There was just reward for one of the hardest working athletes in the sport as Femke Bol successfully defended the 400m hurdles title she first won in Budapest two years ago.

Dutchwoman Bol arrived in Tokyo undefeated this year over her pet event, but she took nothing for granted after her brave bid to unseat Olympic and world record-holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone at last year’s Paris Olympics backfired.

With McLaughlin-Levrone focused on the flat 400m this year, and Bol back in the ascendant in Europe, most people assumed she would hold the world title comfortably at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25, but she assumed nothing, putting together a beautiful race to dominate the final by four metres.

“I was focused on myself and running for my life until I made it through the line," she said.

Bol, 25, was already the world leader with the only sub-52-second clocking this year and she lowered the benchmark to 51.54, her fastest time in more than a year.

“This is my second gold medal in a row which makes me really proud," she said. “This means the world to me. This year we tried to change some things in training to get better at finishing the race. I really improved myself with that. The last 100m was the best I've had all season, that is what was special today.”

Bol has put together a perfect season over the quarter-sticks, winning eight successive races in Rabat, Hengelo, Stockholm, Monaco, London, Budapest, Silesia and Zurich before arriving in Tokyo.

She famously changed her stride pattern between the hurdles in the lead-up to Paris, in an attempt to get on terms with McLaughlin-Levrone, but could not finish off her race in the Olympic final. However, with another season to bed in her new race rhythm – 14 strides between hurdles one to seven, and 15 strides between hurdles eight to 10 – she has looked virtually bulletproof this year.

It always seemed likely that the Dutchwoman’s closest challengers would be the exceptionally strong US trio of 2016 Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad, 2024 Olympic silver medallist Anna Cockrell and Paris fourth place-finisher Jasmine Jones.

It was Jones, 23, who rose to the occasion this time, clinching the silver medal in a personal best of 52.08, perhaps inspired by seeing her training partner Rai Benjamin dominate the men’s 400m hurdles final just minutes earlier.

For their shared coach, 2004 Olympic 100m hurdles champion Joanna Hayes, this must have been one of the more memorable 15 minutes of her life.

Jones described her breakthrough medal as a “huge relief”.

“Last year, I really wanted a podium and to have the silver is not too shabby. I am really excited with that and my PR (personal record) too. I also ran a PB in the final in Paris, but the goal was a medal.

She also paid tribute to the retiring Muhammad as “a huge inspiration”.

“I can't believe it is Dalilah Muhammad's last race. Since I was in seventh grade, I wanted to be like her. I watched her all through middle and high school. She is going out as the queen of the 400m hurdles for me."

Slovakia’s rising star Emma Zapletalova overcame the disadvantage of the inside lane to grab the bronze medal in a national record of 53.00.

Cockrell has not recaptured the form that propelled her on to the podium last year, swapping positions with Jones to finish fourth (53.13), while 35-year-old Muhammad had hoped to finish her decorated career on a high but could manage only seventh place (54.82).

However, she was able to put the performance into perspective.

“It's definitely not the race I wanted but the thing about getting older in this sport is you have to deal with injuries, and track and field can be such a demanding sport," the 2019 world champion said. “You have got be 100 per cent healthy on the day, at that moment, and I have been dealing with so much backstage. I have been having a lot of mixed emotions. I did not even want to step on the line, but my team wouldn't let me quit, for which I am so thankful.”

The future of the event now belongs to 25-year-old Bol, and to the extravagantly gifted McLaughlin-Levrone, if she returns after an outstanding victory in the flat 400m this week, in the second fastest time in history.

Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics