Olympic gold medallist Marileidy Paulino comes in as defending champion
Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser chasing second world title
USA’s Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone focusing on the flat in Tokyo
Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser is targeting another world title in Tokyo after displaying her best ever pre-championship form throughout this season.
Before this year, she had broken 49 seconds on just two occasions, both times in global championship finals. But this year she has bettered that mark four times, first with early season runs of 48.94 and 48.67, the latter a world lead, and more recently with a 48.85 runner-up finish in Paris and a 48.70 victory at the Diamond League Final in Zurich.
World and Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino heads to Tokyo with a 3-2 winning record over Naser this season, but Naser’s victory in Zurich – where she beat Paulino by more than half a second – was significant, both statistically and psychologically.
But Paulino – who ran a lifetime best of 48.17 to win the Olympic title last year, putting her fourth on the world all-time list, just 0.03 and one place behind Naser – is a proven championship performer and cannot be discounted.
It won’t be just a two-woman race, though, as hurdles superstar Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is focusing on the 400m flat in Tokyo.
The 26-year-old, who holds the world record for 400m hurdles at 50.37, won the US title in 48.90 earlier this year, just 0.16 shy of her PB. She may need to improve on the US record of 48.70 if she is to beat Paulino and Naser in Tokyo.
McLaughlin-Levrone is joined on the US team by Aliyah Butler and Isabella Whittaker. Butler, 21, ran a personal best of 49.09 at the Monaco Diamond League meeting to finish just 0.03 behind Paulino.
Whittaker, meanwhile, became the second-fastest woman of all time indoors with her 49.24 clocking earlier this year. She went on to set an outdoor PB of 49.58 to win at the Diamond League meeting in Oslo.
Henriette Jaeger finished a close second in that race, clocking a Norwegian record of 49.62. The world indoor bronze medallist went on to reduce that to 49.49 with her third-place finish at the Diamond League Final.
Others to keep an eye on include world indoor champion Amber Anning, Olympic bronze medallist Natalia Bukowiecka, the much-improved Martina Weil of Chile, and Jamaican duo Nickisha Pryce and Dejanea Oakley.
Anushe Engineer for World Athletics
AloJapan.com