It had been one of the most anticipated races of the year: a rematch of the Olympic men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles final between Karsten Warholm and Rai Benjamin.
Could they possibly live up to the epic Tokyo final, in which both men finished inside the world record and the Norwegian took the gold in a staggering 45.94 ahead of the American in 46.17.
Not quite.
Brazil&rsquo;s Alison dos Santos upended the script on Tuesday night (19), surging to the front on the final bend and pulling away to the gold in a championship record of 46.29 at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.
Not that the victory itself was particularly a surprise; the 22-year-old Dos Santos had been the best performer all year and he proved it on this night. He claimed his first world title and became the first South American to win a medal in this event at the World Championships.
And he did it by running the third-fastest time in history and setting a Brazilian, South American and US all-comers&rsquo; record.
&ldquo;I am so happy. The energy of the crowd was amazing,&rdquo; Dos Santos said. &ldquo;I felt their love, people hugging me. When you win, you start being everyone's favourite.&rdquo;
Benjamin, whose season had been disrupted by a bout of Covid-19 and tendonitis in his upper hamstring, took global silver for a third time, clocking 46.89. US teammate Trevor Bassitt out-leaned Wilfried Happio of France to grab the bronze in a personal best of 47.39.
Happio&rsquo;s fourth place time of 47.41 was faster than Warholm&rsquo;s wining time in Doha in 2019, and would have been enough to win 14 of the past 17 world titles.
For two-time defending champion Warholm, it was a humbling night. Having only recently returned to action after tearing a hamstring in early June, the Norwegian stumbled at the eighth hurdle and faded to seventh place in 48.42, covering his face in his hands in dejection after crossing the line.
Warholm hadn&rsquo;t finished a final in more than 10 months, and this was the first time he lost a race that he completed since the 2018 Continental Cup.
&ldquo;It was a very tough race,&rdquo; Warholm said. &ldquo;I had an injury but to me it's always your fight and giving your all and leaving it all on the track. I felt I did that. I hope looking back I'll feel proud of that, even though I prefer to take a medal.
&ldquo;I did a lot of hard work to get back to the championships but it wasn't enough,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;These guys do the same as me. They train every day and fight hard. I have huge respect for them. I will always give them a fight which is what I live for. Today is their day and I hope they enjoy it.&rdquo;
Dos Santos had finished third behind Warholm and Benjamin in Tokyo, but he came into these championships undefeated this year and having posted a world-leading 46.80 in Stockholm. He also defeated Benjamin in Doha in May.
On this night, Dos Santos maintained his smooth stride and technique throughout the race. He was even with Warholm through the halfway mark, then pulled away in imperious style over the final stretch.
&ldquo;That's pretty awesome to win the world title on this track,&rdquo; Dos Santos said. &ldquo;I didn't care about the time because this is the first time I won a world title. I think I can run faster. I don't think you will have a perfect race. I'll always look for ways to improve.&rdquo;
Benjamin tried to keep pace with Dos Santos on the final straight but couldn&rsquo;t gain ground.
&ldquo;My season has been rough, but I dug deep and it turned out this way,&rdquo; Benjamin said. &ldquo;I am grateful for silver. I got it done. I chopped a few hurdles and my race plan went out the window, but when I heard 'USA! USA!&rsquo; I ran as fast as I could to keep my second place.&rdquo;
The 24-year-old Bassitt, who won silver in the 400m at this year&rsquo;s World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, dipped at the line to edge Happio in the third-fastest bronze-medal time ever recorded at the World Championships.
When the scoreboard flashed Bassitt&rsquo;s name as the third-place finisher, Benjamin leapt on his back and the two tumbled on to the track.
&ldquo;To come out here, run a PB on the biggest stage and get a bronze, it's all I could ask for,&rdquo; Bassitt said. &ldquo;You can't do any better than your best and I think a medal is an incredible blessing. Sometimes you just have to run fast and that's what happened today. It's unbelievable. My first world outdoor championships to make a final and get a medal, it's not something a lot of people can say.&rdquo;
Dos Santos, meanwhile, was thinking of how he would celebrate his breakthrough title.
&ldquo;I will eat pizza at the athletes' village,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Many people have recommended it to me. Today I think I can drink soda.&rdquo;
He deserves it.
Steve Wilson 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">MEN'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;">Alison dos Santos 🇧🇷 BRA</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">46.29 CR</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Rai Benjamin 🇺🇸 USA</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">46.89 SB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Trevor Bassitt 🇺🇸 USA</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">47.39 PB</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/men/400-metres-hurdles/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

