Imagine working for years towards a specific goal &ndash; that of competing at an Olympic Games &ndash; only to have it snatched away moments before it happens.&nbsp;
Cyrena Samba-Mayela knows how that feels.&nbsp;
The French sprint hurdler was warming up for her opening race at the Tokyo Olympics last year when she injured her hamstring, an old problem resurfacing at the worst time, forcing her to leave an absent lane on the track and a huge void in her heart.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It was hard, really hard,&rdquo; she says now. &ldquo;Hard to the point where I had it in my heart for more than one month. I didn&rsquo;t want to go to holidays or enjoy anything. It was like a dream torn away.&rdquo;
She was just 20 at the time, young enough to come again, and Samba-Mayela was adamant that she would, committing herself to strengthening her body better than ever in the off-season.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The point was not to go back to this (situation),&rdquo; she says.&nbsp;
So far, so good.&nbsp;
At the&nbsp;World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22, Samba-Mayela had the kind of magical day that put her Olympic experience firmly behind her, winning her 60m hurdles heat in 7.91 in the morning, her semifinal in 7.85 that evening, then winning gold in the final in 7.78, a French record.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m in a dream,&rdquo; she said after the race, and this time it was one that couldn&rsquo;t be torn away.&nbsp; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6241987f614d351fbaeae33f.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Cyrena Samba-Mayela wins the world indoor 60m hurdles title&nbsp;(&copy; Getty Images) <img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6241985a216c52da8bb8a2f5.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 One of the first calls she made that night was to her family, who were watching back home in&nbsp;Champigny-sur-Marne, a suburb of&nbsp;Paris. &ldquo;They cried,&rdquo; says Samba-Mayela. &ldquo;They remembered all the bad things I went through, and they were really proud of me.&rdquo;
Her parents, who are of Congolese origin, are both former athletes and they encouraged Samba-Mayela &ndash; who was born and raised in France &ndash; to take up athletics when she was 15.&nbsp;
Before that she&rsquo;d done judo, basketball, gymnastics and ice skating, sports that she believes stood to her when she turned to hurdles, having started out as a sprinter.&nbsp;
Her first coach at Athletic Club Paris Joinville was&nbsp;Albertine Koutouan, an Ivorian who&rsquo;d been African champion in the heptathlon in 1990 and who first encouraged&nbsp;Samba-Mayela to try the hurdles, figuring it&rsquo;d be a good fit.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I fell in love directly,&rdquo; she says of the event.&nbsp;
Samba-Mayela showed immediate promise, clocking 8.37 for the 60m hurdles (76.2cm) at the age of 15 and 13.32 for 100m hurdles over the same barriers.&nbsp;
After another year of training, she went to the World U18 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2017 and showed her world-class credentials, clocking a wind-assisted 12.80 over the 76.2cm barriers to win silver behind Jamaica&rsquo;s Britany Anderson, with Yoveiny Mota of Venezuela just behind them in fourth.&nbsp;
Fast forward four and a half years, and Samba-Mayela, Anderson and Mota were back in another global final &ndash; this time at senior level in Belgrade.&nbsp; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/623646abac5a406184ec34de.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Samba-Mayela's fellow 2017 world U18 finalists Britany Anderson and Yoveiny Mota also featured in the world indoor final in Belgrade (&copy; Getty Images)
 For Samba-Mayela, a lot had changed in the years since. These days she&rsquo;s no longer at school but at university, studying architecture and interior design remotely while training at INSEP, the French Institute of Sport, Exercise and Performance.&nbsp;
For the past two years, her career has been guided by Teddy Tamgho, the 2013 world champion in the triple jump who&rsquo;s one of only six men in history to surpass the 18-metre barrier.&nbsp;
How is Tamgho as a coach?
&ldquo;A perfectionist,&rdquo; says Samba-Mayela. &ldquo;But he knows what he&rsquo;s doing. He&rsquo;s a visionary, and that&rsquo;s the most important thing. He&rsquo;s a great coach, a really great coach.&rdquo;
Working alongside her under Tamgho is Burkina Faso&rsquo;s Marthe Yasmine Koala, a 12.81-second hurdler last year, and Samba-Mayela says the norm for them is about four hours of training each day.&nbsp;
But it&rsquo;s one thing being physically ready. Since Tokyo, Samba-Mayela has put more work than ever into being psychologically primed for the big stage.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I changed so much, learned how to master the mental side,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re not good in your mind, it&rsquo;s not going to work.&rdquo;
She has proven in the past that she can perform when it counts, winning silver at the European U23 Championships last year in 12.80, a few weeks before that hamstring issue arose in Tokyo. Having rehabbed and recovered from that, Samba-Mayela came back stronger than ever in 2022, finishing second at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Karlsruhe in a PB of 7.84 before winning the French indoor title in 7.92.&nbsp; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62419842216c52da8bb8a2f2.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Cyrena Samba-Mayela at the European U23 Championships (&copy; Getty Images)
 Those performances marked her out as a big contender in Belgrade, but rather than worry about her rivals or get stressed about the fine margins separating success from failure, Samba-Mayela took a different attitude into the championships.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The day I ran, it was about enjoying the moment so I could run to my full potential,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Honestly, I was not nervous (before the final) because I was so enjoying the moment.&rdquo;
She might have been denied a chance to compete in Tokyo, but what she did pick up was valuable experience, &ldquo;being around champions&rdquo; and seeing how they operate on the biggest stage. &ldquo;So I&rsquo;m thankful for that,&rdquo; she says.&nbsp;
In the 60m hurdles final in Belgrade, Samba-Mayela got a flying start and midway through the race, it was her against Devynne Charlton of The Bahamas and USA&rsquo;s Gabby Cunningham in the race for gold.&nbsp;
The 21-year-old French star proved just too quick, her hurdling too crisp, for the others to match, and Samba-Mayela took victory in 7.78, with Charlton second in 7.81 and Cunningham third in 7.87.&nbsp;
As it was after the heat and semifinal, Samba-Mayela did not sprint up the bend and into the crash pads, but slowed to an abrupt stop just short of them, collapsing to her knees. She cried a river of joyful tears, her exulted screams ringing out around the arena.&nbsp; 
<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/knhOokfHv7g" width="100%" height="475" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 &ldquo;I'm thankful to all people, and especially to my coach, who never stopped believing in me,&rdquo; she said a while later.&nbsp;
As she turns her focus to the outdoor season, Samba-Mayela knows her indoor campaign was the perfect platform to help her edge closer to the world&rsquo;s best in the 100m hurdles.&nbsp;
With the&nbsp;World Athletics Championships Eugene22&nbsp;in July and the European Championships in Munich in August, there&rsquo;ll be ample opportunity to chase more medals. Her hope for the summer?
&ldquo;I wish I can be as good at this,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll give my best again.&rdquo;
Then there&rsquo;s the whole matter of Paris 2024, when Samba-Mayela will be 23.&nbsp;
The biggest show in sport will arrive in her home city that summer and with her talent and current trajectory, few would bet against Samba-Mayela making a huge impact &ndash; her Olympic dream deferred, but not yet denied.&nbsp;
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

World Athletics Indoor Championships

Injury denied Cyrena Samba-Mayela her Tokyo Olympics dream but she returned to the global stage in style in Belgrade.

