Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards won gold medals while Stephenie-Ann McPherson picked up bronze in the women’s 400 meters at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade.
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Drawn out in lane six, Miller-Uibo led from start to finish. Breaking for the inside lane ahead of her young Dutch rival, Femke Bol, she passed halfway in 23.43, then stretched clear down the back straight and eased to a clear victory in 50.31 seconds – 0.10 shy of the area record she set last year.
“To be able to finish victorious, I’m glad how it’s all turned out,” said Miller-Uibo. “The goal was to get the break and control the race from there. It’s my first time out in the season.
Three rounds was tough. The 400 meters is a brutal race. I can feel it now,” added Miller-Uibo.
Stephenie-Ann McPherson claimed bronze in a Jamaican record 50.79 seconds. Bol, the European indoor 400-meter winner a year ago, took silver in 50.57.
In the men’s final, Richards ran a championship record of 45.00 flat to take the gold medal, which he said was to honour his late friend and teammate Deon Lendore, who died in a car accident earlier this year. Richards thus became the first athlete from his country to win this title – one to which Lendore twice came close, finishing in bronze medal position at this event in Birmingham four years ago, and Portland, Oregon in 2016.
“This was my actual race plan, and I stuck to it to a T,” Richards said. “I did everything I needed to do to win. I knew going into the race, these guys are all quarter-milers. What I had against them was my speed, and I used it to pull them out of their comfort zone. I trained a lot with quarter-milers this year, longer than I usually would. My training partner Wayde van Niekerk helped me every single day; he was excellent. If I had a bad day, he told me to keep my head up, saying I could do it. I want to thank him. That was very beneficial for me this year.”
American Trevor Bassitt finished second to Richards in 45.05, and Carl Bengtstorm of Sweden took third in 45.33 seconds.
Devynne Charlton ran a new Bahamian indoor record of 7.81 seconds to take silver in the women’s 60-merter hurdles.
Jamaica’s Britany Anderson finished fourth in the women’s 60-meter hurdles. She crossed the line in 7.96 seconds. Cyrena Samba-Mayela of France won the event in 7.78.
Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy won the men’s 60-meter final running a world-leading 6.41 seconds to beat Christian Coleman of the USA, who recorded the same time.
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