named in individual sprints)&nbsp;
Men 100m: Marvin Bracy, Trayvon Bromell, Christian Coleman, Fred Kerley 200m: Kenny Bednarek, Fred Kerley, Erriyon Knighton, Noah Lyles 400m: Champion Allison, Michael Cherry, Michael Norman, Randolph Ross 800m: Donavan Brazier, Bryce Hoppel, Jonah Koech, Brandon Miller 1500m: Johnny Gregorek, Cooper Teare, Josh Thompson 5000m: Grant Fisher, Woody Kincaid, Abdihamid Nur 10,000m: Grant Fisher, Joe Klecker, Sean McGorty&nbsp; Marathon: Elkanah Kibet, Colin Mickow, Galen Rupp 3000m steeplechase: Hillary Bor, Evan Jager, Benard Keter 110m hurdles: Devon Allen, Trey Cunningham, Grant Holloway, Daniel Roberts 400m hurdles: Trevor Bassitt, Rai Benjamin, Khallifah Rosser Decathlon: Steven Bastien, Kyle Garland, Zach Ziemek High jump: Darius Carbin, JuVaughn Harrison, Shelby McEwen Pole vault: Andrew Irwin, Chris Nilsen, Luke Winder Long jump: Marquis Dendy, Steffin McCarter, Will Williams Triple jump: Chris Benard, Will Claye, Donald Scott, Christian Taylor Shot put: Josh Awotunde, Ryan Crouser, Joe Kovacs, Tripp Piperi&nbsp; Discus: Andrew Evans, Sam Mattis, Brian Williams Hammer: Daniel Haugh, Rudy Winkler, Alex Young Javelin: Ethan Dabbs, Tim Glover, Curtis Thompson 20km race walk: Nick Christie, Dan Nehnevaj 35km race walk: Nick Christie&nbsp; 4x100m: Kyree King, Josephus Lyles, Elijah Hall-Thompson (plus athletes named in individual sprints) 4x400m: Bryce Deadmon, Vernon Norwood, Elija Godwin (plus athletes named in individual sprints)
Mixed 4x400m: Allyson Felix, Kennedy Simon, Ismail Turner, Noah Williams (plus athletes named in individual sprints)

Multiple global champions and world record-holders feature in the squad

USA names 151-strong team for World Championships in Oregon

One month from today, the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 &ndash; the first to be held in the United States &ndash; will get under way at the all-new Hayward Field in Eugene.
One week from tomorrow, that same venue will stage the fearsome, first-three-home drama of the USATF Championships, where home athletes will seek to earn the right to return to the re-built arena once the global event starts on 15 July.
The perennial jeopardy of that event means that some of the most likely home medallists cannot yet be inked in for the World Championships. But wild card entries for defending champions mean that US athletes such as 200m gold medallist Noah Lyles, who has demonstrated convincing form in recent weeks and days, will count on toeing the line.
Prospective challengers for medals in Eugene, notably from Europe and Africa, have been laying down their markers in earnest over the last fortnight, however, as the meetings have come thick and fast. The level of excitement and anticipation is rising rapidly on the Road to Oregon. Cast your eyes over seven of the most notable hot spots&hellip;
&nbsp;
<h2>Javelin rivalry rising to the heights</h2>
Is any final at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 likely to be more competitive than the men&rsquo;s javelin? The answer right now would appear to be no.
A stupendous season of thrust and counter-thrust started at the opening Wanda Diamond League meeting of the season in Doha last month, when, taking advantage of a big following wind, Grenada&rsquo;s world champion Anderson Peters and Olympic silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch made best of the conditions to spear &ndash; sorry, spur &ndash; each other to new levels of performances.
Peters took a first-round lead with a national record of 88.96m but was pushed into second place in the fourth round when Vadlejch also threw a personal best of 89.87m.
The fifth round saw Peters re-take the lead with 90.19m, only for the Czech thrower to respond with 90.88m.
There was one more step up to be taken, however, and it was Peters who won with a final effort of 93.07m, moving himself to fifth on the world all-time list as he did so. 
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zjWv_R-RW14" width="100%" height="475" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 Skip forward to the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games in Hengelo last Monday week &ndash; Peters maintained his winning run with an effort of 90.75m, with Germany&rsquo;s Julian Weber second on 89.54m and 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago third on 89.07m.
Anyone else to join the mix? Ah yes. The Olympic champion. India&rsquo;s Neeraj Chopra made his 2022 debut in Turku last night and improved his national record to 89.30m. Ominous. But it was still not enough for victory on the night in a country that idolises the javelin event.
Home thrower Oliver Helander &ndash; coached by Finland&rsquo;s 2007 world champion Tero Pitkamaki &ndash; produced what he described as a &ldquo;perfect throw&rdquo; to win with a massive personal best of 89.83m.
So there are currently six men this season who have thrown farther than 89 metres. And Germans Andreas Hoffman, the 2018 European silver medallist, and Johannes Vetter, who won world gold in 2017 and world bronze in 2019, and who stands second on the all-time list with his 2020 effort of 97.76m, have yet to hit proper form. Yikes! 
<h2>Jackson shocks Thompson-Herah over 200m</h2>
That said &ndash; the women&rsquo;s 200m in Oregon could also turn out to be the most competitive of the championships.
Jamaica&rsquo;s double Olympic 100m and 200m champion Elaine Thompson-Herah has made a strong start to the season, clocking 10.79 at the Eugene Diamond League meeting on 28 May to move to second in this season&rsquo;s world list, and producing a time of 22.25 in her first big 200m at last week&rsquo;s Rome Diamond League meeting.
But Thompson-Herah was surprisingly beaten to the line in the Olympic Stadium by her fellow Jamaican Shericka Jackson, the Olympic 100m bronze medallist and former 400m specialist, who won in 21.91. 
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ki3pBGvDxLc" width="100%" height="475" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 That is only enough to put Jackson third in this season&rsquo;s list, however, with Namibia&rsquo;s Olympic silver medallist Christine Mboma second on 21.87 and Abby Steiner of the United States top thanks to the 21.80 she clocked in winning the NCAA outdoor title in Eugene last Saturday.
And when you consider that Olympic bronze medallist Gabby Thomas of the United States has run 21.98, and Britain&rsquo;s world champion Dina Asher-Smith, back from the hamstring injury that undermined her Olympic ambitions, has clocked 22.27, well, you get the picture. &nbsp;
Just for good measure, double Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of The Bahamas recently cast doubt on whether she would contest the single lap event in Oregon. If that means she is concentrating on her second main event, at which she holds the Commonwealth title, then watch out.
Although she was only fourth in Rome in 22.48, she has a 2019 personal best of 21.74.
Meanwhile Allyson Felix, the multiple world and Olympic medallist at 200m and 400m who is in her farewell season at the age of 36, is hoping to make an emotional farewell at her home World Championships.
Last but definitively not least, Felix&rsquo;s compatriot Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson will also be a serious contender if she can safely negotiate the trials, having won at last Saturday&rsquo;s New York Grand Prix in 22.38.
"I want to continue to thrive &ndash; I am the sun, I am the sunshine,&rdquo; said the social media sensation. 
<h2>Lyles &ndash; &ldquo;It&rsquo;s fast! Official! It&rsquo;s fast!&rdquo;</h2>
The men&rsquo;s 200m also has chances of being the most competitive event in Oregon, given the form of the three main home protagonists.
Erriyon Knighton, aged 18, sent convulsions through the event on 30 April as he won in Baton Rouge in 19.49 &ndash; putting him fourth on the world all-time list behind fellow US sprinter Michael Johnson, who clocked a then world record of 19.32 at the 1996 Atlanta Games; Yohan Blake of Jamaica, who ran 19.26 at the 2011 Brussels meeting; and his compatriot Usain Bolt, who set the world record of 19.19 at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.
Less than a year after missing an Olympic 200m medal by one place in Tokyo, where he was the youngest man to represent the United States at the Games in athletics since Jim Ryun in 1964, this prodigiously talented youngster has set a dizzying pace.
Can anyone match him? Can Knighton even match himself?
Regarding the former question, the 24-year-old world champion from Florida, Noah Lyles, who was bitterly disappointed to earn only individual bronze in Tokyo, has maintained the late season flourish he produced last year in his 2022 races.
Lyles recovered his fortunes in 2021 by winning in Eugene shortly after the Games in 19.52, just shy of his personal best of 19.50. On that occasion he left in his wake the fellow US sprinter who had taken silver ahead of him in Tokyo, Kenny Bednarek.
Lyles made clear his direction of travel at last Saturday&rsquo;s New York Grand Prix, where he greeted victory in 19.61 with an excited exclamation to the cameras: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s fast! Official! It&rsquo;s fast!&rdquo;
While Bednarek has not been into the territory occupied by his US rivals so far this season, he has made a very sound start, winning on his debut at the Rabat Diamond League and then improving his time to 20.01 in earning a second victory at last week&rsquo;s Diamond League in Rome.
Also in the mix are two more hugely talented US athletes: Olympic 100m silver medallist Fred Kerley, who has run 19.80 this season, and Michael Norman, who finished just behind him in 19.83.
Meanwhile, Joseph Fahnbulleh of Liberia was massively impressive in bulldozering through the field after being metres behind to win the NCAA title in Eugene last Friday in 19.83. He is, in fact, the only non-US sprinter in this season&rsquo;s top 12.
And the Canadians &ndash; Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake and Olympic champion Andre De Grasse &ndash; are plotting their campaigns&hellip; 
<h2>Will Devon Allen quit athletics for NFL as a world champion?</h2>
Earlier this year Devon Allen announced that, at 27, he would be quitting athletics at the end of this season to take up a professional contract with National Football League side Philadelphia Eagles as a wide receiver.
Allen reached the 110m hurdles finals at the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, finishing fifth in Brazil and missing a medal by one place in Japan. But his chances of leaving the sport with a global title rocketed at last Saturday&rsquo;s New York Grand Prix as he earned a stunning victory over the man who has broadly dominated the event over the past three years, fellow US star Grant Holloway. 
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u9le2GlDpeo" width="100%" height="475" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 The latter followed up his world title in 2019 by taking silver at the Tokyo Olympics and this year won world indoor gold in Belgrade with imperious ease after equalling his world record of 7.29 in the heats.
But the leggy and affable Holloway was a distant second in 13.06 as Allen romped clear on the Icahn Stadium track to win in 12.84, moving himself up to third on the world all-time list behind the 12.81 run by Holloway in Eugene last year, and the 2012 world record of 12.80 run by another US talent, Aries Merritt.
Meanwhile, Jamaica&rsquo;s Hansle Parchment has shown himself to be in top form having won at the Birmingham Diamond League meeting in 13.09. All extremely fascinating&hellip; 
<h2>Mu sees Hodgkinson and raises her</h2>
Britain&rsquo;s Keely Hodgkinson has her sights firmly set on world 800m gold in Oregon. As does her fellow 20-year-old Athing Mu of the US, who beat her to Olympic gold in Tokyo last year. Something has to give.
Hodgkinson eschewed an almost certain 800m medal at the World Indoor Championships in March as a precaution after feeling a muscle twinge in warm-up for the final &ndash; it had to be gold or nothing for her, and she didn&rsquo;t want to risk what promises to be a richly busy outdoor season.
After an impressive victory in Birmingham she travelled to the Eugene Diamond League keyed up for a pre-World Championships battle with her rival, only to find that Mu was a no-show following the after-effects of having Covid-19.
The Briton did all she could to lay down a big marker on the track where the world golds will be disputed, piling in to win in 1:57.72, the fastest time of the year.
The glove was down. And less than a fortnight later at the Rome Diamond League meeting it was firmly grasped by Mu as she answered the challenge by romping home to win in 1:57.01. 
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YVdehUKPs5Q" width="100%" height="475" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 This could be one of the great races not only of Oregon, but in World Championship history &ndash; immoveable object versus irresistible force. 
<h2>Big drama in the 400m hurdles</h2>
The men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles event is currently adjusting to the shock of Karsten Warholm, Olympic champion and world record-holder, stuttering to a halt after clearing the first hurdle in his season&rsquo;s debut at the Rabat Diamond League on 5 June and exiting with a problematic right hamstring.
In the aftermath, a sombre Warholm spoke of a &ldquo;cramp&rdquo;, but also of a &ldquo;tear.&rdquo; He and his lifelong coach Leif Olav Alnes, who have worked so hard this winter to prepare for the Norwegian&rsquo;s second world title defence, now have an unexpected challenge on their hands.
Meanwhile Brazil&rsquo;s 21-year-old Alison dos Santos, who followed home Warholm and Rai Benjamin of the United States in that coruscating Tokyo Olympic final, has made the best start to the season.
He beat Benjamin at the opening Diamond League meeting in Doha with a meeting record of 47.24, with the US athlete clocking 47.49 &ndash; those times being, unsurprisingly, the best of the early season. Two weeks later Dos Santos turned up on Benjamin&rsquo;s home ground, winning in his absence in 47.23.
Whether the Oregon final can match the soaring quality of the Tokyo Olympic final remains to be seen &ndash; but it could equal it for drama.
While the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles has been tipped on its head so far this year, the women&rsquo;s version has been a little more predictable, although equally competitive.
The Dutch Olympic bronze medallist, 22-year-old Femke Bol, produced a startling opening flourish at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Ostrava on May 31 as she smashed the world best for 300m hurdle, reducing it from 38.16 to 36.86. 
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IvKgjsgwmOw" width="100%" height="475" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 Excitement surrounded her 400m hurdles seasonal debut at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games in Hengelo on 6 June, and she finished two metres clear in a meeting record of 53.94.
But the day before &ndash; as it happened &ndash; USA&rsquo;s Olympic champion and world record-holder Sydney McLaughlin had run 51.61, just shy of her world record of 51.46, at the Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville.
Bol returned to the fray at the Rome Diamond League, finishing way ahead in 53.02.
Meanwhile McLaughlin&rsquo;s compatriot Dalilah Muhammad, the Olympic silver medallist who has a wild card to defend her world title in Oregon, has posted an early time of 53.88.
Another big race is in prospect. 
<h2>Out of Africa, another medal contender</h2>
The African Championships that concluded in Mauritius on Sunday offered clear evidence of the challenge that continent will provide in Oregon.
Olympic and world bronze medallist Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso, a champion in 2018, won gold again with a best effort of 17.34m.
World indoor bronze medallist Abel Kipsang, fourth at the Tokyo Olympics, underlined his huge potential by winning the men&rsquo;s 1500m title.
Kenya's Ferdinand Omanyala, who heads this season&rsquo;s world list in the men&rsquo;s 100m after his 9.85 clocking in the thin air of Nairobi, added continental gold in 9.93, beating South Africa&rsquo;s Commonwealth champion Akani Simbine on a photo-finish.
Gina Bass of The Gambia won the women&rsquo;s 100m title in 11.06 from Aminatou Seyni of Niger, who went on to win the women&rsquo;s 200m in 23.04.
Meanwhile, other potential African winners in Eugene have been making convincing cases for themselves. 
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jCu9AnOSE4E" width="100%" height="475" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 Emmanuel Wanyonyi, the phenomenal 17-year-old who won the world U20 men&rsquo;s 800m title on his home track of Nairobi last year, has maintained impressive momentum this season, winning in 1:44.15 in Ostrava and coolly outrunning Botswana&rsquo;s 2012 Olympic silver medallist Nijel Amos at the Rabat Diamond League meeting to win in 1:45.47.
At that same meeting in the Moroccan capital, local hero Soufiane El Bakkali, whose Tokyo victory in the men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase provided his country with its only medal from the Games, once again defeated his great Ethiopian rival Lamecha Girma in a race that nearly blew the roof off the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.
Hayward Field is due more excitement very soon&hellip;
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics

Getting up to speed as the world’s best athletes prepare to hit full flow

Road to Oregon22 – seven hot topics with one month to go

Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin is one of four individual Tokyo medallists competing in the USATF New York Grand Prix on Sunday (12) as many top US athletes gear up for their national championships &mdash; the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 qualifier &mdash; later this month.
McLaughlin, the gold medallist and world record-holder in the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, joins silver medallists Grant Holloway and Raven Saunders as well as bronze medallist Noah Lyles for the new stop on the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series.
World champion Christian Coleman, three-time Olympic medallist Will Claye, 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Clayton Murphy and world indoor champion Ajee&rsquo; Wilson will also compete at Icahn Stadium on Randall&rsquo;s Island, which has a long history of hosting major competitions. On the same site in 1936, Jesse Owens starred at the US Olympic Trials.
McLaughlin, a native of nearby New Jersey, is entered in the 400m, fresh off her scintillating 51.61 in the 400m hurdles on 5 June &mdash; a time that was only 0.15 off her world record.
McLaughlin has run sparingly this season. Her only other appearance was a 100m hurdles race at the Penn Relays in late April, where she clocked 12.75 for the victory. McLaughlin was a bit sidetracked in May, when she walked down the aisle to get married.&nbsp;
The Olympic 4x400m gold medallist, whose PB is 50.07 from 2018, will face three of her USA relay teammates from Tokyo in the 400m: Lynna Irby, Kendall Ellis and Kaylin Whitney. Ellis ran 51.00 in April, while Irby clocked 51.03 in May and Whitney&rsquo;s best time this season is 51.89. Kyra Jefferson posted a time of 51.55 in early May, 0.06 faster than McLaughlin ran in Nashville with 10 hurdles in her way.
McLaughlin was originally set to double up and also race the 100m hurdles but has decided to focus on the 400m flat in New York. The 100m hurdles features Alaysha Johnson, who clocked the fifth-fastest time in the world this year of 12.50 in Puerto Rico in May. Tia Jones was third at the USATF Golden Games in April in 12.59, while Christina Clemons finished sixth in the same race in 12.68. Chanel Brissett ran 12.73 in Puerto Rico and Gabbi Cunningham, an Olympic finalist last summer, was sixth at the Prefontaine Classic in 12.75.
Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson &ndash; the sixth-fastest woman in history over 100m &ndash; got a late start to the season, but she has come on strong. She ran 10.92 at the Prefontaine Classic when placing second behind Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah. Thanks to a robust tailwind of 4.3m/s, Richardson posted a 10.73 last weekend in Florida.
But on Sunday she'll be up against Cambrea Sturgis, the top US sprinter this season with a wind-legal time of 10.87, and Olympic 4x100m silver medallist Aleia Hobbs, who ran 10.95 at the Golden Games.
<h2>Can Holloway shave some time?</h2>
A look at Holloway&rsquo;s head may be an indication of how he will do in the 110m hurdles. The world champion indoors and outdoor has run his best times when he shaves his hair. Holloway&rsquo;s PB is only 0.01 off the world record of 12.80. Because of inclement weather, he has raced his signature event only once this year and will be looking to improve his 13.34 from late April. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60e4a10e166b5c3fc2f6aa23.jpg" alt="Grant Holloway celebrates his 110m hurdles win at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial" />
Grant Holloway celebrates his 110m hurdles win at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial (&copy; Gyulai Istvan Memorial)
</div>
Devon Allen, who placed fourth at the Tokyo Olympics and is the 2021 Diamond League champion, has the third-fastest time this season, 13.11 from his Penn Relays win. Jamal Britt has run 13.30 and Olympian Daniel Roberts, who has a long rivalry with Holloway, has posted a 13.36.
In the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, Quincy Hall is tied for third on the world list thanks to his 48.10 at the Prefontaine Classic, where he placed third.&nbsp;
The women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles is the most international of the NY Grand Prix events, with six countries represented. Shiann Salmon of Jamaica has the top time of 54.43, followed by Gianna Woodruff of Panama at 54.60, Melissa Gonzalez of Colombia at 54.80 and Cassandra Tate of the USA at 54.81. Tia Adana Belle of Barbados and Mo Jiadie of China are also entered.
<h2>Coleman looking to dip under 10 seconds this season</h2>
In the men&rsquo;s 100m, Coleman, the world champion, has the fastest time in the field of 10.04 from his third-place finish at the Prefontaine Classic. He&rsquo;ll be seeking his first sub-10-second performance of 2022 in what will be his fourth 100m of the season. Kendal Williams clocked 10.05 last week in Nashville while Ackeem Blake of Jamaica recorded a PB of 10.08 in April and Marvin Bracy has run a wind-legal 10.11 and a wind-aided 9.80 (2.9m/s). Michael Rodgers and Isiah Young are scheduled to race in their second meet in four days after competing Thursday (9) in Rome
Lyles, the world champion and Olympic bronze medallist in the 200m, will race that distance for only the third time this year. He clocked 19.86 in early May for the No.4 time on the world list and then ran 19.72 with the wind only slightly above the limit (2.1m/s) to win the Diamond League meeting in Doha. Lyles also has run 10.05 twice in the 100m. Kyree King, who has a 20.18 in the 200m and 9.98 in the 100m this season, and world indoor 400m champion Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago, who has clocked 20.06, are also running well this season.&nbsp; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62840f89f43e81459e650693.jpg" alt="Erriyon Knighton and Noah Lyles race in Bermuda" />
Erriyon Knighton and Noah Lyles race in Bermuda (&copy; USATF)
</div>
The men&rsquo;s 800m will feature three of the top half-milers in the USA &mdash; 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Clayton Murphy, who has run 1:45.54 this season, and 2020 Olympians Bryce Hoppel and Isaiah Jewett. Hoppel was third in the Birmingham Diamond League meeting with a 1:46.33 while Jewett has only raced a 400m this year, clocking 47.50.
Wilson, who finally secured the first world title of her career in March in Belgrade, posted a time of 1:58.06 to place second at the Pre Classic. She is No.3 on the world list, just ahead of the similarly named Allie Wilson, who has run 1:58.18.
In the men's 400m, Trinidad and Tobago's 2017 world 4x400m champion Machel Cedenio takes on a field featuring the likes of USA's Noah Williams.
<h2>A triple jumper&rsquo;s last meet at age 30</h2>
In the only men&rsquo;s field event, Claye, a three-time Olympian, will launch his 11th year on the pro circuit on the day before his 31st birthday. Claye won Olympic silver medals in the triple jump in 2012 and 2016 and finished fourth in Tokyo. He also claimed the bronze medal in the long jump in 2012. Claye was fourth at the World Indoor Championships in March with 17.19m. Jah-Nhai Perinchief of Bermuda has the top mark in the field this season of 16.95m, followed by Marcos Ruiz of Spain at 16.94m.
Saunders, the Olympic silver medallist in the women&rsquo;s shot put, will take on Chase Ealey, who made a big impression with the No.2 throw in the world this year of 19.98m last Monday (6) in Hengelo. Saunders&rsquo; Tokyo teammate Jessica Ramsey has thrown 19.38m this season to rank No.6, while Saunders&rsquo; best is a heave of 18.71m to place sixth at the Doha Diamond League meeting. Danniel Thomas-Dodd of Jamaica ranks fifth at 19.53m.&nbsp;
Karen Rosen for World Athletics

Four individual Tokyo Olympic medallists are competing in the USATF New York Grand Prix