From Olympic heartbreak to world indoor delight for Samba-Mayela

For Megan Tapper, inspiration can be drawn from all manner of sources.
&ldquo;I am inspired by anything,&rdquo; says the Olympic 100m hurdles bronze medallist with a smile. &ldquo;I will see an ant walking with something on their back and I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;wooow, look at that ant. He is so tiny, with that big rock on his back. If he can do it, I can do it too!&rsquo;&rdquo;
That mentality has helped the Jamaican 27-year-old to make history in the sport and, in the process, become a role model herself. With her third-place finish in Tokyo last summer, Tapper became the first Jamaican woman to ever win an Olympic 100m hurdles medal. She&rsquo;s determined to keep blazing a trail.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s one of my biggest goals in life: to show people that all those limits you have been told, that you put on yourself &ndash; they don&rsquo;t need to be there,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;If you can get past all the reasons why you can&rsquo;t and just focus on that one reason why you can, then absolutely anything is possible.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s about breaking free from preconceptions, whether self-imposed or external. &ldquo;I am not even 5ft 1in, and I am out there with an Olympic bronze medal,&rdquo; Tapper said in Tokyo, later adding: &ldquo;All the reasons why you can&rsquo;t, they are not really reasons &ndash; they are just fears that other people have projected on to you because when they tried, probably it didn&rsquo;t work out for them. So, zone in on that one reason why it is possible, and the world is your oyster.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/622cc9f827109756cb6fccb6.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Megan Tapper in Tokyo (&copy; Christel Saneh)
 That&rsquo;s exactly what she did in Tokyo. It took her a while to find her rhythm in 2021 but Tapper and her team never lost focus. Her previous personal best had been the 12.61 she ran in the semifinals of the 2019 World Championships in Doha, where she was left devastated after a fall in the final. But she returned to the global stage in superb style in Tokyo, improving her PB to 12.53 in the heats and then running 12.62 in her semifinal. The next day she clocked 12.55 in the final to finish third behind Puerto Rico's Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and USA&rsquo;s world record-holder Kendra Harrison, making history for her nation.
&ldquo;It was amazing,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I mean, as all athletes, you want the gold, but knowing that I was the first Jamaican woman to ever get an Olympic medal in the 100m hurdles when we have had so many amazing hurdlers, and still have amazing hurdlers now &ndash; that just completely blew my mind. The feeling was one of relief because I have been doing this a long time with, in my opinion, little or nothing to show for it. So, I finally proved to myself and to everyone that believed in me that it is possible.&rdquo;
Tapper was about seven years old when she discovered athletics but until the age of 12, gymnastics was her focus. &ldquo;I trained for probably five hours a day, six days a week, and it was hard,&rdquo; she remembers. &ldquo;But I know that the strength, discipline and determination that I have needed to get where I am now in track and field, I attribute it 80% to gymnastics and my coach Yasunori Ishimoto. He definitely moulded a warrior.&rdquo;
On the track, that warrior started out in the sprints and while she loved the feeling of going fast, something was missing. &ldquo;I would get a good start but I would finish at the back and I was tired of losing,&rdquo; she says. So she sought an event that would play to her strengths and found the hurdles.
&ldquo;It progressed slowly at first,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I would have liked to have been winning races constantly, but it didn&rsquo;t come as quick as that. Then, I had a coach in high school that believed in me. At the time, because I was short and they had pretty good hurdlers on the team already, no one really cared that I had joined the hurdles side or wanted to nurture my talent, but that coach did. He was also young and needed someone to believe in him as well, I think.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/622ccad727109756cb6fccb9.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Megan Tapper's sporting journey started out in gymnastics&nbsp;(&copy;&nbsp;Megan Tapper)
 Her next aim was to win a medal at Jamaica&rsquo;s legendary &lsquo;Champs&rsquo; &ndash; the National Boys&rsquo; and Girls&rsquo; Schools Athletics Championships.
&ldquo;A person yay high,&rdquo; she says, gesturing with her hands, &ldquo;only one year in the hurdles, asking you to trust her to get her a medal at the championships? Looking back, it&rsquo;s crazy that he actually said yes. As a team, we moved forward with that goal and we made it happen. I got silver, 0.001 behind Chrisdale McCarthy. I can&rsquo;t forget!&rdquo;
Missing out on that gold left her hungry. &ldquo;To this day!&rdquo; she adds with a laugh.
Although she jokes about it now, the fire had been lit. After reaching the final at the 2011 World U18 Championships, Tapper&rsquo;s aspirations soon evolved from Champs to World Championships and the Olympics. She made her senior international debut at the 2016 Games in Rio and then raced again on the global stage in London in 2017 and Doha in 2019, where she was one of three Jamaican women in the final.
&ldquo;I mean, that&rsquo;s crazy &ndash; you know?!&rdquo; says Tapper, who lined up in Doha alongside 2015 world champion Danielle Williams and Janeek Brown. &ldquo;I do feel like more attention can be given to the fact that three (Jamaican) women in 2019 made it to the 100m hurdles final. We are doing really, really well, but it&rsquo;s like, &lsquo;okay, it&rsquo;s the norm&rsquo;. But it&rsquo;s not! We are full of talent. It goes deep.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/622cc90027109756cb6fccb3.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Megan Tapper with her Jamaican teammate Britany Anderson and winner Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico after the Olympic final in Tokyo (&copy; Getty Images) &nbsp;
<div style="padding: 15px 20px 5px 20px; border: 2px solid #bd94ff;">
<h3 style="color: #bd94ff;">Jamaican major championships success in the 100m hurdles</h3>
Three Jamaican athletes &ndash; Janeek Brown, Megan Tapper and Danielle Williams &ndash; made the final of the World Athletics Championships in Doha in 2019. Tapper is passionate about highlighting her nation's success in the event on the global stage. 
Olympic Games
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Tokyo, 2021</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">🥉 Megan Tapper (12.55)</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">8th Britany Anderson (13.24)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Beijing, 2008</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">5th Delloreen Ennis-London (12.65)</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">6th Brigitte Foster-Hylton (12.66)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Athens, 2004</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">5th Lacena Golding-Clarke (12.73)</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Sydney, 2000</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">4th Delloreen Ennis-London (12.80)</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">8th Brigitte Foster (13.49)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">Atlanta, 1996</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">5th Dionne Rose (12.74)</td>
<td style="width: 33.3333%;">6th Michelle Freeman (12.76)</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
 World Athletics Championships
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 176px;" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Doha, 2019</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">🥉 Danielle Williams (12.47)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">7th Janeek Brown (12.88)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Megan Tapper</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 44px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 44px;">Beijing, 2015</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 44px;">🥇 Danielle Williams (12.57)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 44px;">7th Shermaine Williams (12.95)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 44px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 44px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 44px;">Berlin, 2009</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 44px;">🥇 Brigitte Foster-Hylton (12.51)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 44px;">🥉 Delloreen Ennis-London (12.55)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 44px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Osaka, 2007</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">🥉 Delloreen Ennis-London (12.50)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">7th Vonette Dixon (12.64)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Helsinki, 2005</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">🥈 Delloreen Ennis-London (12.76)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">🥉 Brigitte Foster-Hylton (12.76)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Paris Saint-Denis, 2003</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">🥈 Brigitte Foster (12.57)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">8th Lacena Golding-Clarke (12.87)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">9th Vonette Dixon (12.87)</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Edmonton, 2001</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">6th Dionne Rose-Henley (12.79)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">8th Vonette Dixon (13.02)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Seville, 1999</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">6th Dionne Rose (12.80)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">7th Delloreen Ennis-London (12.87)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Athens, 1997</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">🥉 Michelle Freeman (12.61)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">5th Dionne Rose (12.87)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Gothenburg, 1995</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">6th Gillian Russell (12.96)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">7th Dionne Rose (12.98)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">Stuttgart, 1993</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">7th Michelle Freeman (12.90)</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">&nbsp;</td>
<td style="width: 25%; height: 22px;">&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
 It was also in 2019 that Tapper decided a change to her coaching set up was needed. Having been based in Jamaica up to that point, she reached out to Austrian coach Philipp Unfried and now splits her time between Jamaica and Austria, guided by Unfried as well as her husband, Mathue Tapper.
&ldquo;It is a huge sport centre, it has absolutely everything,&rdquo; she says of her set up in Austria, where she forms part of a training group that includes heptathlete Ivona Dadic. &ldquo;Austria is literally my second home, and I am super grateful for them.&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s also clear to see how grateful she is for Mathue and her whole support network.
&ldquo;In the middle of trying to figure out who was going to be my overseer of the programme in Jamaica, my husband, who was an athlete at the time, said he would stop training and coach me,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;It was monumental because we both knew how much he wanted to be an athlete and how talented he was, but he believed that I was closer to getting a medal in the Olympics and achieving my goal than he was, and so it would mean a lot to him to help me and be more of an active part in that process. It worked out brilliantly.&rdquo;
And it was that wider support network that helped to get Tapper to the Olympics in the first place.
&ldquo;I realised that I didn&rsquo;t just want to go around and ask people for money, although at that time I was relying on external sources to keep afloat in my track and field journey,&rdquo; she explains. &ldquo;My friend had an online shop that sold shirts and hats and things. I collaborated with her to create my own brand. So instead of asking people for money, I would say, &lsquo;okay, you can buy this shirt but it&rsquo;s not just about the shirt, it&rsquo;s about supporting me and my journey and in that process, you get a shirt. So everybody who supported me before the Olympics can say literally, &lsquo;I helped her get there&rsquo;.&rdquo;
So too has her faith, and the support she has received from her sponsors. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m so happy now to be working with Trushake Ja and Ataqfuel Ja and to continue working with Puma, as we work together to achieve goals and prove that, with the right ingredients, anything is possible,&rdquo; she adds.
Now her goal is to build on her breakthrough 2021, with the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 this year&rsquo;s main aim.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just about improving, seeing what I can do to better last year,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Because at the end of the day, that&rsquo;s all that matters. You want medals, you want times, but what can you control? You can&rsquo;t control any of those.
"There are so many variables that can cause it to go sideways and so focusing on yourself is the best thing and the most important thing. So, that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m doing.&rdquo;
And by doing so, she is providing another source of inspiration to those looking to follow in her footsteps.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

For Megan Tapper, inspiration can be drawn from all manner of sources.

