McLaughlin-Levrone, Paulino, and Naser Headline Highly Anticipated Women’s 400m at World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25
TOKYO – The women’s 400m at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 promises a thrilling showdown, featuring Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino, world champion Salwa Eid Naser, and the versatile Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
Naser arrives in Tokyo demonstrating peak form, having broken the 49-second barrier four times this season – a significant improvement over her previous record of just two sub-49 second runs, both in championship finals.she clocked times of 48.94 and 48.67 earlier in the year, the latter establishing a world lead, followed by a 48.85 runner-up finish in Paris and a decisive 48.70 victory at the Diamond League Final in Zurich.
Paulino holds a 3-2 head-to-head record against Naser this season, but naser’s Zurich win – a margin of over half a second – signals a shift in momentum. Paulino’s personal best of 48.17, achieved during her Olympic gold medal run last year, places her fourth on the all-time world list, just 0.03 behind Naser’s best.
Adding intrigue to the event is McLaughlin-Levrone’s decision to focus on the 400m flat. The world record holder in the 400m hurdles (50.37) claimed the US title in 48.90,just 0.16 off her personal best. to challenge Paulino and Naser, she may need to surpass the US record of 48.70.
The US team also includes aliyah Butler, who ran a personal best of 49.09 at the Monaco Diamond League meeting, finishing a mere 0.03 seconds behind Paulino, and Isabella Whittaker, who became the second-fastest woman of all time indoors with a time of 49.24. Whittaker later achieved an outdoor personal best of 49.58, winning at the Diamond League meeting in Oslo.
Other contenders include Henriette Jaeger, who set a Norwegian record of 49.62 in Oslo and improved to 49.49 at the Diamond League Final, world indoor champion Amber Anning, Olympic bronze medallist Natalia Bukowiecka, the rapidly improving Martina Weil of Chile, and Jamaican athletes Nickisha Pryce and Dejanea Oakley.