McLaughlin and Holloway head for New York

Anyone watching the closing stages of the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles final at the US Olympic Trials would have had a serious case of d&eacute;j&agrave; vu.
The top two protagonists &ndash; indeed, the two fastest women in history for the event &ndash; came off the final bend level with one another, just as they had done at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.
On that occasion in the Qatari capital, not much separated Dalilah Muhammad and Sydney McLaughlin as they negotiated the final barriers before Muhammad went on to win in a world record of 52.16, just 0.07 ahead of McLaughlin.
Fast forward two years to Eugene&rsquo;s Hayward Field and the two women found themselves in pretty much the same situation at the US Olympic Trials. Shamier Little was actually level with the pair up until the eighth hurdle, at which point she lost enough balance to take her out of contention for the victory. Muhammad had the slight advantage at that point, but McLaughlin moved up a gear at the ninth hurdle and inched ahead.
And that&rsquo;s where the d&eacute;j&agrave; vu ended, because McLaughlin charged towards the finish line to stop the clock at 51.90, smashing Muhammad&rsquo;s world record by more than a quarter of a second with the first sub-52-second run in history. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60d954b79038f745ada76bb0.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 &ldquo;Oh my gosh!&rdquo; was the 21-year-old&rsquo;s immediate reaction as she crossed the line. &ldquo;It's one of those moments that you dream about and think about when you&rsquo;re going to be able to put it together. I knew, from the moment I woke up today, it was going to be a great day. Afterwards there was a real &lsquo;I did it&rsquo; moment and I&rsquo;m going to cherish this for the rest of my life.
&ldquo;It was a really great competition, as always, and I knew it was going to be a fast race,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;My coach and I have been training for this; this is what our year has been about, just getting to this point.
&ldquo;We really put it together today. I&rsquo;m super grateful and happy to be on the team and I&rsquo;m excited to see what happens in Tokyo.&rdquo;
This will be McLaughlin&rsquo;s second Olympics. She famously qualified for her first Olympic team in 2016 when finishing third at that year&rsquo;s US Trials at the age of 16, clocking a world U20 record of 54.15. She went on to finish fifth in her semifinal at the Rio Games, just nine days after her 17th birthday. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60da4d943c5811c412dd3311.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="707" />
<div style="padding: 15px 20px 5px 20px; border: 2px solid #bd94ff;">
<h2><img style="width: 180px; height: 180px; border-radius: 50%; margin-left: 20px;" src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/572a74a4-dcbe-45b2-a8a4-82f3f5d22881.jpg?cachebuster=704cc0f2-0254-44bf-858f-ff6538a782bd" alt="Tegla Loroupe" align="right" />The prodigy comes of age</h2>
Sydney McLaughlin is no stranger to breaking records. Here are just some of the marks she has achieved in her career so far. 
<h3>Progression</h3>
(All at 400m and 400m hurdles, unless otherwise stated) Age 14 (2014): 13.34 (100m hurdles), 53.78, 55.63 Age 15 (2015): 8.17 (60m hurdles), 52.59, 55.28 Age 16 (2016): 51.84i, 54.15 Age 17 (2017): 51.61i, 53.82 Age 18 (2018): 50.07 (50.36i), 52.75 Age 19/20 (2019): 50.78, 52.23 Age 21 (2021): 12.65 (100m hurdles), 51.16, 51.90 
<h3>McLaughlin's 400m hurdles records</h3>
World U18 best: 54.15, Eugene 2016 World U20 record: 53.60, Fayetteville 2018 (her 52.75 could not be ratified) World record: 51.90, Eugene 2021 (pending ratification)
</div>
 In the five intervening years, McLaughlin broke many more age-group records, enjoyed a successful US collegiate campaign in 2018 at the University of Kentucky under the tutelage of Edrick Floreal, and then turned professional. After being coached for a brief stint by 2004 Olympic 100m hurdles champion Joanna Hayes, McLaughlin joined Bobby Kersee&rsquo;s group at UCLA, where she trains alongside the likes of multiple world and Olympic champion Allyson Felix.
Kersee, who also coached Hayes to her biggest triumphs, has made a few changes to McLaughlin&rsquo;s approach to racing. Her season started in February with a 60m hurdles appearance, then she stuck with the sprint hurdles during her first few outdoor appearances, eventually reducing her 100m hurdles PB to 12.65. At one of her competitions, she also raced the 400m flat, clocking 51.16.
It wasn&rsquo;t until June that McLaughlin contested her first 400m hurdles race of the year. Showing no signs of rust, McLaughlin crossed the line in 52.83 &ndash; the fastest season-opening performance of any 400m hurdler in history.
&ldquo;It was different opening up so late (in the 400m hurdles),&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But I knew, seeing some of the mistakes I made in that race and still being able to have that time, that once we cleaned it up and got my stride patterns right, we were going to be able to do something really fast.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60da4e5b3c5811c412dd3314.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 She didn&rsquo;t race again until the US Trials, where she made history with her 51.90 run, adopting a stride pattern that is still relatively new to her.
&ldquo;My goal was to just execute my race plan,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;We knew my steps would be different than what they have been in the past. If we executed that, we knew there was going to be a fast time.
&ldquo;The goal was to go 14 (strides) through the first four hurdles, which I did, then my stride pattern kicked in and I went 15 for the rest of the way, which was really what we wanted to do. I&rsquo;m really happy with how it turned out and the time that I produced.
&ldquo;I think I saw the benefit of the 60m and 100m hurdles in practice,&rdquo; she said of her early season racing programme. &ldquo;For a lot of my season we were doing the 100m hurdles but a lot of people didn&rsquo;t understand because they didn&rsquo;t see where it was translating to in our practices for the 400m hurdles. I knew right away it was making sense. As time progressed and the strength started to build, it definitely reflected that we could get to this point. Bobby knows how to put things together when it counts.
&ldquo;It's just trusting the process,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;There really was nothing to fear. It was just putting it all together.&rdquo;
There was one slight concern, though &ndash; the conditions. Due to the extreme heat in Eugene on the final day of the US Trials, with temperatures reaching 41C/105F, the programme was moved to much later in the day. It didn&rsquo;t faze McLaughlin, though.
&ldquo;You can't control what happens to you, just how you respond to it,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It definitely was a little bit of a throw in our plan, but we were prepared for that. Bobby is always talking about Muhammad Ali &ndash; &lsquo;You have to be ready for that left hook&rsquo;, he says.&rdquo;
In fact it was another Muhammad, Olympic champion Dalilah, that McLaughlin had to be ready for. 
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JD37yYSLiS0" width="100%" height="475" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 Since winning the world title in record time in 2019 &ndash; a performance that led to her being named the World Athletics Female Athlete of the Year &ndash; Muhammad hasn&rsquo;t had an easy ride. Earlier this year she had to deal with a hamstring injury and a bout of Covid-19, meaning she had a relatively low-key start to her year.
She headed to the US Trials off the back of just two races &ndash; 55.01 and 54.50 &ndash; but then soon found her stride in Eugene and improved through the rounds, running 53.86 in her semifinal.
Come the final, Muhammad looked every bit the champion athlete she has proven herself to be, eventually finishing in 52.42 &ndash; the third-fastest time of her career. Only this time, she finished behind the rising star who has been clipping at her heels for the past few years.
It now sets the scene for another highly anticipated clash between the pair at the Tokyo Olympic Games next month. But the respect between the pair is so strong that Muhammad is even hesitant to call it a &lsquo;rivalry&rsquo;. McLaughlin agrees.
&ldquo;Iron sharpens iron,&rdquo; said McLaughlin. &ldquo;People can call it whatever they want to call it; it&rsquo;s two great athletes pushing each other to be better. There's no animosity or hard feelings. It&rsquo;s just two people trying to be their best. We wouldn&rsquo;t be able to have these world records go back and forth without one another. Dalilah is a great competitor.
&ldquo;I think great competition always pushes you. It really helps to have such an amazing camp of women in the US to get those times. This year, with the way my training was going, we were able to put one together.
&ldquo;It's an honour (to be the fastest 400m hurdler ever),&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;So many amazing women have come before me and will come after me. I'm excited for what the future holds. I just want to leave my mark and be part of such an amazing sport, because the glory isn't forever.&rdquo;
It may not be forever, but you sense that McLaughlin is just getting started.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Anyone watching the closing stages of the women’s 400m hurdles final at the US Olympic Trials would have had a serious case of déjà vu.

McLaughlin on being pushed by champion rival Muhammad: 'Iron sharpens iron'

In a culture saturated by so many other sports, those in the USA fret about who can be the face of athletics.
Who can be featured on television news? Who can be a crossover figure like gymnast Simone Biles? Who can be a Carl Lewis or a Jackie Joyner-Kersee?
As the 10-day US Olympic Trials closed on Sunday night (27) in Eugene, Oregon, there was a deep reservoir of young candidates &ndash; none more so than Sydney McLaughlin. The 21-year-old became the first woman to break the 52-second barrier in the 400m hurdles.
Record temperatures approaching 44C delayed the programme by five hours, but there was no delaying the inevitable: McLaughlin was going to break the world record, and she did so with her time of 51.90*.
&ldquo;I definitely saw it coming,&rdquo; said Dalilah Muhammad, the world and Olympic champion. &ldquo;She looked so good in the rounds.&rdquo;
McLaughlin&rsquo;s time broke the record of 52.16 set by Muhammad at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019. McLaughlin, second in that race in 52.23, pulled away from Muhammad over the final two hurdles in Eugene.
Even with 2020 lost to the pandemic, the world record has been broken three times in 23 months &ndash; twice by Muhammad, once by McLaughlin.
That was the highlight of another historic day of young record-breakers. The trials ended with 11 world-leading marks, five by men and six by women.
Athing Mu, 19, set a trials record in the 800m; Cole Hocker, 20, became the youngest men&rsquo;s 1500m champion in 110 years; JuVaughn Harrison, 22, became the first to make the US team in the high jump and long jump since Jim Thorpe in 1912; Noah Lyles, 23, ran a world-leading 200m, and Erriyon Knighton, 17, again lowered the world U20 record in the 200m.
McLaughlin has been projected as the sport&rsquo;s face in the United States since she made an Olympic team at age 16. After one college season at Kentucky, she turned professional.
&ldquo;I was growing into my own person,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;My faith is the biggest change. Trusting God and knowing He will carry me through.&rdquo;
Her record-setting might not be over. Not only could McLaughlin lower her world record at the Tokyo Olympics, she should be named to the 4x400m relay team that could set one &ndash; though that mark (3:15.17) is arguably a much bigger ask.
McLaughlin trains in Los Angeles under Bobby Kersee, who also coached Joyner-Kersee.
&ldquo;Bobby knows how to put things together when the time comes,&rdquo; McLaughlin said.
Muhammad, who over the past 12 months has had to contend with injuries and a bout of Covid-19, finished second in 52.42, the third-fastest time of her career. NCAA champion Anna Cockrell took the third spot in 53.70, nearly a full second faster than her previous PB, in beating Shamier Little (53.85). Olympic bronze medallist Ashley Spencer stumbled over an early hurdle and finished seventh.
Likely to join McLaughlin in that 4x400m team is Mu, considering earlier this month she set a collegiate record of 49.57 &ndash; faster than the winning mark at the USA Trials.
Mu ran a world-leading 1:56.07 to win the 800m, breaking her own North American U20 record. World silver medallist Raevyn Rogers was second in a PB of 1:57.66 and US record-holder Ajee Wilson third in 1:58.39. Not until late did Wilson overtake Michaela Meyer, who was fourth in 1:58.55.
Mu sat in the pack for the first lap, passing through 200m in 27.54 and 400m in a swift 57.53. She then made her move on the second lap, positioning herself at the front with 200 metres to go. She kicked hard as she came off the final bend and, having covered the final lap in 58.54, crossed the line almost two seconds ahead of her nearest opponent.
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60d9b8596153404114f35416.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 In the men's 1500m, Hocker was in sixth place with about 150 metres left but used a closing rush to overtake Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz, 3:35.28 to 3:35.34.
Yared Nuguse, 22, was third in 3:36.19, overtaking the most recent national champion, Craig Engels, who is also this year&rsquo;s fastest US man (3:33.64).
Hocker put a finger to his lips past the finish as if to shush critics. An &ldquo;in-the-moment thing&rdquo;, he said.
&ldquo;Last year I wasn&rsquo;t at this level. I was nowhere near this level,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This whole year, I felt like I was proving myself to the world, but also proving my talent to myself. There&rsquo;s a lot of negative talk out there, and I wanted to silence everyone.&rdquo;
Hocker has not met the 3:35 Olympic standard but has a world ranking that looks sufficient to secure his spot on the US team.
He is the youngest US Olympian in the men&rsquo;s 1500m since Marty Liquori, then 19, in 1968. And he is the youngest national champion in the men&rsquo;s 1500 or mile since 1911, when Abel Kiviat won a few days after turning 19.
Hocker has run 23 races since 29 January. Thirteen were PBs. Of the 10 others, eight were prelims and one an NCAA indoor title.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m impressed that he&rsquo;s been able to do that since January and is showing no signs of letting up,&rdquo; said Centrowitz.
Harrison won the high jump at 2.33m, beating Darryl Sullivan on countback. Olympic medallist Erik Kynard was fourth.
The delay allowed Harrison more rest for the long jump, in which he jumped a PB of 8.47m, completing the best ever one-day jumps double.
&ldquo;It just gave my legs more time to recover and gave me a chance to eat something,&rdquo; Harrison said. &ldquo;I was ready to go earlier, even though they said it was too hot.&rdquo;
Marquis Dendy, the 2016 world indoor champion, was second at 8.38m and Steffin McCarter third with 8.26m. Olympic champion Jeff Henderson was sixth with 8.08m, meaning he won&rsquo;t defend his title in Tokyo.
In a competition that showcased newcomers, it was appropriate that the last athlete to secure an Olympic berth was Knighton. He is the youngest man on the US team since Jim Ryun in 1964.
World champion Lyles won the 200m in a world-leading 19.74, followed by Kenny Bednarek, 19.78, and Knighton, 19.84. Knighton broke his own world U20 record of 19.88 from Saturday&rsquo;s semifinals. He set a world U18 record of 20.04 in Friday&rsquo;s first round, then twice broke that.
Lyles was fourth in the 200m at the 2016 trials as an 18-year-old. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60d9b8256153404114f35410.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 &ldquo;Ever since then, the mind-set of being an Olympian has been on my mind,&rdquo; said Lyles. &ldquo;Having the pause on 2020 has probably been my hardest yet. I don&rsquo;t think anyone can prepare you for the lion you have to slay at the Olympic Trials.&rdquo;
In the heptathlon, the year&rsquo;s top three scores were posted by Annie Kunz (6703), Kendall Williams (6683) and Erica Bougard (6667). Kunz, whose previous best was 6153, did not have the Olympic standard until this week.
Kunz broke or was close to her PBs in all seven disciplines. She started with a marginally wind-assisted 12.95 in the 100m hurdles and followed it with 1.81m in the high jump, an outdoor PB. She then threw 15.73m in the shot put, which moved her into the lead overall &ndash; a position she maintained after clocking a PB of 23.71 in the 200m to end the first day at the top of the leader board.
She started the second day with a huge PB of 6.50m in the long jump, but briefly relinquished her lead after the javelin (45.06m). Kendell Williams, who ended the first day in third place, was having a strong second day with marks of 6.73m in the long jump and 47.41m in the javelin. It meant Williams went into the final event with a two-point lead over Kunz. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60d9b8406153404114f35413.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 But Kunz ensured she stayed ahead of Williams in the 800m, eventually clocking 2:15.24 to retake the lead with a score of 6703, moving to fifth on the US all-time list. Williams, who finished second with a PB of 6683, is now sixth on that list.
Taliyah Brooks, in fourth place through five events, had to withdraw because of the heat.
&ldquo;I have grown immensely since 2019,&rdquo; said Kunz, who finished 13th at the 2019 World Championships. &ldquo;It feels like the sky&rsquo;s the limit now.&rdquo;
The men&rsquo;s 5000m, held in the morning to escape the worst of the heat, was won by Olympic silver medallist Paul Chelimo. He gradually veered from the rail to inside of lane four to force out Bowerman Track Club&rsquo;s Grant Fisher and Woody Kincaid.
Chelimo was first in 13:26.82, followed by Fisher (13:27.01) and Kincaid (13:27.13). Their respective closing laps were 52.83, 52.99 and 52.74. Cooper Teare was fourth in 13:28.08 off a 53.97 last lap.
Fisher and Kincaid became the first pair to finish in the top three of 5000m and 10,000m at the same US Trials. Qualifying in both had been done previously, but never two at the same trials.
Roy Jordan for World Athletics
*Subject to the usual ratification procedure