Tapper, clearing barriers for herself and future stars

It&rsquo;s more often at the dining room table, when they are a few hours into an enthralling board game, that the Kambundji sisters unleash their most competitive fervour against one another.
Many think that these two Swiss sprinting icons get better from competition in training, but this could not be further from the truth. For 29-year-old world 200m bronze medallist Mujinga Kambundji, her 19-year old sister Ditaji, and the family as a whole, training is more supportive than combative. On the track, they genuinely want each other to succeed.
&ldquo;When Ditaji was younger breaking my club records, people would speculate that Ditaji would be faster than me, and made it seem like we would have some sort of rivalry,&rdquo; Mujinga said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s actually the opposite. I want her to be better than me, to break my records. I want her to experience everything I have had and more.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/622c8de6c670440c9917c1a7.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Mujinga and Ditaji Kambundji have enjoyed travelling to the same competitions on the international indoor circuit this year (&copy; Athle.ch)
&nbsp;
The sibling rivalry narrative is a relatable one, and something that many fans like to grasp on to. It is understandable, of course, to think that child athlete prodigies might grow up pitted against each other, trying to outdo one another, leading to a healthy dose of competition. Biblical and mythological lore teach us to believe that siblings are naturally sworn enemies, even if they are good friends. But the Kambundji family has taken a different approach.
Mujinga and Ditaji are the second and fourth daughters to their father, Safuka &ndash; a Congolese-Swiss track-and-field afficionado (and well-known charismatic fan in the Swiss running scene) and a Bernese mother, Ruth. As such, they grew up speaking fluent French, German, and English, and are readily accepted as Swiss icons countrywide, despite admitting that their Italian could use a little bit of work. In addition to cultivating a multi-lingual facility, their parents encouraged them to try sports. 
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&nbsp;
The eldest Kambundji daughter, Kaluanda, began a track programme, and found herself to be quite talented. Then Mujinga joined the club, then Muswama (who missed out on last year&rsquo;s season due to injury), and by the time Ditaji came of age it seemed like the natural thing to do.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve basically been on the track my whole life,&rdquo; Ditaji said. &ldquo;I tried a few other things, but because my sisters were finding success, it only made sense for me to join. And it&rsquo;s been much easier for me because they laid the path.&rdquo;
Now Ditaji is old enough to travel the international circuit, but they actually grew up mostly training in different environments, mainly due to the age gap. 
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 In 2009, Mujinga won the European Youth Olympic Festival and showed an exceptional degree of potential. In 2013, she moved to Mannheim, Germany, for several years to train, and eventually broke national records at 100m and 200m. From 2016-2019, Mujinga earned bronze medals at the European Championships (100m), European Indoor Championships (60m), World Indoor Championships (60m) and the World Championships (200m).
All this time, Ditaji was at home in Bern, going to school and performing well. She always had natural speed, but when she tried the hurdles, she realised she could be one of the greatest. Ditaji won the European U20 title last year and qualified for the Olympics, where she finished eighth in her heat. She then went to the World U20 Championships in Nairobi as a favourite going into the 100m hurdles final, but an unfortunate DQ meant she lost out on podium glory. She ended her season on a high, though, by competing at the Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich, where she and Mujinga finally travelled to a professional competition together. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/622c8cb9c670440c9917c198.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
Above: Mujinga Kambundji in action at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. Below: Ditaji Kambundji in action at the Muller Indoor Grand Prix Birmingham (&copy; Getty Images)
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/622c8ce1c670440c9917c19b.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 &ldquo;Over the past few years I remember going to competitions and seeing other sisters, like Jodie Williams (28) and her sister, Hannah (23), and thought, &lsquo;That looks fun, I&rsquo;d love to do that with my sister one day&rsquo;,&rdquo; Mujinga said, who was mostly traveling alone.
Track and Field has other famous thriving sisters, like Ethiopia&rsquo;s Diababa sisters, who share four Olympic Gold medals and 15 world titles among them in middle and long-distance running. There&rsquo;s also Sweden&rsquo;s Jenny and Susanna Kallur, the Swedish twins who were dominant together on the European sprint hurdling scene in the early 2000s.
In addition to competition, one advantage siblings might have is travelling the circuit with some familiarity. Travelling around the world as an elite athlete is exciting, but it can get lonely. Moving from hotel to hotel, often not knowing the language, can be physically and mentally taxing. Being there with someone who understands you in the way that only a sibling can.
Ditaji, too, recognises how special it is that she gets to share all of these experiences alongside Mujinga moving forward, both to use her as a resource and have fun. &ldquo;I have all of these first experiences with my sister which makes it special,&rdquo; she says, &ldquo;but I also get to ask a lot of advice on a lot of things now, but we&rsquo;re really good at reminding each other to have fun. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/622c8d20c670440c9917c1a1.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Having a sibling and friend around makes travelling to international competitions a less lonely experience for Mujinga and Ditaji Kambundji (&copy; Athle.ch)
&nbsp;
Having a burst of youthful energy helps Mujinga experience cities around the world, and the competitions, with fresh eyes. As Ditaji begins a full-time life on the international circuit, they are making it a priority to at least get a glimpse into the lives of people who live in the cities in which they compete. They try to carve out time to at least go on a walk and get a cup of coffee or tea in each city they travel to. And while Mujinga sees Ditaji&rsquo;s light-natured approach to competition as a virtue, and something that will likely taker her far (including breaking Mujinga&rsquo;s records), Mujinga seems to be hitting her stride more strongly than ever.
When they return to Bern together to train, they enjoy returning to a simple life, where their main off-track hobby is gardening, tending to plants, and buying new ones. After training sessions and wanting to conserve energy, they often go to the plant store to browse for plants. This has created a fun side hobby, but one that introduces new logistical problems when it comes to regular international travel. In addition to the stress of world-class competition, Ditaji is learning from Mujinga the stress that comes with leaving plants unattended. Luckily, between their mother and two other sisters, they can usually find willing plant-sitters in a pinch.
Both sisters have their main sights this year set on the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 and the European Championships in Munich in August. Before that, though, they&rsquo;ll both head to the Serbian capital later this month for the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22.
Ditaji follows a saying Mujinga repeats frequently: &ldquo;Just get to the final, because then anything can happen.&rdquo;
Regardless of what does happen this year and moving forward, the two sisters will be smiling, and truly, genuinely, wishing the other one does her best.
Hannah Borenstein for World Athletics
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/622c8d39c670440c9917c1a4.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Ditaji and Mujinga Kambundji: siblings and friends for life (&copy; Athle.ch)

Training is more supportive than combative. On the track, they genuinely want each other to succeed