World Athletics Championships, Oregon 2022

22-year-old from Brazil ends Warholm's reign as world champion

Dos Santos wins first major title with 400m hurdles gold in Oregon

There&rsquo;s no place like Hayward Field for US athletes, who completed their national championships on Sunday (26) in what was essentially a trial run for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 next month.
Abby Steiner had the race of her life in the women&rsquo;s 200m, while 400m hurdler Rai Benjamin and shot putter Chase Ealey moved atop the world lists on another hot day at the US Championships in Eugene.
For Steiner, Hayward Field is definitely in her comfort zone. She lowered her PB to 21.77 while earning her first national crown just 15 days after shattering the collegiate record and taking the world lead with a 21.80 amid cooler temperatures at the NCAA Championships. The University of Kentucky sprinter equalled that time in the semifinals at the US Championships.
&ldquo;The main focus was just to come away with a win, make the team,&rdquo; said Steiner, whose performance was another world lead until Shericka Jackson ran 21.55 at the Jamaican Championships. &ldquo;It was nice having had NCAAs at this track; it was kind of a familiar environment so I knew if I replicated my race that I had at NCAAs with nicer weather, we were going to walk away with a PB.&rdquo;
Steiner will return to Eugene along with the other US athletes who qualified for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 in less than three weeks, no doubt to enjoy their home field advantage. The World Championships are taking place on US soil for the first time.&nbsp;&nbsp;
While Steiner wasn&rsquo;t as dominant in the first 50 metres, she grabbed the lead with 40 meters to go, defeating Tamara Clark, who ran a PB of 21.92. Olympian Jenna Prandini, who came off the curve in first place, ran a season's best of 22.01 on her college alma mater&rsquo;s track.
Olympic bronze medalist Gabby Thomas placed eighth in 22.47 after battling a hamstring injury the past two weeks, while Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson did not advance to the final.&nbsp;
Steiner was smiling with her arms outstretched as she crossed the finish line into a slight headwind.
Steiner said the win means &ldquo;Everything.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Coming off the collegiate season, a lot of people want to put limitations on you and say you&rsquo;re going to be burnt out,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;
Steiner definitely proved she still has momentum.
<h2>Benjamin uses final burst to take world lead</h2>
Benjamin chopped his steps going into the second hurdle of the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles and actually trailed Khallifah Rosser at the ninth barrier.
Then Benjamin hit another gear to pull ahead and run a world-leading time of 47.04, 0.45 better than his previous best this season, and leap over Alison Dos Santos&rsquo; 47.23 on the world list.&nbsp;
Trey Bassitt surged past Rosser to take second with a personal best of 47.47, while Rosser ran a PB of 47.65 for third. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62b8ed50bf22c9871b1f4813.jpg" alt="Rai Benjamin in the 400m hurdles at the 2022 US Championships" />
Rai Benjamin in the 400m hurdles at the 2022 US Championships (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
Benjamin has recovered from a tough bout with Covid-19 and had not been able to train as much as he would have liked. He said he felt &ldquo;kind of banged up&rdquo; after the weekend.
Winning his third straight US title, Benjamin said: &ldquo;It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.&rdquo;
Making the US team, he added, &ldquo;is the hardest part, in all honesty. Worlds &mdash; that&rsquo;s the easiest part. I still have a lot of work to do. I know what I have in store. It&rsquo;s a matter of getting healthy and putting my best foot forward.&rdquo;
Benjamin also hopes to run on the US 4x400m relay as he did in Tokyo, where he won an Olympic gold medal.
<h2>Ealey ready to make first world outdoor podium</h2>
Ealey, the world indoor silver medallist, took the world lead on her second toss, a throw of 20.51m to move ahead of China&rsquo;s Song Jiayuan with 20.38m and Canadian Sarah Mitton&rsquo;s 20.33m. Ealey's mark was also a meeting and stadium record and a PB by 38cm.&nbsp;
Ealey &ndash; who now sits second on the US all-time list &ndash; had a stellar series. After three throws over 19 metres (19.30m, 19.46m and 19.80m), she finished with another monster throw of 20.19m.
&ldquo;I was really nervous leading into this meet,&rdquo; Ealey said. &ldquo;I hadn&rsquo;t been nervous all year, but I used the nerves really well and was able to push past the nerves and really go for it.&rdquo;
Ealey said she is primed for the World Championships and doesn&rsquo;t want to leave Eugene next month without a medal, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;m really hoping it&rsquo;s a gold one.&rdquo;
She added: &ldquo;Since my breakout year it&rsquo;s been a while since I&rsquo;ve finally been on my feet again and I feel like I have it now."
Adelaide Aquilla was second at 19.45m, followed by Jessica Woodard at 19.40m. Olympic silver medallist Raven Saunders had a season's best of 18.95m, but missed the US team, while 2016 gold medallist Michelle Carter closed out her final national championships in eighth place (17.72m).
<h2>Thrilling finish to women&rsquo;s 800m</h2>
Olympic 800m gold medalist Athing Mu, who turned 20 on 8 June, has not lost a race outdoors at any distance since age 17.&nbsp;
Ajee&rsquo; Wilson almost ended Mu&rsquo;s winning streak, pulling abreast with her in the final push for the line, but coming up just short.
Mu&rsquo;s time was 1:57.16, while Wilson, who admitted she might have started her kick a little too early, had a season best of 1:57.23. Raevyn Rogers, who went to college at Oregon and whose likeness is on the Hayward Field Tower, was in sixth place with 100 metres to go and wound up third in 1:57.96. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62b8edadbf22c9871b1f4816.jpg" alt="Athing Mu wins the 800m ahead of Ajee Wilson at the 2022 US Championships" />
Athing Mu wins the 800m ahead of Ajee Wilson at the 2022 US Championships (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad that I fought,&rdquo; said Mu, who ran 1:57.55 in the semifinals, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;m glad that I still had it in my legs to come back and run. I&rsquo;m glad I was able to replicate what I did two days ago even though it wasn&rsquo;t a super fast time.&rdquo;
She was also happy for her boyfriend Brandon Miller, who threw himself across the line in the men&rsquo;s 800m to deny 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Clayton Murphy another national team. Miller&rsquo;s time was 1:45.19 while Murphy finished fourth with a season's best of 1:45.23.
Bryce Hoppel won the race, fighting off Jonah Koech on the final stretch, 1:44.60 to 1:44.74, with Koech posting a PB to attain the World Championships standard.
<h2>Proving a point in the men&rsquo;s 200m</h2>
Noah Lyles did not follow the example of fellow world champions Christian Coleman, Nia Ali and Grant Holloway of skipping their final because they had a wildcard entry into the World Championships.
Lyles had something to prove.
He won the 200m with a time of 19.67, blowing past teenager Erriyon Knighton, who clocked 19.69. Fred Kerley doubled by placing third in 19.83 after winning the men&rsquo;s 100m. Kenny Bednarek, the Olympic silver medallist, also made the US team in fourth place with a season's best of 19.87, just ahead of Lyles&rsquo; brother Josephus with a PB of 19.93.
Knighton has the world lead of 19.49, and the attention on the young sprinter had Lyles feeling left out.
Lyles pointed his finger at Knighton as he crossed the finish line, but he explained that the gesture was meant for the people who had doubted him.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m pointing at all those people who kept doubting me, all year and all last year,&rdquo; Lyles said, &ldquo;everybody who keeps saying, &lsquo;He&rsquo;s out of the picture.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Lyles admitted that Knighton got the best of him on the turn, but he refused to panic.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I saw he reached his top speed and I said, &lsquo;Mine&rsquo;s faster,&rsquo;&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to catch him.&rdquo;
Knighton was visibly upset by the loss. During the post-race television interview, he vowed to &ldquo;Just come back and win. The job&rsquo;s not finished, it&rsquo;s never finished.&rdquo; And then he stalked out of camera range.
Lyles shouted after him, &ldquo;It ain&rsquo;t finished!&rdquo;
Lyles said the pointing was &ldquo;just about having fun,&rdquo; but he allowed that the move could have cost him some time with Knighton on his shoulder.
&ldquo;To be honest,&rdquo; Lyles said, &ldquo;I risked it for the biscuit.&rdquo; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62b8f9ff774be729e2fb1a54.jpg" alt="Noah Lyles wins the US 200m title ahead of Erriyon Knighton" />
Noah Lyles wins the US 200m title ahead of Erriyon Knighton (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
Grant Fisher withstood the morning heat to win the men&rsquo;s 5000m and set a meeting record with a time of 13:03.86. Woody Kincaid ran a 54-second final lap to move from fourth to second in 13:06.70. Abdihamid Nur was third in 13:08.63.
Fisher was thrilled to win his first national title after three near misses.
&ldquo;I knew if I put in some pace with a few laps to go that I would break a lot of people,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and I wanted this to be a true 5km. I didn&rsquo;t want it to be a 400m. I wanted to make them hurt and it worked.&rdquo;
World gold and silver medallist Emma Coburn won the women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase in 9:10.63 as Courtney Wayment moved into second with a time of 9:12.10 by overtaking Olympic silver medallist Courtney Frerichs, who finished third in 9:16.18.&nbsp;
Shelby McEwen jumped a PB of 2.33m to win the men&rsquo;s high jump, moving into a tie for second on the world list and attaining the World Championships standard. JuVaughn Harrison made the US team with a season's best of 2.30m and Dontavious Hill was third in 2.22m. Harrison, who made the Olympic team in both the high jump and long jump, was unsuccessful in his quest to double at the World Championships in Oregon.
Daniel Roberts won his second national title in the 110m hurdles, clocking a season's best of 13.03. It was a blanket finish for the next three places, with Trey Cunningham, the NCAA champion, taking second with a time of 13.08.&nbsp;
Two-time Olympian Devon Allen, who ran the world-leading time this season of 12.84 two weeks ago, was third by three-thousandths of a second. He edged Jamal Britt, 13.087 to 13.090, to claim the final spot on the US team.
Karen Rosen for World Athletics

Abby Steiner improved her PB, while 400m hurdler Rai Benjamin and shot putter Chase Ealey moved atop the world lists

Steiner storms to 200m win at US Championships

Exactly nine months on from the end of the Tokyo Olympics, several medallists from those Games will return to the Japanese capital for the Seiko Golden Grand Prix &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting &ndash; on Sunday (8).
Two medallists will clash again in the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles as world record-holder Kendra Harrison takes on Jamaica&rsquo;s Megan Tapper.
The pair&rsquo;s last duel was in fact at the Tokyo Olympics, where Harrison took the silver medal in 12.52, just 0.03 ahead of bronze medallist Tapper. Harrison, the world silver medallist and 2018 world indoor champion, has shown the best early season form of the two, speeding to wind-assisted times of 12.32 in her specialist event and 22.19 in the 200m at the Texas Relays in late March. Tapper, meanwhile, opened her outdoor campaign with a comfortable 12.80 win in Kingston at the end of April.
It will be more than a two-woman race, though.
World indoor bronze medallist and US indoor champion Gabbi Cunningham also lined up against Harrison and Tapper in last year&rsquo;s Olympic final and will do so again on Sunday. Japan&rsquo;s Masumi Aoki and her predecessor as national record-holder, Asuka Terada, add further quality to the line-up.
The men&rsquo;s sprint hurdles looks to be similarly competitive. Although largely a domestic field, it brings together some of Japan&rsquo;s leading exponents in the event; just 0.13 separates the lifetime bests of Rachid Muratake, Shuhei Ishikawa, Shunya Takayama and Shusei Nomoto.
<h2>Olympic gold medallists return</h2>
Rai Benjamin, Michael Norman and Lynna Irby will line up on the same track where they earned Olympic gold medals last year.
Benjamin, who anchored the USA to 4x400m gold in Tokyo last year, will contest his first 400m hurdles race since the Olympics. When he takes to the track, his mind will likely be flooded with memories of the Olympic final when he clocked the second-fastest time in history &ndash; 46.17, quicker than the world record before the Games &ndash; to earn silver in what went down as one of the greatest races in Olympic history.
Japanese champion Kazuki Kurokawa, who won at this meeting last year in a PB of 48.68 before going on to compete at the Olympics, is also in the line-up.
Norman, who joined Benjamin on the victorious US 4x400m team last year, will compete over 400m on Sunday, his first one-lap race since the Olympics. The versatile sprinter opened his season with a 19.83 runner-up finish over 200m at the Continental Tour Gold meeting at Mt SAC &ndash; a race in which Benjamin finished third in 20.01.
Australia&rsquo;s Alex Beck, Japan&rsquo;s Kentaro Sato and Italy&rsquo;s Vladimir Aceti are also in the field.
Irby, another Olympic relay champion, will be joined in the 200m by US compatriot Angie Annelus, the fourth-place finisher at the 2019 World Championships, and much-improved Australian Jacinta Beecher, who recently clocked a PB of 22.70.
World indoor silver medallist Christian Coleman will contest his first 100m race since winning the world title over the distance in 2019. The US sprinter will face Australia&rsquo;s Rohan Browning and Japan&rsquo;s Shuhei Tada and Taishi Endo, among others.
<h2>High jump reunion</h2>
Three Olympic finalists will reunite in the men&rsquo;s high jump. Australia&rsquo;s Commonwealth champion Brandon Starc, New Zealand&rsquo;s world indoor bronze medallist Hamish Kerr and Japanese indoor record-holder Naoto Tobe all featured in last year&rsquo;s Olympic final and will be back in Tokyo on Sunday.
But Mexico&rsquo;s Edgar Rivera and Japan&rsquo;s Tomohiro Shinno are 2.31m jumpers at their best and will also be in contention for victory on Sunday. Shinno, in fact, beat Starc and Tobe in Fukuroi earlier this week.
World javelin champion Kelsey-Lee Barber returns to the runway where she earned Olympic silver. The Australian faces Latvia&rsquo;s Lina Muze, New Zealand record-holder Tori Peeters and Japanese record-holder Haruka Kitaguchi.
In the men&rsquo;s javelin, last year&rsquo;s winner Takuto Kominami, the Japanese champion and Tokyo Olympian, will take on domestic rivals Kenji Ogura and Genki Dean. And in the long jump, Australia&rsquo;s Chris Mitrevski faces Japan&rsquo;s Hiromichi Yoshida.
<h2>More from Miura</h2>
Ryuji Miura was one of Japan&rsquo;s big breakthrough performers last year.
Still an U20 athlete throughout 2021, he won the steeplechase at last year&rsquo;s Continental Tour Gold meeting in Tokyo, breaking the senior national record with 8:17.46. He went on to reduce that to 8:15.99 and then 8:09.92 at the Olympics to earn a place in the final where he eventually placed seventh.
Miura, who turned 20, returns to the scene of his most memorable performances and will compete in his first steeplechase race of the year. Having recently clocked a huge 1500m PB of 3:36.59, he appears to be in good form.
He&rsquo;ll face Kenya&rsquo;s Philemon Ruto, who finished second to Miura at this meeting last year, along with Japanese Olympians Ryoma Aoki and Kosei Yamaguchi.
In the men&rsquo;s 800m, USA&rsquo;s Isaiah Jewett takes on New Zealand&rsquo;s Brad Mathas, who won convincingly in Fukuroi earlier this week, Britain&rsquo;s Guy Learmonth and Japan&rsquo;s Kentaro Usuda.
Japanese record-holder and Olympic finalist Nozomi Tanaka, meanwhile, headlines the women&rsquo;s 1500m field.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Olympic rematches at every turn