As the 10-day US Olympic Trials closed in Eugene, 21-year-old Sydney McLaughlin became the first woman to break the 52-second barrier in the 400m hurdles.

McLaughlin smashes world 400m hurdles record in Eugene with 51.90

The USA&rsquo;s Trayvon Bromell stormed to seventh on the world 100m all-time list on Saturday (5) by running a world-leading 9.77 (1.5m/s) at the NACAC New Life Invitational &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting &ndash; in Miramar, Florida.
Lining up alongside just three competitors, the 2016 world indoor 60m champion got a strong start and powered away to become just the ninth man to ever break 9.80 for 100m.
It continues an impressive return for the 25-year-old, who has overcome injury struggles during the past few years. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
MEN'S 100M WORLD LEADER TRAYVON BROMELL WINS THE 100M with an incredible 9.77s for the best mark in the world this year at the NACAC NEW LIFE INVITATIONAL ⭐️And you saw it live on the Panam Sports Channel⭐️ 🥇Trayvon Bromell🇺🇸9.77 🥈Marvin Bracey🇺🇸9.85 🥉Chris Royster🇺🇸10.08 <a href="https://t.co/SEaiYpSCVW">pic.twitter.com/SEaiYpSCVW</a>
&mdash; Panam Sports (@PanamSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/PanamSports/status/1401296836032352267?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async=""></script>

 Bromell&rsquo;s time in Miramar improves on his previous best of 9.84 which he ran in 2015 and equalled the following year.
Behind him, Marvin Bracy ran a PB of 9.85, with the pair having run respective wind-assisted times of 10.01 and 10.06 (2.2m/s) in an earlier heat. In that first round,&nbsp;Yohan Blake ran a slightly wind-aided 9.97 (2.1m/s).
On a day of fast sprint times which had <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/news/report/warholm-world-300m-hurdles-best-oslo-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">earlier seen Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce become the second-fastest female 100m sprinter in history with 10.63 in Kingston</a>, Elaine Thompson-Herah &ndash; with whom Fraser-Pryce had previously shared the Jamaican record at 10.70 &ndash; claimed her own victory thanks to a 10.87 (1.2m/s) run in Miramar.
She finished ahead of the USA&rsquo;s Olympic long jump champion Tianna Bartoletta and Jamaica&rsquo;s Briana Williams, who both dipped under 11 seconds with respective times of 10.96 and 10.97. Double Olympic champion Thompson-Herah also won the 200m in 22.54 (1.2m/s). 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Original/90f503ef-e804-4911-a982-4bb96fac2a35.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="560" /> Elaine Thompson-Herah wins the 100m at the NACAC New Life Invitational (&copy; Jeff Porter)
 Bartoletta also contested the long jump and finished second with a wind-assisted 6.75m (3.7m/s) as Canada&rsquo;s Christabel Nettey leapt 6.78m (2.7m/s) to win. Britain&rsquo;s Lorraine Ugen was third with a best of 6.74m (2.7m/s).
The USA&rsquo;s world record-holder Dalilah Muhammad dominated the 400m hurdles, clocking 54.50 to finish more than a second ahead of Jamaica&rsquo;s Ronda Whyte with 55.65, while Tobi Amusan and Michael Dickson claimed sprint hurdles wins with respective wind-assisted times of 12.44 (2.2m/s) in the 100m hurdles and 13.16 (2.6m/s) in the 110m hurdles.
The 400m races were won by Deon Lendore (45.48) and Wadeline Jonathas (51.91), while Aje&eacute; Wilson (2:01.50) and Marco Arop (1:44.93) claimed victory in the 800m events.
Photos by&nbsp;Jeff Porter
<a name="nash"></a>&nbsp;
<h1>McLaughlin runs world-leading 52.83 in Nashville</h1>
World silver medallist Sydney McLaughlin sped to a sub-53-second clocking in her first 400m hurdles race of the year when winning at the Music City Track Carnival in Nashville on Sunday (6).
The 21-year-old had contested a few sprint hurdles races already this year, topped by a 12.65 PB last month at Mt SAC, and had recorded a season&rsquo;s best of 51.16 for 400m flat, so it was clear McLaughlin was in form. Her aim in Nashville was to put all of that together in a 400m hurdles race. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Carousel2/db5f37c7-499a-4b2a-956a-017dcd370ad2.jpg?cachebuster=eb204b5a-a112-406a-b810-1bfe0449f319" alt="" width="1000" height="600" />
 Jamaica&rsquo;s Olympic finalist Leah Nugent, drawn in lane three, went out the hardest and led at half way. But McLaughlin, drawn two lanes outside Nugent, maintained her composure and edged into the lead on the top bend. She continued to push ahead and, despite a small adjustment to negotiate the penultimate barrier, went on to stop the clock at 52.83.
Not only is it the third-fastest time of McLaughlin&rsquo;s career, it&rsquo;s also the fastest season opener of any 400m hurdler in history. With five sub-53-second times to her name, McLaughlin now ties Lashinda Demus as the most prolific sub-53-second performer in history.
&ldquo;I just had to get the rust off and I&rsquo;m glad to be back,&rdquo; said McLaughlin, whose PB of 52.23 makes her the second-fastest woman in history. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve done a couple of races at short distances and one at 400m, but getting the two combined is good. It&rsquo;s good to just be able to feel that tempo. My improved speed over short hurdles is helping. Once you open it up, it feels easier.&rdquo;
Earlier in the programme, Katie Nageotte notched up another pole vault victory. The Pan-American silver medallist effectively had the competition won with her first-time clearance at her opening height of 4.41m, but she went on to clear 4.61m, 4.75m and then 4.85m before ending her series with three misses at 4.95m.
New Zealand&rsquo;s 2017 world champion Tom Walsh recorded a season&rsquo;s best of 22.00m in the men&rsquo;s shot put, backing it up with efforts of 21.78m and 21.66m. World silver medallist Danniel Thomas-Dodd won the women&rsquo;s event with a season&rsquo;s best of 19.26m.
Elsewhere, two-time world champion Sam Kendricks won the pole vault on countback from US teammate Matt Ludwig, both clearing 5.71m. And world champion Steven Gardiner was a comfortable winner of the men&rsquo;s 400m, clocking 45.06.
<a name="pra"></a>&nbsp;
<h1>Allman throws 67.74m in Prairie View</h1>
World discus finalist Valarie Allman produced the second-best throw of her career to highlight the USATF Showcase &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting &ndash; in Prairie View on Sunday (6).
The 26-year-old, who holds the US record at 70.15m, moved into the lead in the third round with 65.88m, overtaking Jamaica&rsquo;s Shadae Lawrence (62.48m). Allman then improved to 67.07m before producing her best of the day in round six, throwing 67.74m to move to third on this year&rsquo;s world list.
At a meeting where throwing events produced most of the highlights, Nigerian record-holder Chukwuebuka Enekwechi landed a season&rsquo;s best of 21.53m to win the men&rsquo;s shot put while Gwen Berry won the women&rsquo;s hammer with 72.80m, beating Oceania record-holder Lauren Bruce by 21 centimetres.
On the track, Natasha Hastings won a long sprint double with season&rsquo;s bests, taking the 200m in 23.09 (1.3m/s) and the 400m in 51.45. Allie Wilson won the 800m in 1:59.92.
<a name="tat"></a>&nbsp;
<h1>Charlton and Campbell among winners in Tatabanya</h1>
Britain&rsquo;s Taylor Campbell threw a PB to achieve an Olympic qualifying mark in the hammer, while Bahamian 100m hurdles record-holder Devynne Charlton was also among the winners at the Hungarian GP Series &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting &ndash; in Tatabanya, Hungary, on Saturday (5).
Campbell&rsquo;s best before this year had been 74.98m but he improved to 75.82m in April and then 76.97m in May before adding more than a metre to that with 78.23m in Tatabanya to better the Tokyo standard of 77.50m. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I HAVE QUALIFIED FOR TOKYO OLYMPICS!!!! 😳😳😳PB 78.23m. I&rsquo;m in absolute shock right now. I have dreamt about this moment so many times since I was a kid. 🇬🇧❤️ <a href="https://t.co/UyPFgKOQyu">pic.twitter.com/UyPFgKOQyu</a>
&mdash; Taylor Campbell (@TaylorLC1996) <a href="https://twitter.com/TaylorLC1996/status/1401154315079884800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async=""></script>