No sibling rivalry, just mutual support, between Kambundji sisters

Britain&rsquo;s Tiffany Porter, who claimed four world medals and a European title during her successful hurdles career, has retired from competitive athletics.
The 34-year-old, holder of the British 60m hurdles and 100m hurdles records, announced her retirement on Saturday (5) and added that she was excited for the next chapter, which begins with her leading the on-field presentations of athletes at this weekend&rsquo;s <a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-tour/news/holloway-staten-island-new-balance-indoor-grand-prix" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New Balance Indoor Grand Prix</a>, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting.
Having discovered her sprint ability while at school, Porter was later introduced to the hurdles and her performances earned her a scholarship to the University of Michigan. While there, Porter &ndash; then competing under her maiden name of Ofili &ndash; claimed five consecutive NCAA titles and bronze in the 100m hurdles at the 2006 World U20 Championships in Beijing.
&ldquo;In elementary school I always looked forward to field day because it was an opportunity for us to meet on a &lsquo;grand scale&rsquo;," reflected Porter in her &lsquo;love letter to track and field&rsquo;, published to coincide with her retirement.&nbsp;
"I would race (and beat) all the other boys and girls my age, and then be rewarded with ice cream after. That&rsquo;s when I learned that I had a deep love for competing and the adrenaline rush was addictive."
Her 12-year professional career would see her go on to win three world indoor 60m hurdles medals &ndash; claiming silver in Istanbul in 2012 and bronze in both Sopot in 2014 and Portland in 2016 &ndash; as well as 100m hurdles bronze at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow.
Porter became the European 100m hurdles champion in 2014, adding a bronze to her collection in Amsterdam in 2016. Her two European indoor medals were claimed a decade apart &ndash; her silver secured in Paris in 2011 and her bronze achieved in Torun last year. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61feb9aab8317ce6e1d8bb3e.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 A three-time Olympian, Porter reached the semifinals on her debut in London in 2012 and placed seventh in the final in Rio four years later. She and her husband Jeff &ndash; a fellow Olympian and coach to Porter in the latter stages of her career &ndash; welcomed the arrival of their daughter Chidera in 2019 and Porter returned to the sport to qualify for her third Olympic Games in Tokyo, where she made the semifinals.
&ldquo;I competed in my third and final Olympic Games in August 2021,&rdquo; Porter wrote. &ldquo;That feat was the culmination of countless hours of work, sacrifice, dedication, perseverance, and heart. Attending the Tokyo Olympic Games, this time knowing my child was watching, is a moment that I will never forget.&rdquo;
Porter ran her British 60m hurdles record of 7.80 when claiming her European indoor silver in 2011 and her national 100m hurdles record of 12.51 in 2014. That same year she claimed Commonwealth Games silver in Glasgow.
Porter also worked as a pharmacist alongside her athletics career, having earned her doctorate in pharmacy while at the University of Michigan.
World Athletics

British hurdler Tiffany Porter has announced her retirement from athletics.

Multiple world medallist Porter retires

A look back at the key moments of 2021 in the hurdles

2021 review: hurdles

&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll come back stronger.&rdquo; That was the promise Nigerian hurdler Tobi Amusan made to herself and her fans after placing fourth in the 100m hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics. Narrowly losing the bronze medal to Jamaica&rsquo;s Megan Tapper, Amusan faced the familiar disappointment of finishing off the podium at a global competition, having also placed fourth at the World Championships in Doha in 2019.
At the time she made that promise, not even Amusan envisaged that she would break the African record five weeks and the same number of competitions later as she approached the end of the 2021 season. But that was exactly what happened when she stormed into the history books of her country and continent in the final Wanda Diamond League event of the year, the Weltklasse Zurich, winning the 100m hurdles in an African record of 12.42 to eclipse Glory Alozie&rsquo;s record set in Monaco in 1998 by two hundredths of a second.
Drawn in lane 3 and flanked by Gabriele Cunningham on her left and Nadine Visser on her right, with Tapper not too far off in lane 5, Amusan got off to a flying start and after the fourth hurdle she overtook both Cunningham and Tapper who had gone out hard at the start of the race.
The two-time African Games gold medallist took the lead by the fifth hurdle with the pair of Visser and Tapper hot on her heels, but she held them off to secure the first Diamond Trophy of her career, making her the first ever African hurdler to do so, as well as the first Nigerian athlete to accomplish such a feat since the World Athletics one-day series was renamed the Diamond League in 2010. Visser was second in a Dutch record of 12.51, with Tapper settling for third in 12.55.
Amusan also follows in the footsteps of her compatriots Innocent Egbunike, who clocked a then African record of 44.17 in the men&rsquo;s 400m in 1987 (which still stands as the Nigerian record), and Seun Ogunkoya, who won the men&rsquo;s 100m in 1998, as the third Nigerian to win an event at the Lezigrund Stadion.
Amusan reveals that she did not expect to run the African record in her penultimate race of the season. &ldquo;All I was focused on was crossing the line first," she says. "I was not planning to run fast but just wanted to complete my quota of competitions for the year as per contract requirements and to gain points and improve my world ranking, so I wasn&rsquo;t expecting anything special.
&ldquo;I knew it was a competitive field and it&rsquo;s all about getting out of the blocks because I know that is my weakest part of the race, so my plan was to get out and go. Once I get out, I trust my top end speed and God to carry me through, so my emphasis was just on getting to the line first, no emphasis on breaking records.
&ldquo;But on getting across the line, and then after my little celebration, I heard the commentator saying: &lsquo;That&rsquo;s a new area record.&rsquo; And I thought: &lsquo;Oh, is that me?&rsquo; Then I looked up and I was like &lsquo;okay&rsquo;. It wasn&rsquo;t that I was overly excited about the record; I was more excited that I won the final, but I&rsquo;m happy to have also ticked the record off my bucket list." 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61476ce18548318ee9077ca9.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Winning the Diamond League final with the African record as a bonus is the perfect climax for Amusan after a long and arduous season which started in January and was laced with some major disappointments in the build up to the Tokyo Olympics.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great, it is a great feeling," the 2017 NCAA champion adds. "Looking back, I did not win a medal at the Olympics. It was a very challenging time for me afterwards, but I never gave up, and I came out here and I was like, if I did not get a medal in Tokyo, the least I can do is to get a Diamond League Trophy &ndash; I did just that."
Amusan&rsquo;s first attempt on the African record was back in June during the Olympic trials held at the Yaba College of Technology Sports Complex in Lagos. It was clear to all and sundry at the time that she had that one mission to accomplish, especially as she had set a personal best of 12.48 the month before and clocked wind-aided times of 12.43 and 12.44 respectively in her final races before the trials.
&ldquo;I wanted to break the African record back at home in Nigeria on home soil. I knew what I had done a week before I came for the trials. The week before, I remember running a 12.3 and 12.44 so it was like: &lsquo;You&rsquo;re ready'," she says.
At the national championships, Amusan executed a clean race in the semifinals, easily dominating with a time of 12.54. The stage was set for the final later in the day and no one within the sports arena was in doubt as to the significance of the race. Furthermore, Alozie was also at the arena to witness the historic moment everyone anticipated.
When the time came, Amusan sped out of the blocks and executed with perfection, but as she crossed the line, there was no time displayed on the timer, much to everyone&rsquo;s dismay, especially Amusan&rsquo;s. She made her way back to the timer and officials, anxiously pacing for a few minutes until it was disclosed that the race had not been timed due to a malfunction and she was subsequently awarded 12.30 (hand-timed).
It was such a rollercoaster of emotions for the UTEP alumnus. Putting her thoughts to paper a month after the unfortunate incident, she said: &ldquo;Lo and behold! It was not a mirage. The time of the display unit was actually zero. My body grew limp. The initial rush of adrenaline that I felt during the race was quickly being replaced by all the worst kind of emotions - betrayal, hate, sadness, paranoia - all at the same time. God, why was this happening to me? I was shattered. I needed to have a good cry, so I left the arena.&rdquo;
Nearly six weeks later and ranked No.3 in the world in her event, Amusan shrugged aside the disappointment to open her campaign at the Tokyo Olympics as one of Nigeria&rsquo;s medal hopefuls and easily crossed the line first in 12.72. She lowered her time to 12.62 in the semifinal, also in first place to become the first Nigerian woman since Alozie at Sydney 2000 to feature in the final of the 100m hurdles at the Olympics. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61076c3a2f0dae9048f69213.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 In the final, she got out a bit late and paid dearly for it by placing fourth, one of the most difficult positions for an athlete to finish in. She said afterwards: &ldquo;Physically I was ready, but mentally I wasn&rsquo;t, so I think my mental part let me down. I&rsquo;m moving forward positively. It&rsquo;s another lesson, and by the time I come out of this, I will come back stronger.&rdquo;
Indeed, she came back stronger at the Diamond League meeting in Brussels, clocking the same time of 12.69 as eventual winner Visser. She then won the Diamond Trophy in Zurich, which she dedicates to her mum. She also dominated her final race of the season in Zagreb five days later.
&ldquo;That trophy is for my mother because I could remember after the Olympics, she fell terribly ill because she was crying so badly,"&nbsp;Amusan explains. "I&rsquo;m happy I gave her one reason to smile this year because she&rsquo;s been my number one pillar. She&rsquo;s up at 2am or 3am Nigerian time because she&rsquo;s always trying to watch my races and she&rsquo;s like: &lsquo;I won&rsquo;t sleep&rsquo;. So, I definitely dedicate the trophy to her.&rdquo;
Going forward, Amusan has only one target. &ldquo;I know a lot of people have tagged me the &lsquo;almost&rsquo; girl," she says. "I&rsquo;ve seen and heard a lot of comments. It&rsquo;s just sad knowing that I&rsquo;m that girl that people tag &lsquo;almost&rsquo; and that&rsquo;s the main force that&rsquo;s going to drive me next year. I don&rsquo;t want to be the &lsquo;almost&rsquo; girl. I want to be &lsquo;that girl&rsquo;, the girl that wins every competition.&rdquo;
The multiple continental champion certainly has all it takes to be &lsquo;that girl&rsquo;, so watch out for her in 2022.
Yemi Olus for World Athletics

“I’ll come back stronger.” That was the promise Nigerian hurdler Tobi Amusan made to herself and her fans after placing fourth in the 100m hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics.