Harrison, Benjamin and Norman take to Tokyo track once more

An intriguing field in the men&rsquo;s 200m highlights the USATF Golden Games on Saturday (16), while Olympic champion Valarie Allman will attempt to break her North American discus record.
The second stop in the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold Series will be held at the newly renovated Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, California, as part of the Mt SAC Relays. While the meeting features some of the world&rsquo;s top sprinters, they&rsquo;re not all in their signature events. The men&rsquo;s 200m in particular is shaping up as an early-season battle for bragging rights.
Fred Kerley, the Olympic silver medallist in the 100m, and Christian Coleman, the world champion in the 100m and runner-up at the recent World Indoor Championships in the 60m, will take on Rai Benjamin, the Olympic runner-up in the 400m hurdles, and Michael Norman, a 400m specialist who is versatile across the board.
The women&rsquo;s 100m is just as loaded. Multiple Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, who last year improved to 10.54, lines up for her first 100m of the year and will take on Olympic bronze medallist Gabby Thomas and Olympic 100m finalist Teahna Daniels, fresh off her victory into a strong headwind at the breezy USATF Bermuda Games last weekend.
Three other sprinters from that race are also in this field, including Olympic teammate Javianne Oliver, USA's Twanisha Terry and Aleia Hobbs, who ran 11.06 earlier this month. Michelle-Lee Ahye of Trinidad and Tobago and Briana Williams of Jamaica, both of whom competed in the world indoor 60m final last month, offer top international competition.
Meanwhile, USA&rsquo;s Kenny Bednarek, the Olympic silver medallist in the 200m, will race the 400m, an event in which he is equally at ease. Bednarek will face Alison Dos Santos, the bronze medallist in the 400m hurdles from Brazil, and Michael Cherry, who was fourth at the Olympics in the 400m and finished 2021 strong with the Diamond League trophy. The American has run only a relay so far this season.
Kerley has run one race apiece this season at each distance: the 100m (9.99), the 200m (a world-leading 20.04) and the 400m (a world-leading 44.47), but has not competed since 26 March. Coleman ran a 200m in 20.25 last weekend, while Benjamin and Norman are opening their 2022 campaigns.
Joseph Amoah of Ghana, who has run 20.08 in the 200m, Jerome Blake of Canada and Jaron Flournoy of the USA round out the field for the race, which will be the last event of the elite meet.
The meeting, which is also part of the 2022 USATF Journey to Gold Outdoor Tour Series, also offers a preview of the men&rsquo;s 100m at the upcoming US Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Veteran Michael Rodgers, Ameer Webb (who ran 10.04 last weekend), Isiah Young, Kyree King, Jarrion Lawson and Demek Kemp are among those hoping to make the team to compete at the World Championships, also in Eugene.
Devon Allen, the two-time Olympian for the USA who was fourth in Tokyo in the 110m hurdles, is entered in both the 100m and the hurdles. He recently announced he has signed to play professional football after this season.
Kendra Harrison, the Olympic silver medallist from the USA in the 100m hurdles, will compete against Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, who was fourth in Tokyo, fellow US Olympian Anna Cockrell, 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Kristi Castlin, who was part of the US medal sweep in Rio, and British Olympian Cindy Sember. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60d065de953a9cd50196b96b.jpg" alt="Kendra Harrison after winning the 100m hurdles at the US Trials" />
Kendra Harrison after winning the 100m hurdles at the US Trials (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
 The women&rsquo;s 200m includes Gabby Thomas, the Olympic bronze medallist from the USA who opened her season in the 100m in Bermuda, Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast, world silver medallist Brittany Brown, and two-time US Olympian Jenna Prandini, who is opening her season at the Golden Games.
In a battle between US sprinters, Shamier Little, the 400m hurdler who has also had success in the flat race, will run the 400m against 2017 world champion Phyllis Francis, world 400m hurdles champion Dalilah Muhammad and Olympian Kendall Ellis.
Raevyn Rogers, the world silver medallist from the USA, will run the women&rsquo;s 800m while the men&rsquo;s 800m includes Bryce Hoppel, the bronze medallist at the World Indoor Championships making his outdoor debut and fellow US Olympian Isaiah Jewett.
Allman picked up where she left off after her brilliant 2021 season, and then some. Last weekend in her second meet Allman broke her own continental record with a toss of 71.46m, the longest throw in the world in 30 years. She is now the No.15 thrower in history. Shadae Lawrence of Jamaica, who was seventh at the Olympics, and US Olympian Rachel Dincoff will challenge her in the Golden Games.
Daniel Stahl of Sweden, the world and Olympic champion, and teammate and Olympic silver medallist Simon Pettersson lead the men&rsquo;s discus field. Stahl has thrown a world-leading 69.11m this season. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60e4a6d06c28f3e4b04d136e.jpg" alt="Daniel Stahl contests the discus at the Gyulai Memorial" />
Daniel Stahl contests the discus at the Gyulai Memorial (&copy; Gyulai Istvan Memorial)
</div>
 Raven Saunders, the Olympic silver medallist, is the top contender in the women&rsquo;s shot put and will throw against Tokyo finalists Fanny Roos of Sweden and Portious Warren of Trinidad and Tobago. Darrell Hill, who was fourth at the US Olympic Trials in the men&rsquo;s shot, will face Olympian Payton Otterdahl, who was third, and Josh Owotunde, who was fifth. Adrian Piperi has thrown 21.54m for fourth on the 2022 world list, while Hill has a toss of 21.25m to rank sixth.
Bridgett Williams of the USA is tied for the world lead in the women&rsquo;s pole vault at 4.70m while Katerina Stefanidi of Greece, the 2016 Olympic champion who was fourth in Tokyo, has cleared 4.65m this season.
US high jumper Vashti Cunningham, who will be opening her outdoor season, has been competing at the Mt SAC Relays since she was in high school. The world bronze medallist will go up against Tyra Gittens of Trinidad and Tobago, who has the second-highest mark this year of 1.95m. She competed in the Olympics in the long jump.
Keturah Orji, a two-time Olympian for the USA in the triple jump, is coming off a seventh-place finish at the World Indoor Championships, while Carter Shell is the top US athlete this season in the men&rsquo;s long jump.
Brooke Andersen and Gwen Berry, both Olympic finalists for the USA, will go head-to-head in the women&rsquo;s hammer, where Andersen has the world-leading toss of 77.26m. Camryn Rogers has a throw of 74.80m for second.
Olympic finalists Rudy Winkler and Daniel Haugh of the USA will take on Humberto Mansilla and Gabriel Kehr of Chile in the men&rsquo;s hammer.
Karen Rosen for World Athletics

Olympic champions Valarie Allman and Daniel Stahl highlight the discus contests

Enthralling sprint clashes on tap at Mt SAC

A wave of global stars will return to the scene of their Olympic-medal-winning feats when they compete at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting &ndash; in Tokyo on 8 May.
Rai Benjamin, who earned Olympic gold in the 4x400m and silver in the 400m hurdles, will contest his specialist event in the Japanese capital. In the Olympic final last year, he finished second in 46.17 &ndash; a time that would have been a world record were it not for the fact that Karsten Warholm finished marginally ahead.
But Benjamin&rsquo;s Olympic campaign ended on a high when he anchored the USA to victory in the 4x400m, producing a 43.4-second split en route to recording the fourth fastest time in history for the discipline.
Kendra Harrison and Megan Tapper, the Olympic silver and bronze medallists respectively, will once again clash in the 100m hurdles. Harrison, the world record-holder in the sprint hurdles, has already shown good early season form, clocking wind-assisted times of 12.34 in the 100m hurdles and 22.19 in the 200m.
Olympic finalist and world indoor bronze medallist Gabbi Cunningham is also entered, as is Japan&rsquo;s Masumi Aoki and her predecessor as national record-holder Asuka Terada.
World javelin champion Kelsey-Lee Barber, who took Olympic silver in Tokyo last year, will also be in action. The Australian thrower will take on the likes of Latvia&rsquo;s Lina Muze and New Zealand&rsquo;s Tori Peeters.
Olympic 4x400m champion Michael Norman, one of the world&rsquo;s most versatile sprinters, will compete in the 400m, while world champion Christian Coleman will line up for the 100m.
Elsewhere, Commonwealth champion Brandon Starc and world indoor bronze medallist Hamish Kerr will take on Japan&rsquo;s leading high jumpers, while Olympic relay medallist Lynna Irby will contest the 200m.

Japanese capital prepares to host its biggest athletics competition since the Tokyo Olympics

Olympic medallists Benjamin, Harrison and Barber ready to return to Tokyo

Rai Benjamin vs Karsten Warholm in the 400m hurdles and Gabby Thomas taking on Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Blessing Okagbare over 200m are among the world-class clashes set for the Meeting Herculis EBS &ndash; part of the&nbsp;Wanda Diamond League&nbsp;&ndash; in Monaco on 9 July.
The USA&rsquo;s Benjamin and Norway&rsquo;s Warholm have not raced each other since the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, where Warholm won their battle to retain his title. Now world silver medallist Benjamin is the second-fastest 400m hurdler of all time, having missed Kevin Young&rsquo;s world record by just 0.05 with 46.83 at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene on Saturday (26), while Warholm is getting ready to make his season debut in the discipline at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Oslo on Thursday (1), having broken the world 300m hurdles best with 33.26 in the same city earlier this month.
Warholm ran 46.87 in Stockholm last August, a mark which places him third on that world 400m hurdles all-time list behind Young and Benjamin, with a highly-anticipated head-to-head in store just three weeks out from the Olympic Games.
They will be joined in Monaco by Commonwealth champion Kyron McMaster and world finalist Alison Dos Santos, who sit second and third on this season&rsquo;s world rankings with their respective times of 47.50 and 47.57, plus 2019 European U23 champion Wilfried Happio. 
<h3>Stars set for superb 200m</h3>
Thomas joined Benjamin in becoming the world all-time No.2 in her event at the US Olympic Trials as she clocked 21.61 for 200m - a time only Florence Griffith-Joyner has ever bettered. Now for the first time she will line up alongside Jamaica&rsquo;s multiple global gold medallist Fraser-Pryce, who ran a PB of 21.79 to complete a sprint double at the recent Jamaican Championships, just three weeks after she too moved to second on the all-time list behind Griffith-Joyner with 10.63 for 100m.
Adding to the quality is Olympic 400m champion&nbsp; Miller-Uibo, who has a best of 21.74 from 2019, and 2013 world bronze medallist Okagbare, who ran her PB of 22.04 in 2018 and clocked a wind-assisted 10.63 for 100m earlier this month.
Also in the sprint spotlight in Monaco will be Trayvon Bromell, Fred Kerley, Akani Simbine, Andre De Grasse, Ronnie Baker, Lamont Marcell Jacobs, Jimmy Vicaut and Filippo Tortu, who are all listed for the men&rsquo;s 100m.
Having made a successful comeback after injury, Bromell leads the world rankings with the 9.77 PB he set in Florida earlier this month and he won the US title in 9.80, beating Baker (9.85 PB) and Kerley (9.86 PB), who will join him on the US team for Tokyo.&nbsp;
Jacobs has run 9.95 this year, while Simbine and De Grasse have both clocked 9.99.
Other athletes previously announced for the meeting include Sifan Hassan and Faith Kipyegon in the women's 1500m, Timothy Cheruiyot in the men's 1500m and Yulimar Rojas in the triple jump, with the <a href="https://monaco.diamondleague.com/en/programme-resultats-monaco-en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">entry lists now published</a>.
World Athletics

Rai Benjamin vs Karsten Warholm in the 400m hurdles and Gabby Thomas taking on Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Blessing Okagbare over 200m are among the world-class clashes set for the Meeting Herculis EBS.