 For Charlton, who clocked 12.61 at the USATF Golden Games in May, her winning mark this time was 12.85 (-0.6m/s) to finish ahead of home favourite Luca Kozak with 12.92. Brazil&rsquo;s Gabriel Constantino won the 110m hurdles in 13.51 (-0.5m/s) ahead of Shane Brathwaite with 13.62, while Liberia&rsquo;s Emmanuel Matadi ran 10.18 (-0.7m/s) to triumph in the 100m from Alonso Edward with 10.20.
Janka Molnar clocked a Hungarian U23 record of 56.17 to win the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, while Kenya&rsquo;s Cornelius Tuwei won the men&rsquo;s 800m in 1:46.07 and Hungary&rsquo;s Bianka Bartha-Keri clocked a 2:01.34 PB to win the women&rsquo;s event.
Kenya&rsquo;s Rosefline Chepngetich and Wilberforce Kones were top in the 3000m steeplechase events, with respective times of 9:33.51 and 8:29.43.
Ukraine&rsquo;s Iryna Gerashchenko won the women&rsquo;s high jump, clearing 1.94m, while Malaysia&rsquo;s Nauraj Singh Randhawa achieved 2.27m to win the men&rsquo;s competition.
Over at the Denka Athletics Challenge Cup &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting &ndash; in Niigata, Japan, on Sunday (6), Yuki Hashioka leapt 8.23m (1.3m/s) to win the long jump.
The 2018 world U20 champion opened his series with 8.19m (-0.2m/s) in the first round, before 8.23m in the second. Hibiki Tsuha placed second with two 7.86m jumps.
Nozomi Tanaka won the women&rsquo;s 1500m in 4:09.06.
Jess Whittington and Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

The USA’s Trayvon Bromell stormed to seventh on the world 100m all-time list on Saturday (5) by running a world-leading 9.77 (1.5m/s) at the NACAC New Life Invitational – a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting – in Miramar, Florida.

