The women’s 400m at the World Athletics Championships took center stage on Wednesday, with Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser making a statement. She ran the fastest time to reach the final, clocking in at 49.08 seconds, her best performance of the season. Naser, the 2019 world champion, faced a two-year ban in 2021 due to an anti-doping violation and injury, forcing her to miss the 2022 World Championships and Tokyo Olympics. She took a slim lead coming out of the first turn and extended her advantage down the final straight, leaving Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke (49.95) in second.
Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino, the reigning world champion, cruised through her semifinal. She surged past Jamaica’s Nickisha Pryce at the halfway point and maintained her lead to win her heat in 49.21 seconds. American Alexis Holmes finished second with a time of 50.00 seconds.
Pryce, who held two of the three fastest times this year, had a surprising finish. She lost steam with about 100 meters to go and finished fourth in 50.77 seconds, missing out on the final.
In the last semifinal, Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek engaged in a close race with Britain’s Amber Anning. In a thrilling finish, Kaczmarek edged out Anning in the final meters, finishing in 49.45 seconds, just two hundredths of a second ahead.
The absence of twice champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo was felt in the event. The Bahamian athlete’s title defense ended prematurely in the repechage round after a season plagued by injuries.