World-class clashes confirmed for Monaco

On one of the most momentous days in the history of the US Olympic Trials &ndash; and one of the hottest, with temperatures reaching 38C &ndash; Grant Holloway came within one-hundredth of a second of a world record in the 110m hurdles and Rai Benjamin came within five-hundredths in the 400m hurdles. Gabby Thomas made history in the 200m, as did DeAnna Price in the hammer.
All four now rank No.2 all-time in their respective events after their performances in Eugene on Saturday (26).
It was in the semifinals that world champion Holloway achieved his time of 12.81 (1.8m/s), just missing the record set by Aries Merritt in Brussels in 2012. The former trials record was 12.92 by Allen Johnson set at Atlanta in 1996.
Holloway went on to win the final in 12.96 (0.4m/s) over Devon Allen (13.10) and Daniel Roberts (13.11). Allen was fifth at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Holloway said he knew big things were coming after Friday&rsquo;s first round, and that a world record is &ldquo;definitely possible.&rdquo;
It is possible for Benjamin, too, whose 46.83 is the closest anyone has ever come to Kevin Young&rsquo;s 46.78 from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Benjamin said his goal was to make the USA team, not break the world record &ndash; but the time was reassuring. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60d831857e2b078497c55fd1.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="635" />
 &ldquo;If I got a world record now,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;would I be able to maintain that level of fitness?&rdquo;
Benjamin broke the Trials record of 47.37 set by Edwin Moses in 1988 in a memorable Indianapolis race in which five men were under 48 seconds.
In Zurich in 2019, Norway&rsquo;s Karsten Warholm edged Benjamin, 46.92 to 46.98. They should meet again at the Tokyo Olympics. &ldquo;I ran out of real estate because I made such a rookie mistake in the first half,&rdquo; Benjamin said. &ldquo;I like to think that I&rsquo;m more experienced now. I have a different drive now, it&rsquo;s a different hunger.
&ldquo;I want to be the best hurdler that there&rsquo;s ever been. I'm ready to sacrifice anything, and I sacrificed a lot this year.&rdquo;
Benjamin also suggested he would like to race former college teammate Michael Norman at the flat 400m.
To become No.2 in history behind Florence Griffith Joyner left Thomas &ldquo;in shock&rdquo;. The Harvard graduate won the 200m in 21.61 (1.3m/s), followed by Jenna Prandini in 21.89 and Anavia Battle in 21.95. Prandini was an Olympian in the 200m in 2016. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60d831737e2b078497c55fce.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="659" />
 Griffith Joyner set a world record of 21.56 in the semifinals at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, then broke that with 21.34 in the final.
Thus the 21.98 by Alabama&rsquo;s Tamara Clark missed making the team. That time would have earned a silver medal at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha and a bronze at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Allyson Felix, 17 years removed from silver at Athens 2004, was fifth in 22.11.
Felix has been Thomas&rsquo; inspiration. "She was the first person I remember watching on TV. The person who has been in the back of my head. To be on the team with her makes me want to cry," Thomas said.
The sprinter had a health scare ahead of the Trials when a tumour was discovered on her liver. It turned out to be benign.
Thomas, 24, earned a Harvard degree in neurobiology and is studying for a master's in public health at the University of Texas. She relocated to Austin to be in a training group led by Tonja Buford-Bailey.
"I wanted to go to a group where I can go to school to be in a group of successful black women, it was something I thought was super-empowering," Thomas said.
In the hammer final Price twice broke her own US record and broke her trials record four times, topped by 80.31m in the fifth round. That made her the second 80-metre thrower ever after Poland&rsquo;s Anita Wlodarczyk, who set the world record of 82.98m in 2016. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60d8315d7e2b078497c55fcb.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="635" />
 Price&rsquo;s series was 77.82m, 78.51m, 79.98m, foul, 80.31m and 78.16m.
Brooke Andersen was second with 77.27m and Gwen Berry third with 73.50m. The three Americans rank as the top three worldwide in 2021, and Andersen&rsquo;s distance was the best ever for second place.
The most shocking result on Saturday might have been by a 17-year-old in a semifinal. Erriyon Knighton eased into Sunday&rsquo;s 200m final with a time of 19.88, breaking the world U20 record of 19.93 set by Jamaica&rsquo;s Usain Bolt in 2004. That also lowered Knighton&rsquo;s own U18 best of 20.04, set in Friday&rsquo;s first round.
&ldquo;Did what I had to do. I shut it down the last 20 metres, as you can see,&rdquo; Knighton said.
Knighton finished ahead of 2019 world champion Noah Lyles, second in 19.91. Kenny Bednarek won the other semifinal in 19.90. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60d8339d335e3daf72054627.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="566" />
 There was also a world record attempt by Katie Nageotte in the pole vault as she set a Trials record of 4.95m before missing three attempts at 5.07m. Morgann LeLeux was a surprise runner-up at 4.70m, and Rio silver medallist Sandi Morris was third at 4.60m.
The last time the US Olympic Trials winner in the long jump was not Brittney Reese was 2004, when she was 17 and attending a Mississippi high school. Reese won by jumping 7.13m to 7.04m for world-leader Tara Davis. Quanesha Burks took the third spot at 6.96m. Tianna Bartoletta, Rio gold medallist and two-time world champion, was 10th at 6.54m.
US record-holder Maggie Malone won the javelin with a fifth-round throw of 63.50m after previous record-holder Kara Winger led through four rounds. Winger, 35, competing 10 months after knee surgery, was second at 61.47m to make her fourth Olympic team.
Emily Sisson, disappointed not to make the marathon team when that was selected in February 2020, won a front-running 10,000m in 31:03.82. It was a Trials record, breaking the mark of 31:09.65 set by Deena Kastor at Sacramento in 2004. Sisson led at 5km in 15:49, then ran the second 5km in 15:14. Karissa Schweizer was second in 31:16.52 and Alicia Monson third in 31:18.55. Weini Kelati, newly granted citizenship, dropped out after 17 laps.
In the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, world leader Sydney McLaughlin advanced to Sunday&rsquo;s final in 53.03. The final features Dalilah Muhammad and McLaughlin, gold and silver medallists from 2019; Ashley Spencer, bronze from 2016; and Shamier Little, silver from 2015.
On day one of the heptathlon, Annie Kunz took the lead with 4042 points. She was first in the 100m hurdles (12.95) and shot put (15.73m). Kunz was eighth at the 2016 Trials and 13th at the 2019 World Championships.
Roy Jordan for World Athletics

Grant Holloway came within one-hundredth of a second of a world record in the 110m hurdles and Rai Benjamin came within five-hundredths in the 400m hurdles. Gabby Thomas made history in the 200m, as did DeAnna Price in the hammer.

Holloway, Thomas, Benjamin and Price shine on superb day in Eugene

While the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha on Friday (28) is an important step for many athletes on the road to the Olympic Games in Tokyo, for Mutaz Barshim it also represents a key milestone in his career.
It is a decade since the Qatari high jump star made his Diamond League debut on home soil, clearing 2.31m as a 19-year-old. Since then he has increased his best to 2.43m, just 2cm off Javier Sotomayor&rsquo;s world record, and among his many medals are two world outdoor titles, as he returned after injury to claim his second in Doha in 2019.
&ldquo;In 2011 it was my debut here in Doha &ndash; that was my first Diamond League,&rdquo; explained Barshim at the pre-event press conference.
&ldquo;I remember when we started, I wasn&rsquo;t that good in my technical performance. My coach said &lsquo;you have to change that if you want to jump at a high level for 10 years&rsquo;. In order to perform, you need to put in the work, and if you can&rsquo;t put in the work, it&rsquo;s not going to happen. If you have managed to stay healthy, anything is possible.&rdquo;
Asked whether 2.45m might be possible, he replied: &ldquo;I think 2.47m is possible, if you manage to stay healthy.
&ldquo;I want to be remembered,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;I want to make sure that you can never mention high jump without mentioning my name. I want to set an example. I know there are a lot of kids out there who have the same passion and dreams.&rdquo;
Legacy was a hot topic at the press conference on Thursday, and among the athletes returning to Doha for the first time since the 2019 World Athletics Championships was the USA&rsquo;s Rai Benjamin, who claimed 400m hurdles silver and 4x400m gold in Qatar&rsquo;s capital. 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Original/c2abcdb3-5625-4740-b667-4efd2f85b328.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 &ldquo;I would like to be the greatest 400m hurdler ever,&rdquo; said the 23-year-old, who sits third on the world all-time list with his 46.98 PB. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a big ask and it&rsquo;s going to take a lot over the next couple of years, but I&rsquo;m just getting started. I definitely want to be remembered, not just in my event but in other events too. I want to be the most versatile track and field athlete anyone has ever seen.&rdquo;
When it comes to versatility, Benjamin added that he hopes to double up at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll see what happens and if I decide to run the 200m or the 400m (as well as the 400m hurdles),&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Whatever works best on the schedule, I definitely want to take a shot at it.&rdquo;
His 2019 silver was claimed ahead of Qatar&rsquo;s Abderrahman Samba, whose PB also stands at 46.98. The pair will go head-to-head on Friday, and looking ahead to the rematch, Benjamin added: &ldquo;I know what type of shape I am in and what I&rsquo;m capable of doing this weekend but in track you have to have a short memory. In 2019 Samba wasn&rsquo;t healthy, I wasn&rsquo;t healthy - it was just a matter of getting that confidence and having the support to show up to the final and actually run. We weren&rsquo;t in the best of shape and every time we have raced each other we have run really well, so we&rsquo;ll see what happens. I know it&rsquo;s a big race and everyone is excited but I just pray that we finish healthy, we run fast and set our sights on Tokyo.&rdquo;
For Samba, who will be contesting the 400m hurdles for the first time since that world final, all eyes are also on the Olympics. &ldquo;Friday will be a great start for me to push for my ambition in Tokyo,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I am focused on Tokyo and will keep an eye on the podium.&rdquo; 
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<h3>Fraser-Pryce seeks sub-10.70</h3>
Despite everything Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has already achieved, the nine-time world gold medallist remains driven by her hunt for faster times. After battling the wind and rain to finish fourth at the first Diamond League meeting of the season in Gateshead, the Jamaican sprint great will be hoping to make the most of the more favourable Doha conditions to work towards her aim of a sub-10.70 100m and a medal in Tokyo.
&ldquo;Now being 34, I am intentional about my goals and one of those intentions is definitely to run below 10.70,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Hopefully I can put some solid races together this season and get that done.
&ldquo;The harder the competitions are, the better I am at performing. I like a challenge, I like it when the competition is hard. When you're at a Diamond League you know the field is going to be good and it's going to be solid.&rdquo;
But times and medals are not her only motivation.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m passionate about community,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;When I was growing up I didn&rsquo;t have a lot of role models so I am passionate about going into my community and providing hope and inspiration to the young girls and boys.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Original/365526c4-ce85-46f9-b8bc-b73426d03f20.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 Kenya&rsquo;s Timothy Cheruiyot expressed a similar wish, as he sat alongside Fraser-Pryce ahead of making his season opener in the 1500m.
&ldquo;My passion is to nurture young athletes in my community so that people at home can remember me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I hope I will open clubs so young athletes can train there.&rdquo;
After his world 1500m title win in 2019, he raced the 800m in Doha last September, and added: &ldquo;To be back here is very important to me
&ldquo;The 1500m is very competitive worldwide. I need to work hard and focus on the Olympics because now I am in good form.&rdquo;
The women&rsquo;s pole vault is also set to be highly competitive and Friday&rsquo;s competition will see the three 2019 world medallists &ndash; champion Anzhelika Sidorova, runner-up Sandi Morris and bronze medallist Katerina Stefanidi &ndash; clash once again.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited because this is the first time we are all seeing each other again in person and it just so happens to be back here in Doha where we last met,&rdquo; said the USA&rsquo;s world indoor champion Morris. &ldquo;I have no doubt that we are going to bring out the best in one another.&rdquo;
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
Photos by Dan Vernon

While the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha on Friday (28) is an important step for many athletes on the road to the Olympic Games in Tokyo, for Mutaz Barshim it also represents a key milestone in his career.

