Rushell Clayton agrees with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Dalilah Muhammad on evolution of 400m hurdles

Rushell Clayton agrees with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Dalilah Muhammad on evolution of 400m hurdles

Abigael Wafula 11:03 - 12.11.2024

The two-time world bronze medallist agrees with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Dalilah Muhammad that the 400m hurdles has evolved into a different race and there will be more records being broken with time.

Jamaican hurdler Rushell Clayton agrees with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Dalilah Muhammad on how the 400m hurdles has greatly changed and is now becoming more of a sprint race.

Rushell Clayton revealed that it all started in 2019 when Muhammad set two world records over the distance. She started her world record campaign at the 2019 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships where she clocked 52.20 seconds, improving Yuliya Pechonkina's 16-year-old record of 52.34.

The American hurdler proceeded to the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar where she improved her time by 0.04 seconds, setting the new world record with a time of 52.16 seconds.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has also been exceptional over the distance and she set two world records this season. She clocked 50.65 seconds to win the US Olympic trials and went on to the Olympic Games and set a new world record time of 50.37 seconds.

Rushell Clayton pointed out that when Dalilah Muhammad started the trend, she proved that it was possible to run faster times and people joined the wave including Clayton who set a personal best time in the 400m.

“I did feel that…I think it started changing in 2019 and that’s when the world was going fast. You know, Dalilah and then different people started seeing that if she could do it, we could do it too. People stared going back to the drawing board and getting faster and stronger,” Rushell Clayton told Citius Mag.

“People started getting into those hurdles as the gun went off and there was no theory like, I’m getting on this phase. It was about getting to the phase as soon as the gun goes off and it has been really sprinty like a lot of sprinting has been going on.”

The two-time world bronze medallist added that the fast times make the sport interesting and in the coming years, it will even be more thrilling since the athletes are learning new tricks every year.

She expressed optimism about having a great 2025 season, explaining that there were so many lessons to be learnt in 2024. Rushell Clayton revealed that over the years, she has become faster, stronger and is ready to take on anyone.

“It just makes it a lot more exciting and people are learning the event more and more and each year I keep learning something new and incorporate that and it has been exciting and fast. I have gotten faster and I’ve gotten stronger and I have combined the two and I’m excited to see next season because each season I keep getting better and better,” she said.

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