Bromell speeds to 9.77 100m in Miramar, McLaughlin runs 52.83 in Nashville

Following the middle-distance madness in Lievin earlier this week, the sprints look set to provide the highlights at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix &ndash; the next World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting of 2021 &ndash; on Saturday (13).
Boston&rsquo;s Reggie Lewis Center &ndash; the usual venue for New Balance Indoor Grand Prix &ndash; is currently serving as a mass vaccination site, so this year&rsquo;s competition will be held at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island in New York City.
But despite the change in venue and the lack of spectators, the high-quality fields that have been assembled for the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix will ensure another afternoon of action-packed excitement.
The men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s 400m races could well be the events of the meeting.
Training partners, housemates, friends &ndash; it&rsquo;s little wonder that Michael Normal and Rai Benjamin often bring the best out of each other whenever they race. The duo&rsquo;s respective PBs for 100m (9.86 and 10.03) and 400m (43.45 and 44.31) were set when racing against each other; if the same happens again this weekend, it could result in a world record.
Norman owns the fastest indoor 400m performance in history with his 44.52 clocking from the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships, but it couldn&rsquo;t be ratified as an official world indoor record. Benjamin, meanwhile, has clocked 45.94 indoors &ndash; albeit on an oversized track &ndash; and won over 300m at the 2019 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.
Norman has won all eight of their clashes to date, so will head into this weekend&rsquo;s 400m as the favourite, but world 400m hurdles silver medallist Benjamin knows Norman better than any other athlete and could use that knowledge to his advantage.
The world all-time list for the women&rsquo;s 400m could also be rewritten on Saturday. Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo opened her 2021 campaign at the end of January by clocking a Bahamian indoor record of 22.40, moving to ninth on the world indoor all-time list. 
<div id="60253c2075e0410accf02eb3" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/f50815d0-c4c6-48d9-af3a-53f316f8ec16.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Bahamian sprinter Shaunae Miller-Uibo</div>
&nbsp;
The multiple World Championships medallist will contest her specialist discipline this weekend and her indoor PB of 50.88, set back in 2013 when she was still an U20 athlete, looks to be living on borrowed time. With 2017 world champion Phyllis Francis and World Championships fourth-place finisher Wadeline Jonathas as rivals, Miller-Uibo could even get close to 50 seconds &ndash; a barrier that just three women in history have bettered indoors.
<h3>Lyles on double duty</h3>
World 200m champion Noah Lyles will have a busy afternoon. He will first contest the heats of the 60m, which will also feature world leader and 2016 world indoor champion Trayvon Bromell, last year&rsquo;s New Balance Indoor Grand Prix winner Demek Kemp and 2014 world indoor silver medallist Marvin Bracy.
Regardless how he performs in the heats, Lyles will opt out of the 60m final (and, if applicable, his place will be offered to the next-best athlete) so that he can prepare for the 200m later in the programme. Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s two-time world indoor 400m bronze medallist Deon Lendore and USA&rsquo;s Jaron Flournoy, a 20.09 performer outdoors, will be Lyles&rsquo; opponents in the one-lap sprint. 
<div id="588d3c915cd9f80118704d1c" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/dcd18a1d-2fc2-4112-9d78-b5af8ed317e4.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Noah Lyles in the 300m at the IAAF World Indoor Tour meeting in Boston</div>
&nbsp;
World indoor champion Kendra Harrison will contest her first hurdles race of the year. The outdoor world record-holder has impressed on the flat last month with times of 7.26 for 60m and a 36.83 PB for 300m. Her North American indoor record of 7.70 may be a bit of an ambitious target, but the world-leading mark of 7.83 could well be under threat.
Three-time world indoor medallist Tiffany Porter, who clocked a season&rsquo;s best of 7.89 in Fayetteville in January, looks to be Harrison's toughest opponent.
World 400m hurdles silver medallist Sydney McLaughlin is also in the field. She last raced the 60m hurdles when she was 15 years old, clocking 8.17. Given the flat speed she has shown in recent years &ndash; a wind-assisted 11.07 for 100m and a wind-legal 22.39 for 200m in 2018 &ndash; she may have the tools to get into sub-eight-second territory.
The women&rsquo;s 60m, a scoring discipline on this year&rsquo;s World Athletics Indoor Tour, will feature 2020 US indoor champion Mikiah Brisco, Hannah Cunliffe, 2018 US 100m champion Aleia Hobbs, and Olympic 4x100m champion Morolake Akinosun &ndash; all of whom have bettered 7.10 in the past four years. The in-form Jenna Prandini and double world U20 champion Briana Williams are also in the field.
Gabby Thomas, the 300m winner at the 2019 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, will race that distance again this weekend and look to improve on her 35.92 world-leading time. She&rsquo;ll line up against 2017 world 400m hurdles champion Kori Carter and 2018 NCAA 400m champion Lynna Irby.
<h3>Brazier targets fifth consecutive victory</h3>
World 800m champion Donavan Brazier will open his 2021 campaign this weekend by targeting a fifth successive triumph at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.
Having won the 800m in 2018 and 2019 and the 600m in 2017 and 2020, Brazier will return to his specialist distance this weekend. He has fond memories of the Staten Island track too, as it&rsquo;s where he set a world indoor best for 600m in 2019. 
<div id="5e2cea56ac9edf08282446e4" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/070f95a7-bcbc-4b56-b59b-f52a222f241c.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Donavan Brazier on his way to winning the 600m at the World Athletics Indoor Tour meeting in Boston</div>
&nbsp;
Brazier, who holds the North American indoor record at 1:44.22, will take on 2016 world indoor bronze medallist Erik Sowinski and European indoor silver medallist Jamie Webb.
Bryce Hoppel, who currently tops the world list for 800m, will be looking for a second consecutive 1000m victory at the New Balance Grand Prix. The 23-year-old clocked 2:27.41 last year, but will be buoyed by his recent indoor 800m PB of 1:44.37. Pan-American champion Marco Arop will make his 1000m debut but could have an eye on Nate Brannen&rsquo;s Canadian indoor record of 2:16.87.
Like Brazier and Hoppel, Ethiopia&rsquo;s Hagos Gebrhiwet is hoping to add to his tally of New Balance Indoor Grand Prix wins. The Olympic bronze medallist has won the 3000m three times and holds the meeting record of 7:32.87, but this weekend he&rsquo;ll compete over the slightly longer distance of two miles.
With opposition from USA&rsquo;s Eric Jenkins and Canada&rsquo;s Justyn Knight, the long-standing meeting record of 8:16.15 &ndash; set by Paul Bitok in 2000 &ndash; could be under threat.
The men's 1500m also looks highly competitive with the likes of two-time Olympic medallist Nick Willis, European bronze medallist Jake Wightman, and Pan-American silver medallist Johnny Gregorek.
<h3>Morris chasing higher heights</h3>
World indoor pole vault champion Sandi Morris ended her last competition by taking attempts at a would-be world record height of 5.07m. 
<div id="602087ac97152f13404a02cb" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/8070106e-8b28-4047-a0d6-9f23a88c47b2.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Sandi Morris in action at the American Track League meeting in Fayetteville</div>
&nbsp;
The US vaulter was unsuccessful, but even failed attempts can provide valuable experience. Having set world-leading marks of 4.81m and 4.88m in her previous two competitions, the world and Olympic silver medallist will be looking to build on that momentum this weekend when she faces Canadian record-holder Alysha Newman and USA&rsquo;s Olivia Gruver.
Elsewhere, Pan-American champion Natoya Goule will start as the favourite for the women&rsquo;s 800m. She takes on Britain&rsquo;s Adelle Tracey and USA&rsquo;s 15-year-old talent Sophia Gorriaran, who clocked 2:02.44 in Fayetteville last weekend.
Emma Coburn, the 2017 world steeplechase champion, lines up for the women&rsquo;s two miles, while Pan-American champion Nikki Hiltz contests her specialist 1500m distance.
Olympic silver medallist Erik Kynard, 2007 world champion Donald Thomas and world finalist Jeron Robinson will all feature in the men&rsquo;s high jump.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Following the middle-distance madness in Lievin earlier this week, the sprints look set to provide the highlights at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix – the next World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting of 2021 – on Saturday (13).

Hot sprints in store at New Balance Indoor Grand Prix

Organisers of the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix have announced that world medallists Noah Lyles, Sydney McLaughlin and Trayvon Bromell will return to the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting on 13 February.
Returning to indoor racing for the first time in three years, Lyles will be making his third appearance at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. Lyles is the world 200m champion and the fourth-fastest man in history over the distance. At the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, he will be competing in his first professional 200m indoors.
Set to compete at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix for a third time, world 400m hurdles silver medallist McLaughlin will contest the 60m hurdles and 500m at this year&rsquo;s event. The 21-year-old is the second-fastest woman in history in the 400m hurdles and won the 2019 Diamond League final.
USA&rsquo;s 2016 world indoor champion Trayvon Bromell leads the men&rsquo;s 60m field. The 2015 world 100m bronze medallist is enjoying a return to form, having dealt with multiple injuries that cost him the better part of three seasons. Last year, Bromell broke the 10-second barrier for the first time since 2016 and went undefeated in his four races over 100m. Last weekend, he opened his 2021 indoor campaign with an impressive 6.48 over 60m, just 0.01 shy of the personal best he set on his way to world indoor gold in 2016.
Keeping up the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix&rsquo;s long tradition of exciting middle-distance races, the men&rsquo;s 1500m features three of the best milers in the world today, led by Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz. He will find stiff competition from Great Britain&rsquo;s Jake Wightman. Last year, Wightman ran a lifetime best of 3:29.47, making him the second-fastest Briton of all time. US 1500m champion and indoor mile champion Craig Engels will also line up for the 1500m.
In an effort to combat the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Reggie Lewis Center, home to the first 25 editions of the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, is serving as a mass vaccination site beginning on 1 February. This year&rsquo;s New Balance Indoor Grand Prix will be held at NYC Parks' Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island.
A number of measures are in place to preserve the health and safety of all athletes, officials and staff at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, including requiring all persons entering the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex to have tested negative for Covid-19 within the previous 72 hours, mandating the use of face masks to all persons except athletes when competing, and limiting attendance to the 2021 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix to only accredited athletes, officials and staff.
Organisers for World Athletics

Organisers of the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix have announced that world medallists Noah Lyles, Sydney McLaughlin and Trayvon Bromell will return to the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting on 13 February.

Lyles, McLaughlin and Bromell set to return to New Balance Indoor Grand Prix

As the decade draws to a conclusion, we take a look at a quintet of athletes &ndash; all aged 21 and younger &ndash; who could be set to emerge as the star performers throughout the 2020s.
&nbsp;
<h3>Anthony Zambrano</h3>
<div id="5dcd4c6620492d09687f2461" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/d25817fd-d172-4c32-a3ba-569d4c919b5c.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Anthony Zambrano at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019</div>
&nbsp;
The Colombian made a seismic breakthrough at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 by smashing the South American record to earn 400m silver in 44.15.
Zambrano, now aged 21, was a handy age-group performer, reaching the 400m final at both the 2015 World U18 and 2016 World U20 Championships before setting a PB of 45.19 last year to land the South American title.
Yet this season the man coached by Cuban Nelson Gutierrez has made a huge leap forward. Winning the Pan American title in August, he bettered his national record with 44.55 in his semi-final in Doha before obliterating that mark in the final to win Colombia&rsquo;s first ever track medal at a World Championships.
&nbsp;
<h3>Sydney McLaughlin</h3>
<div id="5da70685603d6210782f02b2" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/5151bbd2-9ad6-40dc-8a92-4eee053412e9.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Sydney McLaughlin at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019</div>
&nbsp;
Long since earmarked as a star of the future after winning the 2015 world U18 400m hurdles title and appearing for the US at the 2016 Rio Olympics aged just 17, McLaughlin looks a future world record-holder in her speciality event.
Born and raised in New Jersey, in 2018 she recorded the fastest times ever achieved by an U20 athlete for the 400m hurdles and indoor 400m. This season, under the coaching of 2004 Olympic 100m hurdles champion Joanna Hayes, McLaughlin elevated to a higher plane.
The winner of the Diamond League trophy in Zurich, she then ran a scintillating 52.23 to take world silver, just 0.07 behind Dalilah Muhammad, who lowered her own world record mark. McLaughlin climbed to second on the world all-time list with her dazzling performance in Doha.
&nbsp;
<h3>Rhonex Kipruto</h3>
<div id="5d9a2614b9fbe710f452465f" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/146e66a9-809f-4db9-8b49-ccd8a1b16a5d.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Rhonex Kipruto in the 10,000m at at the IAAF World Championships Doha 2019</div>
&nbsp;
Young talent out of East Africa is nothing new, but versatile distance-runner Rhonex Kipruto leads the way among the current generation.
Emerging on the international scene in 2018 when winning the world U20 10,000m title in Tampere by a margin of almost 20 seconds, he backed this up by setting a world-leading 26:46 for 10km on the road in Prague.
Kipruto, who turned 20 in October, won the 10,000m in 26:50.16 in Stockholm and then came close to that mark to take world bronze in Doha.
&nbsp;
<h3>Yaroslava Mahuchikh</h3>
<div id="5d94ab92b9fbe71c8404fb02" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/827ec70e-b460-4b2d-bf97-7d9c6be10c5a.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Yaroslava Mahuchikh in action at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019</div>
&nbsp;
Aged just 18, the Ukrainian high jumper was one of the most exciting young talents to emerge from the World Championships in Doha.
An outstanding age-group performer, who claimed the 2017 world U18 title and the 2018 Youth Olympic crown, her performances in 2019 have been awe-inspiring.
The winner of the European U20 crown in Sweden, she leapt a PB of 2.00m in Stanford before producing the performance of her life in Doha, twice setting world U20 records to clear a best of 2.04m for silver behind Mariya Lasitskene.
&nbsp;
<h3>Armand Duplantis</h3>
<div id="5d94ca3ab9fbe71c8404fb76" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/263615e5-01b4-4ce1-97c9-7f4e32d4aa43.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Silver medallist Armand Duplantis at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019</div>
&nbsp;
The US-born Swede is already firmly established among the global pole vault elite and, aged just 20, he could be poised to be the star performer in his event for the next decade.
The 2015 world U18 champion grabbed the 2018 world U20 crown before bettering his own world U20 record later that year with a stupefying 6.05m clearance to land the European title and climb to equal third on the world all-time list.
His 2019 campaign has not been too shabby. He has twice cleared the landmark 6.00m height and at the World Championships in Doha, Duplantis earned silver with a best effort of 5.97m.
 Steve Landells for World Athletics