Delay is not denial for Amusan, who's ticking off her bucket list one hurdle at a time 

In the history of Jamaica&rsquo;s participation at the World Athletics U20 Championships, only one woman,&nbsp;Gillian Russell, has won gold in the 100m hurdles. It was a feat she achieved twice, winning the title at Plovdiv 1990 with 13.31 and successfully defending it two years later in Seoul with an improved time of 13.21.
Ackera Nugent, who holds the world U18 best in the discipline, is not oblivious to this fact. So, as she gets set to take the track at the Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi on Friday (20) and make her World U20 Championships debut, the 19-year-old will be focused on becoming the first woman in 29 years to win the title for Jamaica in her specialist event.
Already relishing the prospect in Nairobi, the Jamaican hurdler said: &ldquo;Actually it is really important for me to make history, having not won gold for Jamaica in the 100m hurdles in like 30 years, and coming here and being able to compete among the great athletes here, it means a lot to me. If I&rsquo;m able to put up a really good race and execute to the best of my ability and to win the gold medal, it will be a great opportunity to me and a great feeling but at the same time it will show me I need to work a little bit more going into the elite stage.&rdquo;
The odds are in favour of the Baylor University freshman who is the highest ranked in the 100m hurdles at U20 level. Nugent has recorded phenomenal performances this year despite enduring a very busy season which started in January. She competed in four meetings during the indoors, which culminated in winning the NCAA 60m hurdles title with a scintillating 7.92, equaling the world U20 record in the event.
Outdoors, she has competed in nine meetings including the NCAA Championships, Jamaican Trials and NACAC U20 Championships. The World U20 Championships in Nairobi will be her 10th. Nugent doesn&rsquo;t look the worse for wear though.
When asked if she is under pressure to win the title in Nairobi, she said: "Diamonds are made under pressure but no I&rsquo;m not under pressure. Pressure is what you make it and what you do about it, but no I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m under pressure at all.&rdquo;
And while many may feel that her busy schedule may prove counter-productive, the sassy teenager believes it&rsquo;s an avenue to make up for not being able to compete a lot last year because of the outbreak of the coronavirus.
&ldquo;All of the competitions I&rsquo;ve participated in this season have prepared me mentally and physically because it shows me that it really doesn&rsquo;t matter where you are and where you go, it just matters what you go there and do," she says. "Having so many rounds this season after covid, it has given me a little more urge and a little more strength to compete, so that&rsquo;s what this season has done for me,"
Going by her U20 ranking in the 100m where she is second only to compatriot Briana Williams courtesy of her 11.09 run at the NCAA Preliminary West Round in May, tying the Baylor school record in the process, there were expectations that she would do the 100m and 100m hurdles in Nairobi.
After all, she has pretty much held her own in both events thus far, because after clocking that personal best, Nugent also posted a blazing 12.63 (3.3m/s) in the hurdles on the same day, making it the fastest U20 100m hurdles under all conditions. Two weeks prior, she had also stormed to victory in both the 100m and 100m hurdles at the Aggie Invitational, winning the former in 11.21 (4.2m/s) and the latter in 12.95 (3.4m/s) within a 30-minute span. &nbsp; 
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 In spite her exploits in both events, Nugent was only entered for the 100m hurdles and 4x100m at the World U20 Championships, but the decision was certainly to her liking as she has made it absolutely clear that she is sticking with the hurdles, notwithstanding her speed in the flat sprint. &nbsp;
&ldquo;The sprint 100 was really because I thought I was not ready for the outdoors, so I said to my coach: &lsquo;Hey I&rsquo;ll like to run the 100&rsquo;, and I even shocked myself because I did not know I was that good at flat sprints. I&rsquo;m just going to stick to the hurdles though,&rdquo; she reiterates. &nbsp;
Winning medals at the NCAA Championships as a freshman is no mean feat, and for Nugent who won gold in the indoors and bronze in the outdoors, finishing on the podium gives a glimpse of things to come.
She says: &ldquo;So far going into national championships at the collegiate level, it&rsquo;s basically being elite but not fully elite and being able to go there and win national championships, it shows that I have a great potential in the elite level when I&rsquo;m ready to move to the senior level.&rdquo; &nbsp;
Nugent came to global reckoning when she smashed the U18 world best in the 100m hurdles with a time of 12.89 while racing at the Youngster Goldsmith Classic in 2019. At the time, she was only a high school student in Jamaica that had barely scratched the surface of her talent.
She has since relocated to the US to further her education at Baylor University, and though she admits that the transition has not been easy, she is also trying to make the most of the opportunities that have come her way. &nbsp;&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not easy,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be so honest and say it&rsquo;s not easy when it comes to school and practise but when you have a great medical team, a great coaching staff and support management team, it becomes really easy, and you make great adjustment if you&rsquo;re really willing to give it a try. 
"It&rsquo;s like track; you just have to try and love it. Nobody likes school, I really don&rsquo;t; but I make it work because at the end of the day if I get hurt or anything, I&rsquo;ll be able to have my education to further me.&rdquo;
Like most Jamaicans, Nugent was excited by the clean sweep in the women&rsquo;s 100m in Tokyo. Hailing from a country where the new generation is spoilt for choice in selecting from the vast array of iconic figures in Jamaican track and field, Nugent reveals the personality she&rsquo;s most drawn to.
She said: &ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m mostly gravitated to Shelly-Ann (Fraser-Pryce) because she&rsquo;s a people person and she&rsquo;s really motivated when it comes to speaking with the younger athletes. She&rsquo;s really outgoing and growing up in the track world you&rsquo;re gonna want to meet Shelly. She&rsquo;s really amazing and I think I admire her work ethics and how she does things on and off the track, so I look up to her.&rdquo;
When it comes to her specialist event though, Puerto Rico&rsquo;s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn is the NACAC champion&rsquo;s idol.&nbsp;
&ldquo;In Rio 2016 she fell and wasn&rsquo;t able to finish her race, and for the fact that she came back in 2021 and won the Olympics, that really showed me that it doesn&rsquo;t matter your situation, you can do anything you put your mind to," she explains.
Nugent believes that this generation of athletes should never be defined by the expectations of others because they will continue to smash ceilings and break records. Indeed, the sky is only the starting point for Nugent.
Yemi Olus for World Athletics

Ackera Nugent is focused on becoming the first woman in 29 years to win the title for Jamaica in her specialist event.

After world U18 best, Nugent keen on making hurdles history for Jamaica in Nairobi