Barshim, Benjamin and Fraser-Pryce talk legacy as they take steps towards Tokyo in Doha

A pair of sub-10.80 runs from Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson in the 100m and a highly convincing 47.13 400m hurdles victory from Rai Benjamin were among the many highlights of the USATF Golden Games &ndash; a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting &ndash; held at Mt SAC in Walnut, California, on Sunday (9).
Richardson turned heads early in the programme with her run in the 100m heats. With her customary strong start, followed by her astonishing turnover in the closing stages, Richardson breezed through the line in 10.74 (1.1m/s) &ndash; the fastest wind-legal time ever recorded in the first round of a 100m competition.
She was back on track about 90 minutes later for the final. The wind had changed direction, which only became apparent after the race, but the outcome was almost identical. Once she hit top speed, she pulled away from the rest of the field with incredible ease and tore through the finishing tape, stopping the clock at 10.77 (-1.2m/s).
No one else has ever run so fast into a headwind of -1.0m/s or more. The 21-year-old also becomes just the third woman in history to better 10.80 twice in one day with legal wind.
&ldquo;I executed a fine race and I walked away with the win, so I&rsquo;m not disappointed,&rdquo; said Richardson, who last month clocked a world-leading PB of 10.72. &ldquo;I know I can do better, so I&rsquo;m just waiting for the next opportunity.&rdquo;
Javianne Oliver was second in the final in 11.08, having recorded a PB of 10.97 in the heats. World U20 champion Briana Williams was third in 11.15 and 2007 world champion Veronica Campbell-Brown, now 38, was fifth (11.31).
Benjamin, competing in his first 400m hurdles race since taking the silver medal at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, looked anything but race rusty. 
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Rai Benjamin wins the 400m hurdles at the USATF Golden Games at Mt SAC</div>
&nbsp;
Commonwealth champion Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands matched Benjamin through the first half, but Benjamin started to pull ahead on the final bend and emerged with a clear lead at the start of the home straight. He continued to extend his lead and crossed the line in 47.13, the third-fastest time of his career and just 0.15 shy of his PB. It also smashed the previous facility record of 47.89, set by the legendary Edwin Moses back in 1979.
McMaster finished second in a national record of 47.50 and 20-year-old Alison Dos Santos was third in a Brazilian record of 47.68.
&ldquo;I was on a Zoom call with Edwin Moses a few weeks ago,&rdquo; said Benjamin. &ldquo;We were talking about technique and the rhythm of the race, so it&rsquo;s pretty cool to break one of his records.&rdquo; 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Benjamin is back with a BANG💥 In his first 400m hurdles race since 2019, <a href="https://twitter.com/_Kingben_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@_Kingben_</a> opens up with a world-leading 47.13, =14th fastest all-time. 📰:<a href="https://t.co/ITRdlaLhuT">https://t.co/ITRdlaLhuT</a> <a href="https://t.co/0aiV9vYSTl">pic.twitter.com/0aiV9vYSTl</a>
&mdash; Continental Tour Gold (@ContiTourGold) <a href="https://twitter.com/ContiTourGold/status/1391533818826346500?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async=""></script>

&nbsp;
<h3>World leads from Little, Purrier and Nelson</h3>
Benjamin&rsquo;s run was one of four world-leading marks set in Walnut.
The first came in the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, courtesy of Shamier Little. Like Benjamin, the 2015 world silver medallist was contesting her first hurdles race of 2021, having focused on &ndash; and thrived in &ndash; flat events so far this year.
She bided her time for the first 300m, doing just enough to stay on equal terms with Panama&rsquo;s Gianna Woodruff. Coming off the final hurdle, Little produced incredible finishing speed to cross the line more than a second ahead of the rest of the field, winning in 53.65. Woodruff was rewarded with a national record of 54.70.
About 15 minutes later, Elle Purrier produced a dominant run in the women&rsquo;s 1500m to join the event&rsquo;s sub-four-minute club. Once the pacemaker stepped aside, Purrier dictated the pace and kept Canada&rsquo;s Gabriela DeBues-Stafford at bay before unleashing a strong finish down the home straight, winning in 3:58.36.
DeBues-Stafford was second in 4:00.69 and Shannon Osika was third in a PB of 4:00.73.
In the men&rsquo;s pole vault, Pan-American champion Chris Nilsen cleared 5.91m to knock Mondo Duplantis off the No.1 spot on this year&rsquo;s world list. He led from the outset and watched as his last two remaining opponents, Nate Richartz and Matt Ludwig, exited the competition with misses at 5.75m and 5.80m. Nilsen then vaulted 5.91m on his first try and ended his series with three misses at a would-be PB of 6.00m. 
<h3>Lyles and Thomas take 200m honours</h3>
It&rsquo;s no secret by now that Noah Lyles likes to leave it late to make his move, but even his most ardent of followers would have been biting their nails watching him in action in Walnut. 
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<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/ac5769c7-e7db-43bb-b284-4e4ac2983592.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Noah Lyles wins the 200m at the USATF Golden Games</div>
&nbsp;
The world 200m champion, competing in his specialist event, had no response when Kenny Bednarek breezed past him on the bend, opening up a lead of two or three metres. Even as they entered the straight, Lyles seemed to be making up little ground on his US compatriot, but then in the last 10 metres or so, Lyles found an extra gear and just edged ahead to win in 19.90 to Bednarek&rsquo;s 19.94 (0.7m/s).
The women&rsquo;s 200m was of a similarly high quality, but played out slightly differently with four women in contention. With about 50 metres to go, little separated Gabby Thomas, Allyson Felix, Lynna Irby and Jenna Prandini. Thomas found a little extra at the end to pull clear and win in 22.12 with the wind just over the allowable limit (2.1m/s).
Felix held on for second in 22.26, her fastest 200m in any conditions since 2016. Irby was close behind (22.27) with Prandini fourth (22.30). 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Gabby Thomas holds off <a href="https://twitter.com/allysonfelix?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@allysonfelix</a> over 200m with 22.12 from 22.26, Felix's fastest time since 2016!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ContinentalTourGold?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ContinentalTourGold</a> <a href="https://t.co/o29TkCUWZi">pic.twitter.com/o29TkCUWZi</a>
&mdash; Continental Tour Gold (@ContiTourGold) <a href="https://twitter.com/ContiTourGold/status/1391530918968442882?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2021</a></blockquote>

<script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async=""></script>

 World record-holder Kendra Harrison equalled her season&rsquo;s best to win the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles in 12.48 (2.0m/s). The world silver medallist finished ahead of Britain&rsquo;s Cindy Sember (12.53), Tobi Amusan (12.61) and Devynne Charlton, who set a Bahamian record of 12.61. Close behind, world 400m hurdles silver medallist Sydney McLaughlin clocked a PB and Olympic qualifying mark of 12.65.
Michael Norman dominated the men&rsquo;s 400m to win in 44.40, breaking the facility record set 29 years ago by 1988 Olympic champion Steve Lewis. Michael Cherry was second in 44.86.
Darrell Hill produced the highlight of the field events, winning the men&rsquo;s shot put with 22.34m. The 2017 Diamond League champion led from the opening round (21.13m) and improved with his next three throws: 21.69m, 22.19m and 22.34m. Josh Awotunde was second with a PB of 21.68m.
All-round throws talent Maggie Ewen threw a season&rsquo;s best of 19.32m to win the women&rsquo;s hammer, beating world silver medallist Danniel Thomas-Dodd of Jamaica (18.91m).
Cravon Gillespie won a competitive men&rsquo;s 100m final in 9.96 (1.9m/s) with Isiah Young (9.99) and Chris Belcher (10.01) close behind. Most of the talk for this discipline, however, centred around the participation of NFL player DK Metcalf. The Seattle Seahawks wide receiver ran a respectable 10.37 to finish ninth in his heat. 
<h3>Outdoor PBs for Reekie and Hoare</h3>
Britain&rsquo;s Jemma Reekie produced an impressive finishing kick to overhaul Canada&rsquo;s Melissa Bishop-Nriagu in the finishing straight of the women&rsquo;s 800m. Reekie crossed the line in an outdoor PB of 1:58.27 while European 1500m champion Laura Muir came through to take second place (1:58.46). Bishop-Nriagu was third in 1:58.62, her fastest time for almost four years.
Australia&rsquo;s Oliver Hoare, one of the middle-distance sensations during this year&rsquo;s indoor season, stuck doggedly to the pacemaker in the men&rsquo;s 1500m and was rewarded with an outdoor PB of 3:33.19. Canada&rsquo;s Justin Knight shadowed Hoare the entire way, finishing in 3:33.41.
Bryce Hoppel &ndash; like Muir and Hoare, another strong indoor performer &ndash; took the men&rsquo;s 800m in 1:44.94.
Elsewhere, Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi cleared a season&rsquo;s best of 4.80m to win the women&rsquo;s pole vault from Katie Nageotte and Oliva Gruver (4.70m).
Jamaica&rsquo;s Kimberly Williams came within two centimetres of her PB to win the women&rsquo;s triple jump with 14.62m, while Will Claye won the men&rsquo;s event with 17.15m.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

A pair of sub-10.80 runs from Sha’Carri Richardson in the 100m and a highly convincing 47.13 400m hurdles victory from Rai Benjamin were among the many highlights of the USATF Golden Games – a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting – held at Mt SAC in Walnut, California, on Sunday (9).