As the decade draws to a conclusion, we take a look at a quintet of athletes – all aged 21 and younger – who could be set to emerge as the star performers throughout the 2020s.

Fab five: rising stars

Sifan Hassan, who arrived on the Stade Louis II track tonight (12) as the third fastest miler of all time, departed the Herculis EBS Diamond League meeting as the fastest, having produced a marvel of a final lap to finish in 4:12.33, thus breaking the 23-year-old mark of 4:12.56 held by Russia&rsquo;s 1996 Olympic 800m and 1500m champion Svetlana Masterkova.
Hassan had said on the day before the race that she intended to run &ldquo;three or four seconds&rdquo; faster than her best of 4:14.71, set in London in 2017.
As things turned out, she failed in that ambition; not that she looked too put out about it after the race as she lay on her back with a radiant smile on her face.
After the field had been paced through 800m in 2:08.20, Hassan moved into the lead with 600 metres remaining, with Ethiopia&rsquo;s Gudaf Tsegay the only runner in touch at that stage. 
<div id="5d28f6a1ad96e30168c32745" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/19006a5b-b0a3-40ab-b06b-39fefbdb1003.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Sifan Hassan en route to the mile world record at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco</div>
&nbsp;
Hassan, who had broken the 5km road race world record in the Principality in February, simply cut loose over the final lap and was suitably rewarded for her enterprise by the digital clock.
In her wake the effort of chasing told on Tsegay, who faded to fourth in a season&rsquo;s best of 4:18.31 as Britain&rsquo;s Laura Weightman came through to finish second in a personal best of 4:17.60 and Gabriela Debues-Stafford of Canada took third place with a national record of 4:17.87.
&ldquo;I knew I could run fast but the first 800 was a bit slow, so after that I wasn&rsquo;t thinking it would be a world record,&rdquo; Hassan, the European 5000m champion, said. &ldquo;When I crossed the line I was so surprised.
&ldquo;After you run a last 400 like that, and set a world record, it gives me so much confidence over 5000m. The way I finished the last 400 there, it&rsquo;s amazing!&rdquo;
Hassan said she had been lifted by the crowd in the closing stages of the race. &ldquo;That made me extra happy,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It was a beautiful last lap with the crowd supporting me.&rdquo;
Her next race, she said, would be a 5000m. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know where yet. The one world record I would love would be the 5000m.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Before the start of the women&rsquo;s mile, re-named the Brave Like Gabe Mile, a short film clip was shown featuring the US runner Gabe Grunewald who fought cancer for so long before succumbing earlier this year, and the crowd showed their respect and appreciation.
Two other Monaco world record breakers &ndash; Ethiopia&rsquo;s Genzebe Dibaba, who set the current 1500m world record of 3:50.07 on this track four years ago, and Kenya&rsquo;s Beatrice Chepkoech, who set the world 3000m steeplechase mark here last year &ndash; had been due to race but had pulled out.
Whether their presence would have also have produced a world record race remains an open &ndash; and, now, irrelevant &ndash; question.
<h3>Amos blazes sub-1:42</h3>
Nijel Amos produced the fastest 800m since the London 2012 Olympic final &ndash; where David Rudisha set the current world record of 1:40.91 and he himself won silver in a personal best of 1:41.73. 
<div id="5d2906c6ad96e30168c3275f" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/e54ed97a-e005-415d-aedc-bf5b738bf4ff.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Nijel Amos goes sub-1:42 in the 800m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco</div>
&nbsp;
That meant that his winning time here of 1:41.89 was not even a personal best, despite being the 15th fastest time ever.
It was an electric effort from the runner from Botswana, who, incredibly, is still only 25. He drove on as the second of the two pacemakers moved aside after taking the field through 400m in 48.70.
As he neared the line, he was chased home by the taller figure of Kenya&rsquo;s Ferguson Rotich, who was rewarded for his persistence with a personal best of 1:42.54.
Amel Tuka of Bosnia and Herzegovina was third in a season&rsquo;s best of 1:43.62.
&ldquo;I did an impossible session on Tuesday and after that I knew I could run 1:41,&rdquo; Amos said. &ldquo;The world record is not in my mind but if I&rsquo;m patient it will come.&rdquo;
<h3>Miller-Uibo takes titanic 200m showdown</h3>
Shaunae Miller-Uibo, her silvered locks newly dyed to pink, produced a mighty performance to win the women&rsquo;s 200m against a mightily talented field, coming home in a season&rsquo;s best of 22.09. 
<div id="5d2905e2ad96e30168c3275d" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/dff50e44-e0f2-44bc-b3d6-6649ad0ad90d.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Shaunae Miller-Uibo wins the 200m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco</div>
&nbsp;
Trailing in her wake were runners of the highest quality. Jamaica&rsquo;s double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson was second in 22.44, with two-time world 200m champion Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands third in 22.45.
&ldquo;The quicker I get at 200, the quicker I&rsquo;ll be at 400, and I&rsquo;m very happy with where I&rsquo;m at right now," said Miller-Uibo. "If they can change the timetable for the Olympics, I&lsquo;d be more than happy to double.&rdquo;
Sydney McLaughlin, with a poise that belied her 19 years, achieved an overwhelming victory in the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, leading from the first set of barriers and coming home imperiously in a world-leading 53.32. 
<div id="5d290470ad96e30168c32758" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/37b82726-3a2a-4e21-a1e1-0c117a38fb63.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Another Diamond League victory for Sydney McLaughlin, this time in Monaco</div>
&nbsp;
Five metres behind her, a wave of world-class runners came home in a separate race, with Olympic bronze medallist Ashley Spencer taking second place in 54.46, followed by the Czech Republic's two-time world champion Zuzana Hejnova, who clocked 54.55.
Switzerland&rsquo;s European champion Lea Sprunger was sixth in 55.60; world champion Kori Carter of the United States was seventh in 55.63.
<h3>Cheruiyot impresses again</h3>
As expected, Timothy Cheruiyot won the men&rsquo;s 1500m, which was not a scoring race in the Diamond League, but was a phenomenal race in anybody&rsquo;s estimation.
After the pacers had dropped away, Kenya&rsquo;s world silver medallist, who had won the previous week&rsquo;s race in Lausanne in a world-leading 3:28.77, led the field through 800 metres in 1:51.3 &ndash; a couple of seconds slower than the split in Switzerland &ndash; and pushed on.
But as the field came to the bell it was Norway&rsquo;s 18-year-old Jakob Ingebrigtsen who threw down the gauntlet and led through. Halfway down the backstraight, however, the lean and hungry Kenyan pushed back into the lead and while the young Norwegian never slackened in his challenge, he had to give best on this occasion.
On a track where he set his personal best of 3:28.41 last season, Cheruyiot won in 3:29.97, with Ingebrigtsen second in 3:30.47 and Uganda&rsquo;s Ronald Musagala third in a national record of 3:30.58.
Britain&rsquo;s Charlie Grice also had a night to remember as he clocked a personal best of 3:30.62, a reward for his own bold challenge over the final lap, while back in sixth place Kenya&rsquo;s 18-year-old George Manangoi, younger brother of world champion Elijah, set a personal best of 3:31.49 &ndash; earning a hug from the winner, with whom he and his brother train.
Mike Rowbottom for the IAAF

Sifan Hassan, who arrived on the Stade Louis II track tonight (12) as the third fastest miler of all time, departed the Herculis EBS Diamond League meeting as the fastest, having produced a marvel of a final lap to finish in 4:12.33, thus breaking the 23-year-old mark of 4:12.56 held by Russia’s 1996 Olympic 800 and 1500m champion Svetlana Masterkova.