To understand what it means now, you have to go back to what it was like for them back then.
In the autumn of 2016, training partners Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico and Keni Harrison of the USA were back at their base at the University of Kentucky, putting in the hard yards, trying to move swiftly on from what had happened over the summer.
Harrison had been the world&rsquo;s best hurdler that year, clocking 12.24 six weeks out from the US Olympic Trials. But on the day it mattered most it all went wrong, a sixth-place finish in the event forcing her to wait five long years before she lined up at the Olympics.
Camacho-Quinn, meanwhile, had made it to Rio but a few days shy of her 20th birthday, it all went pear-shaped in her semifinal, a crashing fall turning her Olympic dream into a living nightmare.
But on Monday (2) in Tokyo, the pair found long-awaited redemption, Camacho-Quinn blazing to gold in 12.37, Harrison taking silver in 12.52.
It was inevitable in the aftermath that 2016 would come up, and they were finally able to reflect on a period that no longer stings.
&ldquo;Missing out on Rio is always in the back of my head,&rdquo; admitted Harrison. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what makes me work hard, reliving that moment of getting sixth at US trials, picking myself up, building my confidence back up.&rdquo;
For Camacho-Quinn, her response to the crashing fall could be summarised by a tattoo she had emblazoned on her right forearm following the Games: todo es posible &ndash; everything is possible.
&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t going to let that race tickle for the rest of my life,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m constantly reminded, someone messages me and I&rsquo;m like: &lsquo;I need y&rsquo;all to let that go&rsquo;. You have to move on.&rdquo;
But she knew the demons of the past could only truly be exorcised with a big performance in Tokyo. Before her semifinal, that Rio race again came back to haunt her.
&ldquo;I kind of had a breakdown because I was like, &lsquo;I don&rsquo;t want the same thing to happen again,&rsquo;&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I knew how I&rsquo;d been racing all season: 'just do that and I&rsquo;ll be okay.'&rdquo;
It was just before midday when they two lined up behind their blocks: Harrison in lane four, Camacho-Quinn in five. During the biggest moment of their careers, that familiarity made it feel far less intimidating.
&ldquo;I was more relaxed in the blocks with her by my side,&rdquo; said Camacho-Quinn. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had years beside each other so it calmed me down in the blocks. I think with that experience, it got us to this point, and we both know it.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/610ba1bce02010cbc23fe7d1.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Harrison, 28, is four years older than Camacho-Quinn, who arrived at the University of Kentucky in 2015. By then Harrison had turned professional, reaching the semifinals at her first World Championships in Beijing.
&ldquo;Training with (Camacho) Quinn, she&rsquo;s really talented, we brought the best out of each other,&rdquo; said Harrison. &ldquo;I knew she wanted to beat me, I wanted to beat her &ndash; it brought an edge.&rdquo;
Camacho-Quinn &ndash; who grew up in North Charleston, South Carolina, her mother a native Puerto Rican, her father from the US &ndash; was already a promising young hurdler when she arrived in Kentucky, having clocked 13.33 in 2014, the fastest of any US high schooler.
For both, the attraction of enrolling in Kentucky was obvious, it being a programme overseen at the time by Edrick Floreal, the renowned coach who has guided a succession of champions. Camacho-Quinn was a standout star during her time there, winning the NCAA 100m hurdles title in 2016 and 2018, the latter a year in which she lowered her PB to 12.40 at the age of just 21.
By that point Harrison had established herself as the woman to beat on the world stage, having bounced back from her 2016 disappointment to set the world record at 12.20 shortly before the Rio Olympics and then going on to win the 2018 world indoor title. But those were interspersed with another letdown, a fourth-place finish at the 2017 World Championships in London.
In the summer of 2018, Floreal chose to move from Kentucky and become head coach at the University of Texas, 1500km away in Austin. Harrison didn&rsquo;t have to think long about her future, deciding to go with him.
&ldquo;If it&rsquo;s not broken, don&rsquo;t fix it &ndash; I run really well under him,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;He knows my personality, what I need, and he stood by my side even when things didn&rsquo;t go well. I will never leave Flo.&rdquo;
Camacho-Quinn forged a different path. After turning professional in 2018, she had a mediocre season in 2019 with a best of 12.82, and early in 2020 her agent Paul Doyle arranged a new coaching set-up, hiring Irish coach John Coghlan to come to Orlando, Florida, specifically to work with her alongside Gary Evans.
Also in the group is world 400m champion Steven Gardiner, and Coghlan and Evans have worked together ever since to bring Camacho-Quinn back to her best &ndash; and beyond.
&ldquo;She ran really well in college and was a serious talent,&rdquo; says Coghlan. &ldquo;But she was struggling with that transition to the professional ranks. She had different coaches and basically she had to make a decision.&rdquo;
Once that was made, she showed promising signs of progression. Through the pandemic-hit 2020 she didn&rsquo;t race over barriers, but clocked some swift times on the flat (11.22 for 100m, 22.45 for 200m, 36.12 for 300m) but it was in 2021 that she truly announced herself on the global stage.
In April, Camacho-Quinn clocked a Puerto Rican record of 12.32 and she went unbeaten in 10 races after that led up to the big one: the Olympic final. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/610ba292e02010cbc23fe7d4.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Harrison was widely touted as her biggest threat in the battle for gold, an athlete she knew so well, an athlete who had her own redemption story to write at these Games.
Floreal isn&rsquo;t big on pre-race pep talks, but in Tokyo on Monday he told Harrison to &ldquo;attack every hurdle&rdquo;.
That&rsquo;s exactly what she did, like Camacho-Quinn, even if there were some scary moments with both clattering barriers late in the race. &ldquo;We were so focused on the finish we almost forgot (the hurdles),&rdquo; laughed Harrison.
But once they crossed the line &ndash; Camacho-Quinn in 12.37, Harrison in 12.52, with Jamaica&rsquo;s Megan Tapper third in 12.55 &ndash; they found something they&rsquo;d been awaiting for years: redemption.
Camacho-Quinn became the first Puerto Rican to win Olympic gold in athletics, just the second in any sport, and pandemonium will likely await when she goes there for a victory parade in the weeks ahead.
Harrison&rsquo;s silver was further proof that she can deliver under the weight of nauseating pressure &ndash; this being her second major outdoor championship medal after finishing second in Doha in 2019.
&ldquo;Keni set the bar and you either run faster or get left,&rdquo; said Camacho-Quinn. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re the most competitive event, I don&rsquo;t care what anybody says. We&rsquo;re putting up times, we&rsquo;re daredevils, running full speed towards hurdles &ndash; anything can happen.&rdquo;
After clocking a national record of 12.26 in her semifinal on Sunday, Camacho-Quinn edged up to joint-fourth on the all-time list, with Harrison&rsquo;s 12.20 still standing alone, if now within touching distance. Harrison herself knows that time is not near the limit.
&ldquo;I feel like records are made to be broken and the way we keep evolving in this sport, we&rsquo;re capable of running sub 12.1, and maybe even sub-12,&rdquo; she said.
A point with which her old training partner agreed.
&ldquo;We always want more, we&rsquo;re not going to be settled with what we ran,&rdquo; said Camacho-Quinn. &ldquo;The sky is the limit.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

To understand what it means now, you have to go back to what it was like for them back then.

Camacho-Quinn, Harrison and the rollercoaster ride to redemption in Tokyo

Before these Games, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn&rsquo;s abiding Olympic memory was of being crouched on the track in tears after crashing out of the semifinals in Rio five years ago.
On Monday (2), however, that soon became a distant memory as the 24-year-old cruised to victory in the 100m hurdles in Tokyo, stopping the clock at 12.37 to secure Puerto Rico&rsquo;s first Olympic gold medal in athletics.
There was redemption, too, for silver medallist Kendra Harrison, who missed out on making the US Olympic team back in 2016 in what was an otherwise undefeated season. The world record-holder clocked 12.52 to finish just ahead of Jamaica&rsquo;s Megan Tapper, who took bronze from the outside lane in 12.55.
Camacho-Quinn had impressed in the earlier rounds, winning her heat in 12.41 and her semifinal in 12.26, breaking the Olympic record. Harrison, the world indoor champion, wasn&rsquo;t quite as fast but still made it to the final with relative ease following a 12.74 heat and 12.51 run in the semifinal.
Aside from one DQ for Camacho-Quinn and one DNF for Harrison earlier in the season, both women arrived in Tokyo undefeated this year, setting the scene for a mouth-watering showdown in the final.
Harrison got the slightly better start and was ahead at the first barrier, but Camacho-Quinn soon got into her rhythm and started to edge ahead of the world silver medallist. Nigeria&rsquo;s Tobi Amusan and Jamaica&rsquo;s Britany Anderson, both of whom had impressed throughout the rounds, were slightly off the pace being set by the lead duo.
Out in lane nine, Tapper was having the race of her life and seemed level with Harrison for most of the way. Camacho-Quinn, meanwhile, was away and clear, but she clipped the ninth barrier and for the briefest of moments it appeared as though history may repeat itself.
It would take more than that to quell Camacho-Quinn&rsquo;s determination, though. She safely negotiated the final hurdle before crossing the line in 12.37 (-0.3m/s), the second-fastest title-winning time in Olympic history.
Her winning margin of 0.15 was comfortable, but there was still a brief moment of disbelief from Camacho-Quinn as she crossed the line, looking around and asking: &ldquo;Me? Me?!&rdquo; It wasn&rsquo;t long before her victory was confirmed on the scoreboard, though it took a little longer to determine the silver and bronze medallists. Both Harrison and Tapper were delighted with the outcome nevertheless.
Replicating her finish from the 2019 World Championships, Amusan placed fourth, clocking 12.60. Nadine Visser was fifth 12.73, 0.01 ahead of Devynne Charlton of The Bahamas. USA's Gabriele Cunningham (13.01) and Anderson (13.24) rounded out the rest of the finishers.
&ldquo;Everything happens for a reason and I came through with the gold,&rdquo; said an emotional Camacho-Quinn. &ldquo;My first gold medal!
&ldquo;Puerto Rico is such a small country but this will give little kids hope, and I&rsquo;m glad I&rsquo;m the person who does that.
&ldquo;This year had its ups and downs. My coach came all the way from Ireland to coach me, so I really do appreciate that. It&rsquo;s been a rollercoaster since I became professional.
&ldquo;Anything is possible and everybody here has been training hard for this moment. Honestly, I think all of us should be awarded for this. It&rsquo;s been a very hard year, but I&rsquo;m really thankful.&rdquo;
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
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<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">WOMEN'S 100m HURDLES MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #e9c968;">Jasmine Camacho-Quinn 🇵🇷 PUR</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #e9c968;">12.37</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Kendra Harrison 🇺🇸 USA</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #ced4d9;">12.52</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 65%; background-color: #bd895e;">Megan Tapper 🇯🇲 JAM</td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #bd895e;">12.55</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="2">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/results/women/100-metres-hurdles/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
<td style="width: 25%; background-color: #34495e; text-align: right;">-0.3m/s</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn's experience in Rio became a distant memory as the 24-year-old cruised to victory in the 100m hurdles in Tokyo