Richardson and Benjamin impress with victories at Mt SAC

Switching focus from chasing times to making sure he is running his own best race has left Rai Benjamin excited for his 400m hurdles return at the USATF Golden Games, part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series, on Sunday (9).
The 23-year-old last competed over the barriers at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, where he secured silver for the USA behind Norway&rsquo;s Karsten Warholm. One month earlier Warholm and Benjamin had moved to second and joint third on the world all-time rankings with respective times of 46.92 and 46.98 at the Diamond League final in Zurich, with only Kevin Young having ever gone quicker courtesy of his 46.78 at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
While Warholm edged closer to that mark in 2020, running 46.87 in Stockholm, Benjamin instead decided to focus on his flat speed, with a 100m PB of 10.03 in Texas among his results. Two weeks ago he opened his season with a&nbsp;44.97 400m at the&nbsp;USATF Grand Prix in Eugene.
Now he&rsquo;s ready to put that speed, and lessons learned, into practice.
&ldquo;I feel like in 2019 I was chasing a time too much, trying to break the world record, and inevitably I obviously failed that year,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I lost the Diamond League final and lost in Doha, so this year I am just focused on running my best race and seeing what happens. If the clock demonstrates something else, then I will be happy with that.
&ldquo;I got to learn what it was like running the 100m,&rdquo;&nbsp;Benjamin adds, reflecting on 2020. &ldquo;I think it worked a lot to my advantage because now I can see how I can get out of the blocks faster, turn over faster if I need to, and turn the tempo up a little bit without really straining as much as I did before. It helped a lot to do that, that year. It&rsquo;s definitely a process.&rdquo;
It also gave him time to recover from a heel injury sustained a few weeks before the Doha World Championships.
&ldquo;I was nursing that injury leaving the World Championships, so I had to not hurdle for a while,&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;Even when we started in the fall, I still had some of that lingering around in my heel. Having that time off during the year was great and it helped me step back and really look at the race from a different perspective &ndash; spot my mistakes and learn where I can be better in certain parts of the race.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited to race everyone, to do well this season and run fast.&rdquo;
<h3>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be a really telling spectacle&rdquo;</h3>
Another athlete looking to run fast at Mt SAC in Walnut, California, on Sunday will be NFL star DK Metcalf as he swaps the American football field for the track.
There has been much talk on social media around the speeds reached by American football players and now the Seattle Seahawks wide receiver is stepping up to test himself over 100m.
&ldquo;I feel like over the past couple of years or so, the track and field community has been going back and forth with the NFL community as to who is actually fast, who is not, and what does world-class speed look like,&rdquo; says Benjamin. &ldquo;By no means am I discounting DK, I think he is a phenomenal athlete, and it takes a lot of guts and heart to actually come out and line up against the guys that are going to be there this weekend.
&ldquo;I love it. I think it&rsquo;s really good for the sport right now &ndash; we should all be open-eyed towards advancing our sport and having it be more in the public light.
&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s going to bring an entirely new generation to the sport, and have them see okay, this is what real speed looks like. It&rsquo;s going to be a really telling spectacle this weekend as to what it&rsquo;s really like to compare track speed to the NFL.&rdquo;
Among those who could be lining up alongside&nbsp;Metcalf at Mt SAC is the USA&rsquo;s world relay champion Mike Rodgers, who has a 100m PB of 9.85 run in 2011.
&ldquo;I have been waiting on this day, for a football player to come and line up,&rdquo; says Rodgers. &ldquo;They really talk all this trash on Twitter but shout-out to DK for even coming out to experience this. I don&rsquo;t know his take on what he really thinks his performance is going to be, but this is May &shy;&ndash; this is the time that sprinters really get going because the (Olympic) trials is like a month away. So I&rsquo;m anxious to see how his so-called ESPN world-class speed measures up against the real world-class speed.&rdquo;
On his own performance hopes, he adds: &ldquo;Training is going pretty well. I have just started to incorporate some speed into my training.
&ldquo;I am expecting to run some good times this weekend and put on good performances, just to see where I really am with this speed incorporated in my training.&rdquo;
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Switching focus from chasing times to making sure he is running his own best race has left Rai Benjamin excited for his 400m hurdles return at the USATF Golden Games, part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series, on Sunday (9).

Benjamin back at Mt SAC with new 400m hurdles focus

Noah Lyles makes his 200m season opener, Rai Benjamin and Shamier Little return to 400m hurdles action and Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson looks to continue her fine 100m form at the USATF Golden Games, part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series, on Sunday (9).
The meeting features great depth across the board, with Allyson Felix, Michael Norman, Katerina Stefanidi, Keni Harrison, Bryce Hoppel and Laura Muir also among the entries. The inclusion of NFL star DK Metcalf in the 100m line-up adds another dimension to the competition at Mt SAC in Walnut, California.
After racing over 100m in Florida and Eugene last month with a best of 10.08, world 200m champion Lyles returns to his specialty event this weekend and he will be joined by Kenny Bednarek, who ranked second behind Lyles &ndash; 19.80 to 19.76 &ndash; last year, plus teenager Erriyon Knighton, who ran a wind-assisted 9.99 (2.7m/s) for 100m last weekend.
With the&nbsp;track set to be reversed for the sprints to take advantage of a tailwind, some fast times can be expected.
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Original/ad3cc1c7-7aca-437c-8a49-854b6a3e9c25.jpg" width="950" height="748" />
The women&rsquo;s event will see multiple global gold medallist Felix race the distance outdoors for the first time since 2017.
World U20 record-holder Richardson moved to sixth on the world 100m all-time list with her 10.72 in Florida on April 11 and after a 22.11 200m six days later she again contests the shorter sprint and lines up alongside English Gardner, Javianne Oliver, Morolake Akinosun,&nbsp;Briana Williams and Olympic and world gold medallist Veronica Campbell Brown.
World silver medallist Benjamin hasn&rsquo;t raced over the barriers since 2019, during a season which saw him clock 46.98 to become the equal third-fastest 400m hurdler in history, and he makes a comeback this weekend after opening with a 44.97 400m flat behind Norman&rsquo;s 44.67 in Eugene two weeks ago. In Walnut, Commonwealth champion Kyron McMaster and Brazil&rsquo;s Alison dos Santos &ndash; fresh from World Athletics Relays action &ndash; join Benjamin in the 400m hurdles, while Michael Cherry will race against Norman in the 400m.
After becoming only the second woman to ever break 53 seconds for the 400m hurdles and 50 seconds for 400m flat with a&nbsp;49.91 PB at the&nbsp;Miramar Invitational last month, 2015 world silver medallist Little also makes a highly-anticipated hurdles return. She will line up alongside Olympic bronze medallist&nbsp;Ashley Spencer and Panama&rsquo;s Gianna Woodruff, who won at the Drake Relays with a world-leading national record of 55.02.
Joining world record-holder Harrison in the 100m hurdles are world 400m hurdles silver medallist Sydney McLaughlin, who clocked a 12.86 PB in Eugene, and Tobi Amusan, who like Harrison has run 12.48 so far this season.
<h3>Metcalf tests his speed</h3>
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Metcalf has turned heads with his speed on the American football field but will now put that to the test as he takes to the track to race against the likes of Mike Rodgers and Kyree King, who has run 9.97 this season.
The 800m sees Olympic bronze medallist Clayton Murphy, world fourth-placer Bryce Hoppel, 2016 world indoor medallist Erik Sowinski and former NCAA winners Josh Kerr and Michael Saruni in the men&rsquo;s event. Adelle Tracey won in Eugene last month ahead of her fellow Briton Jemma Reekie and world silver medallist Raevyn Rogers and they all race again at the Golden Games, this time joined by Reekie&rsquo;s training partner Laura Muir, the double world indoor medallist.
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Original/cf0a74af-3a7f-480c-8041-d7fabaa922ac.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="702" />
Canada&rsquo;s Gabriela DeBues-Stafford is a former training partner of Muir and Reekie and she races the 1500m along with Elle Purrier, Eilish McColgan, Nikki Hiltz and Aisha Praught-Leer, while the men&rsquo;s event includes Oceania indoor 1500m record-holder Oliver Hoare, Justyn Knight, Moh Ahmed and Johnny Gregorek.
Olympic runner-up Evan Jager competes in a 3000m steeplechase for the first time since 2018 and his fellow world medallist Courtney Frerichs goes in the women&rsquo;s event.
Multiple Olympic and world triple jump medallist Will Claye is another set to make his return to competition in Walnut, while the women&rsquo;s competition features world leader Keturah Orji, who jumped 14.92m last month, plus Thea LaFond, Tori Franklin, Keturah Orji and Kimberly Williams.
<h3>Stefanidi continues her comeback</h3>
After struggling with a foot injury last year, Olympic pole vault champion Stefanidi is working to rediscover her top form and will look to build on her 4.61m from last weekend in Chula Vista as she goes up against Katie Nageotte and Alysha Newman. KC Lightfoot continues his outdoor season in the men&rsquo;s event after clearing 6 metres indoors and opening with 5.80m in March.
World silver medallist Danniel Thomas-Dodd threw 19.17m in Florida last month and is joined in the shot put by Chase Ealey, Maggie Ewen and Raven Saunders, with&nbsp;Darrell Hill contesting the men's competition.
The women&rsquo;s 5000m, which like the steeplechase events forms part of the evening&rsquo;s Distance Open, includes Molly Huddle and Britain&rsquo;s European medallist Steph Twell.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Noah Lyles makes his 200m season opener, Rai Benjamin and Shamier Little return to 400m hurdles action and Sha’Carri Richardson looks to continue her fine 100m form at the USATF Golden Games, part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series, on Sunday (9).

Strong fields head to Mt SAC for USATF Golden Games

For several of the headline acts at Saturday&rsquo;s New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, their appearance at this World Athletics Tour Indoor Gold series meeting on New York&rsquo;s Staten Island will be first and foremost an occasion to get reacquainted with indoor running.
Noah Lyles and Sydney McLaughlin, for instance, haven&rsquo;t raced indoors in nearly three years. Rai Benjamin will be making his 2021 indoor debut. And all three are eager to find out what they&rsquo;re capable of, particularly after the off-kilter 12 months the planet has just experienced.
Lyles in particular, who&rsquo;ll be contesting the 60m and the 200m within a span of less than 90 minutes.
&ldquo;My endurance is really high right now,&rdquo; the world 200m champion said. &ldquo;We've just been sprinkling in some speed here and there. And we have been working hard on my acceleration (in the short sprint). And we want to see if it's working.&rdquo;&nbsp;
He'll be bringing a 6.57 lifetime best to the start line, set at this meeting - albeit at its home venue outside of Boston - in 2018. In the 200m, his indoor best is 20.63, set when he was still in high school in 2016. He's obviously a different athlete now, a regular sub-20 performer outdoors who also boasts a 9.86 100m career best. He&rsquo;s not making predictions but he does lend the impression that his indoor best is due for revision.
&ldquo;In the 200, my coach just said let's try to run a fast 200 this year.&rdquo; This may be his only opportunity, so we can expect him to take full advantage.
&ldquo;There's definitely a way to run an indoor 200,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Learning how to come off the turn - those are the make or break moments of running a 200 indoors.&rdquo;
Even if he does qualify, Lyles said he will opt out of the final on Saturday to give his legs a decent rest prior to the 200m. Interestingly, Lyles revealed that the 260 metres he'll be racing competitively tomorrow don't even amount to what he believes might be the distance he's best suited for, the 300m, a distance over which he set the standing indoor world best of 31.87 in 2017.&nbsp;
"I have a strong endurance and I have speed," he said. &ldquo;That's where I believe I have the most ability."
<h3>Benjamin to Norman: &lsquo;I hope you can swim because I'm going to take you into the deep end&rsquo;</h3>
Given a choice, Benjamin would have preferred to run a 300m this weekend for his indoor debut, but instead, one of history&rsquo;s fastest 400m hurdlers will be taking on rival and roommate Michael Norman in the 400m in his first outing over that race distance since the last 4x400m relay World Championship final on 6 October 2019.
&ldquo;We keep telling each other,&rdquo; Benjamin said, &ldquo;&lsquo;I hope you can swim because I'm going to take you into the deep end&rsquo;.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Fighting talk from <a href="https://twitter.com/_Kingben_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@_Kingben_</a> ahead of tomorrow's hotly anticipated 400m clash with training partner <a href="https://twitter.com/Mike_Norman22?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Mike_Norman22</a> 👀 "The joke between us is 'I hope you can swim, because I'll take you to the deep end'." Full 400m line-up and other <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBIGP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBIGP</a> fields: <a href="https://t.co/3jAkoYTNIn">https://t.co/3jAkoYTNIn</a> <a href="https://t.co/c8pY6jOUoS">pic.twitter.com/c8pY6jOUoS</a>
&mdash; NB Indoor Grand Prix (@NBIndoorGP) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBIndoorGP/status/1360326849784668161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2021</a></blockquote>
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That&rsquo;s a joke of course, but the race is nonetheless one of the most anticipated of the afternoon so hardly the proverbial walk in the park. The biggest takeaway Benjamin&rsquo;s hoping for?
"Just to learn what it's like to run a really hot 400,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know it's going to be fast. So, just to take away a new race pattern, a sense of fitness.&rdquo;
<h3>Miller-Uibo returns to action</h3>
There&rsquo;s a hot 400m in store on the women&rsquo;s side as well with Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo making her first indoor start over the distance since 2014. Given her performance 13 days ago in the Fayetteville 200m where she clocked 22.40 to move up to No.9 all-time, her 50.88 indoor career best, which dates back to 2013, is expected to be under threat.
&ldquo;We were really happy with the 22.4 last weekend,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It was a little tricky getting the feel of an indoor track again. It was very challenging. We went out there the day before to get the feel of the track.&rdquo;
Miller-Uibo said 2020 provided a great opportunity to work on technical aspects of her race along with her overall fitness.
&ldquo;We still got a lot of training in,&rdquo; she said of the 2020 disruptions. &ldquo;It was good preparation for 2021. I think we're in pretty good shape. We're in a great space right now training-wise. This year we've been working on our base and getting a lot stronger.&rdquo;
But if she has a goal for Saturday, she&rsquo;s not sharing it. &ldquo;I'm just happy to get a break from training to compete.&rdquo;
<h3>Brazier back in a familiar setting</h3>
So is world 800m champion Donavan Brazier, whose 2021 indoor debut was moved to this weekend after exposure to COVID-19 ahead of the second Fayetteville meeting sent him to the sidelines. He didn&rsquo;t contract the virus but was still forced to quarantine for five days.
So, instead of opening with a 600m, he&rsquo;ll be debuting over 800m on the same Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex track where he set his 1:13.77 600m indoor world best two years ago.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very excited to race on it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It's obviously a fast track. I like racing there more than just about any facility.&rdquo;
<h3>For McLaughlin, her first race under a new coach</h3>
McLaughlin is also making her 2021 debut in what will be her first race since she ran the second leg on the victorious US 4x400m relay squad at the 2019 World Championships, just under 500 days ago.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
"This last year has definitely been a transition." Ahead of tomorrow's <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBIGP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBIGP</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/GoSydGo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GoSydGo</a> talks about last year's challenges and changes, including a new coaching set-up.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldIndoorTour?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WorldIndoorTour</a> <a href="https://t.co/Xj1oaSttE7">pic.twitter.com/Xj1oaSttE7</a>
&mdash; NB Indoor Grand Prix (@NBIndoorGP) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBIndoorGP/status/1360310808580882434?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Her outing in the 60m hurdles will also be her first under new coach Bobby Kersee.
"This past year has definitely been a transition," she said of a year that forced her to navigate a landscape that included a global pandemic and a move to a new coach. But she's very happy with the decision.
&ldquo;I'd seen Bobby out at the track when we were at UCLA and he was helping out the hurdlers with technique and the chemistry just kind of clicked. We felt that it was a good decision that with the Olympics being postponed, if I was to switch coaches that that was the year to do it.&rdquo;
McLaughlin said her break in 2020 also afforded her the opportunity to find out more about herself both on and off the track.
"Understanding who Sydney is off the track brings a lot more purpose to the time I spend on the track. I've discovered a lot more about who I am - that track is not who I am but it's what I do.&rdquo; And what she loves to do.
That love affair resumes with her first 60m hurdles race since 2015.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics

For several of the headline acts at Saturday’s New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, their appearance at this World Athletics Tour Indoor Gold series meeting on New York’s Staten Island will be first and foremost an occasion to get reacquainted with indoor running.