Camacho-Quinn gains redemption with 100m hurdles gold in Tokyo

<h2>Women's 100m hurdles</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/athletes?competitionGroup=olympic-games&amp;disciplineCode=100H&amp;sexCode=W&amp;urlSlug=the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/timetable/bydiscipline/women/100-metres-hurdles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/world-rankings/100mh/women?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2021-07-13&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/hurdles/100-metres-hurdles/outdoor/women/senior/2021?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/hurdles/100-metres-hurdles/outdoor/women/senior?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;firstDay=1900-01-01&amp;lastDay=2021-07-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/hurdles/100-metres-hurdles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
Two athletes whose Olympic dreams came crashing down in 2016 now head to Tokyo as the joint title favourites.
Kendra Harrison won all but one of her 100m hurdles finals in 2016; her only loss came at the US Olympic Trials, where she wound up sixth, missing out on Olympic selection. She rebounded in sensational style just two weeks later, though, breaking the world record with 12.20.
Since then, she has proven herself to be a strong championships performer, winning the world indoor title in 2018 with 7.70, equalling the North American record, and in 2019 she earned world silver &ndash; her first global outdoor medal.
Aside from a race in which she hit a hurdle and didn&rsquo;t finish, Harrison has been unbeaten so far in 2021. Showing incredible consistency, all of her wind-legal performances this year have been between 12.47 and 12.54. She also has a wind-assisted 12.38 to her name.
But the most positive sign for Harrison is that she produced her season&rsquo;s best, 12.47 (0.8m/s), in her biggest race of the year &ndash; the US Olympic Trials &ndash; showing she has well and truly banished her demons from 2016. She now heads to Tokyo as one of the gold medal favourites. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/03010120-c770-42ae-9142-10a7e43e989e.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="654" />
 Jasmine Camacho-Quinn also had a rollercoaster of a year in 2016. Aged just 19 at the time, she reduced the Puerto Rican record to 12.69, won the NCAA title in a wind-assisted 12.54, won the NACAC U23 crown and then headed to Rio for her first Olympic Games.
But after winning her heat, she crashed out in the semifinals after hitting a few barriers and was inconsolable. Like Harrison, though, she came back stronger and improved to 12.58 in 2017 and 12.40 in 2018.
And, like Harrison, Camacho-Quinn has won all of the races she has finished this year (her only &lsquo;loss&rsquo; was a disqualification for a false start). She reduced her national record to 12.32 in April and owns five of the six fastest times in the world this year.
She hasn&rsquo;t competed at a major championships since Rio, though, so it remains to be seen how she&rsquo;ll cope with racing on such a grand scale again.
Nigeria&rsquo;s Tobi Amusan will also head to Tokyo with plenty of motivation. The African champion produced the three fastest times of her career at the 2019 World Championships &ndash; 12.48, 12.48 and 12.49 &ndash; but ultimately finished just 0.02 shy of a medal in the final.
She equalled her PB of 12.48 earlier this year and backed it up with wind-assisted marks of 12.43 and 12.44. Winner at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2019 African Games, the 24-year-old already has plenty of major championships experience and reached the semifinals of the last Olympics as an U20 athlete. Now one of the best hurdlers in the world, this time Amusan will be in medal contention.
Nine years after missing out on making the US Olympic team by just 0.06, Christina Clemons will finally make her Olympic debut in Tokyo. She set a PB of 12.51 at the US Trials and has previously proven herself on the big stage, taking world indoor silver in 2018.
Britain&rsquo;s Cindy Sember will also be motivated by her own near miss; back in 2016 she finished fourth in Rio, just 0.02 shy of a medal. She has been in good form this year, taking European indoor silver back in March before going on to produce three of the four fastest times of her career, topped by a PB of 12.53. A victory at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Gateshead, her final pre-Tokyo test, will have given her a good boost.
Sember&rsquo;s older sister Tiffany Porter, a three-time world indoor medallist, will also be in contention. Porter, who gave birth in 2019, beat Sember to the British title in June and has a season&rsquo;s best of 12.62.
Costa Rica&rsquo;s Andrea Vargas was one of the surprise packages on the hurdling scene in 2019, steadily improving throughout the year and then peaking at the World Championships with a national record of 12.63 to finish fifth. The 25-year-old, who trains mainly on a concrete track with homemade hurdles, has clocked a windy 12.75 this year.
European indoor champion Nadine Visser delayed the start of her outdoor season due to some injury niggles, but the Dutch record-holder looks to be rounding into good competitive form just in time for the Games.
Megan Tapper leads a strong Jamaican trio. The Pan-American bronze medallist will be joined in Tokyo by world U20 record-holder Britany Anderson and 2013 world U18 champion Yanique Thompson.
Others to look out for in a highly competitive field include USA&rsquo;s Gabriele Cunningham, Japanese record-holder Asuka Terada, European champion Elvira Herman, Bahamian record-holder Devynne Charlton, Australia&rsquo;s Liz Clay, and heptathlon specialist Marthe Koala of Burkina Faso.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
&nbsp;
<h2>Men's 110m hurdles</h2>
<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/athletes?competitionGroup=olympic-games&amp;countryCode=&amp;disciplineCode=110H&amp;sexCode=M&amp;urlSlug=the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Entries</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/timetable/bydiscipline/men/110-metres-hurdles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/world-rankings/110mh/men?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2021-07-13&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/hurdles/110-metres-hurdles/outdoor/men/senior/2021?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/hurdles/110-metres-hurdles/outdoor/men/senior?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;firstDay=1900-01-01&amp;lastDay=2021-07-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/disciplines/hurdles/110-metres-hurdles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how it works</a>
The margin for error is so miniscule in the 110m hurdles that it regularly throws up unexpected results.
The form guide would say that reigning world champion Grant Holloway, who broke the world indoor record over 60m hurdles this year, and missed the 110m hurdles record by just 0.01 at the US Olympic trials, is the clear favourite but favourites fall too in an event as fraught as the high hurdles. When the aim of the game is clearing 10 barriers, each just over one metre tall, at a full sprint, the risk is high of something going awry.
However, Holloway has made the event his own since graduating from college in 2019, immediately establishing his superiority on the international scene by annexing the world title in Doha and improving year on year.
The 23-year-old US athlete has not lost a hurdles race, heat or final, since August last year and will arrive in Tokyo at the top of his game after his 12.81 clocking in Eugene.
The USA has dominated this event historically, winning the gold medal 19 times previously (out of 28 editions), so Holloway would make this a neat 20th title for his country.
The man who would be most likely to challenge him, the 2016 Olympic champion Omar McLeod, will not be in Tokyo. His challenge finished when he hit the first hurdle at the Jamaican Olympic trials in late June.
The other sub-13-second men in the field include 2015 world champion Sergey Shubenkov (12.92), Spain&rsquo;s Orlando Ortega (12.94), Jamaica&rsquo;s Hansle Parchment (12.94) and France&rsquo;s Pascal Martinot-Lagarde (12.95). However, none of them has shown that form this year. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/48b0cc25-4ccd-40ea-8b00-0e3567bc29d2.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="633" />
 World and Olympic medallist Ortega has a season&rsquo;s best time of 13.15, while Shubenkov&rsquo;s high water mark is 13.19 and Martinot-Lagarde (13.45) has struggled with a hamstring injury.
The man closest to Holloway on times this season is the 21-year-old Japanese record-holder Shunsuke Izumiya (13.06), who would give the host nation plenty to cheer about if he could break through to win a medal at his home Games.
Izumiya aside, the performance list is dominated by Jamaicans and Americans. Ronald Levy (13.08 this year), Parchment (13.16) and Damion Thomas (13.11) will represent Jamaica, while Devon Allen (13.10) and Daniel Roberts (13.11) will make up the US challenge.
This group is so evenly matched that any minor mistake could be the difference between winning a medal and missing the final altogether. France&rsquo;s Wilhem Belocian (13.15) is another in that category.
The semifinals and final are going to be intensely competitive as a result.
But in terms of the title, it appears to be Holloway&rsquo;s to lose. The man from Florida will have to make a substantial mistake if he is not to claim the Olympic crown and if he puts his race together perfectly and the conditions are favourable in &nbsp;the stadium then Aries Merritt&rsquo;s world record of 12.80 will be in mortal danger.
Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics

Expected highlights in the women's and men's sprint hurdles.

Tokyo Olympics preview: 100m hurdles and 110m hurdles

<h3 style="text-align: center;">Tobi Amusan (NGR)</h3>
African and Commonwealth 100m hurdles champion
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I started the hurdles by chance. I went to a meeting aged 13 or 14 intending to compete in the sprints and long jump only to realise by the time I arrived, the only event remaining on the programme was the hurdles. My coach encouraged me to enter and I ended up winning, which is how my hurdles journey began.
I continued to do sprints and long jump for a time but also squeezed in one hurdles sessions a week &ndash; where I put cones and tyres down on the track to jump over because we had no hurdles in my home city.
I continued to perform well but what propelled me into hurdling full-time was that it was tough to make national teams for the sprints, so I decided to enter the hurdles at the Nigerian Trials for the African Junior Championships. I won and I went to Ethiopia in 2015 100 percent focused on hurdles. I won African junior gold in Addis Ababa and from that point on there was no looking back &ndash; I was a hurdler.
The hurdles is such a spectacular and unique event &ndash; different to a regular sprinting event. For me, there are three phases in the hurdles, that first seven or eight strides which helps provide the foundation for your race. The next phase is the three strides between each of the hurdles and finally the mad dash to the finish line from the final hurdle.
So what do I really enjoy about the hurdles? Well, I enjoy many components including that sweet sound of clearing the hurdles. The hurdles is a rhythm event and I love reaching that rhythmic state where your mind, body and soul is in total tune with the event.
I like the fact that hurdles is such a technical event. When completing drills it requires total focus and discipline, components which shape you not only as an athlete but away from the track too.
Hurdles requires problem solving skills - you need to be swift thinker. If you hit a hurdle you need to think what you need to do to quickly restore balance to get back into a good rhythm.
I also don&rsquo;t think there is a track and field event which can teach humility quite like the sprint hurdles. You can be the fastest in the field but one mistake can spell the end for your race. A hurdler should never go into any race with any level of complacency or arrogance. It teaches you to be humble.
Yet, I would also say with the hurdles there needs to be a certain fearlessness too. You cannot have a negative approach. You need to believe you will clear all of the hurdles and cross that finish line - and this is another reason I like the event so much.
Steve Landells for World Athletics

The hurdles is a rhythm event and I love reaching that rhythmic state where your mind, body and soul is in total tune with the event.

Tobi Amusan: why I hurdle

A lot has happened during the four years since Wayde van Niekerk last competed at the adidas Boost Boston Games. One world title and a few years of injury later, the Olympic 400m champion returns to the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold street meeting on Sunday (23) ready and raring to go.
The South African sprinter won over 200m at the 2017 edition of this meeting, clocking 19.84 on the straight track. Having recovered from a persistent injury sustained while playing rugby back in 2018, Van Niekerk has returned to winning ways this year and heads to Boston with a season&rsquo;s best of 20.38, set when winning the South African 200m title last month.
Victory won&rsquo;t come easy, though, as he&rsquo;ll be joined in Boston by European 100m champion Zharnel Hughes. The Briton has the fastest 200m season&rsquo;s best of the field, having clocked 20.14 and a wind-assisted 19.93 last month.
As with the men&rsquo;s race, the women&rsquo;s 200m in Boston also features the reigning Olympic 400m champion. Shaunae Miller-Uibo of The Bahamas will look to extend her unbeaten run at this meeting, having won over 150m in 2018 and 2019, and at 200m in 2017 &ndash; clocking 21.76, a world best for the 200m straight.
USA&rsquo;s Wadeline Jonathas, who finished fourth over 400m at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, could be Miller-Uibo&rsquo;s toughest opponent.
<h3>High-quality hurdles</h3>
World record-holder Kendra Harrison makes her Boston Games debut in the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles. The world indoor champion has been in impressive form this year, clocking a wind-assisted 12.38 and two wind-legal 12.48 performances.
In what appears to be the highest-quality line-up of the meet, Harrison will take on Sharika Nelvis, winner in Boston in 2018 and 2019, world indoor silver medallist Christina Clemons, 2015 world champion Danielle Williams of Jamaica and African champion Tobi Amusan of Nigeria.
The men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles, meanwhile, brings together the world indoor record-holder and the outdoor world record-holder in the form of Grant Holloway and Aries Merritt.
Since breaking the world indoor record with 7.29 in February, Holloway has continued his unbeaten run outdoors, winning all three of his competitions so far, topped by his world-leading 13.07 in Gainesville. Merritt, whose last full season was back in 2018, will be looking to improve on his season&rsquo;s best of 13.90.
Shamier Little heads to Boston in the hope of achieving a third victory in the 200m hurdles. The 2015 world 400m hurdles silver medallist has been in sensational form this year, recording PBs for 400m indoors and out, 200m indoors and 800m outdoors, all of which suggests she&rsquo;ll improve on her 25.88 PB for the rarely run 200m hurdles.
But Ebony Morrison, who beat Little in Boston in 2018 with a meeting record of 25.80, also returns. Olympic bronze medallist Ashley Spencer, also proficient at a range of events, is also in the line-up.
The men&rsquo;s race is similarly tough to call. Brazil&rsquo;s Alison Dos Santos is fresh from a 400m hurdles best of 47.68, but his strength lies in the latter stages of the 400m distance. TJ Holmes, who finished ahead of Dos Santos at the 2019 World Championships, should certainly be in contention, as should Amere Lattin, who has the best form over the shorter hurdles events.
<h3>Lyles leads 100m line-up</h3>
World 200m champion Noah Lyles will step down in distance to the 100m where he&rsquo;ll take on younger brother Josephus Lyles and 2017 world 200m finalist Isiah Young, who has already broken 10 seconds for 100m this year.
World indoor champion Murielle Ahoure makes her 2021 outdoor debut in the women&rsquo;s 100m in Boston, and it won&rsquo;t be an easy one. The Ivorian sprinter takes on two-time world 200m champion Dafne Schippers and 2018 US champion Aleia Hobbs.
In the men&rsquo;s 150m, 2011 world 100m champion Yohan Blake lines up against 2017 world 200m bronze medallist Jereem Richards and USA&rsquo;s Kyree King, who last month set a 100m PB of 9.97.
World 200m silver medallist Brittany Brown takes on US compatriot Lynna Irby in the women&rsquo;s 150m.
Having set PBs at 400m, 1000m and 1500m so far this year, Bryce Hoppel has every right to feel confident ahead of the 600m in Boston. But Kenya&rsquo;s Michael Saruni, who formerly held the world indoor best for the 600m distance, is also in the field, as are Canada&rsquo;s Marco Arop and Britain&rsquo;s Jamie Webb.
US 800m record-holder Ajee Wilson contests the women&rsquo;s 600m, lining up alongside Jamaican record-holder Natoya Goule.
World 1500m bronze medallist Marcin Lewandowski will defend his title in the road mile, taking on a field that includes Olympic 800m bronze medallist Clayton Murphy and USA&rsquo;s Robby Andrews. Pan-American 1500m champion Nikki Hiltz leads the women&rsquo;s line-up.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

A lot has happened during the four years since Wayde van Niekerk last competed at the adidas Boost Boston Games.