Latest news with #DalilahMuhammad
The Hindu
29-04-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
I want to have a global presence and bring more competitions: Dalilah Muhammad
A disappointing show at the 2012 United States Olympic trials only added fuel to Dalilah Muhammad's desire to become a world-class athlete. From finishing 16th and failing to make it to London, Dalilah fashioned a glorious turnaround to claim the women's 400m hurdles gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Far from done, she added two Olympic medals at Tokyo 2020 (400m hurdles silver, 4x400m relay gold). The 35-year-old American, the International Event Ambassador for the 17th edition of the TCS World 10K Bengaluru, spoke about her glittering career and more. Excerpts: You broke the 400m hurdles world record at the 2019 World championships. Could you talk us through that experience? There was a feeling that something special was about to happen. Whether that was going to be the world record, I did not know. I definitely thought I was capable of running fast. My coach had told me I was capable of breaking the world record. My self belief was cemented when my training partner, Brianna Rollins-McNeal, looked at me and said that she couldn't wait to see me do it. It was already planted in her mind. She believed it so much, and it made me truly believe too. From missing London 2012 to winning gold in Rio 2016, that is quite an extraordinary story. Tell us about your mindset in that four year period. Going into college, I always had the mindset that being a professional athlete was next. I thought it was my God-given right. Up until that point, I had always been good. I was a child star. But by the time 2012 came along, that was not the reality because it came to a point where your talent can only take you so far. I was not putting in the work required to be a professional athlete. I had to change the way I did things, my diet, my mindset, my work ethic…After that 2012 Olympics disaster, I had to fight harder to do more. That first year of training after 2012 was the hardest period. I went to train with Lashinda Demus, who was the top 400m hurdler in America. Training with her and seeing her work ethic really pushed me to a different mindset. You ran your season best time at the Botswana Grand Prix (53.81s) earlier this month, but you have announced that 2025 will be your last season. What brought about the retirement announcement? The plan was to retire at the 2024 Olympic Games. I was hoping that I would make it to Paris, but I missed out. I took the time to prioritise being healthy, free from injuries and the strongest I can be. That is why I pushed the retirement to 2025. The World championships at Tokyo is the last competition on my schedule. People expect you to exit the sport when you can no longer do it at all. I want to go out knowing that I can still push myself. Tell us about your post-retirement plan. Do you want to get into coaching? A sportsperson's next step is to go into coaching. But for me, I want to have a global presence and bringing more competitions to our sport. This will bring more opportunities for athletes, and will open the door for more women athletes. I want to bring races to places where athletics has not been to before. World Athletics has now introduced prize money at the Olympics. This was not well received by other federations, who believe that Olympic pride should not be tainted with prize money. What are your thoughts about this? Why should athletes not be able to make money from the Olympics? I think most athletes do this because we love it. We don't do it for the money. However, we need ways to support ourselves. Being at such a high level, such as the Olympics, athletes should definitely be able to make a living from that. Dalilah Muhammad, our International Event Ambassador, truly felt the incredible energy-and so did we! 🫶😍#TCSW10K# — tcsw10k (@TCSWorld10K) April 28, 2025 The Grand Slam Track is a new, almost revolutionary way of looking at how to conduct athletic events. Do you like the idea of the Grand Slam Track? I absolutely love it. Track and field has come such a long way, but there's still so much further it can go. The idea is to make our sport a professional sport, where every single athlete has a professional contract. The Grand Slam is trying to push for this, and it gives athletes more opportunities to make money and really show who we are and what we are capable of. World Athletics has stated that they will soon introduce a one-time genetic testing for athletes who want to compete in the women's category. Do you support this move? This is such a touchy subject, especially in this current climate of what identifies as woman, what are the parameters for each gender. I have read Caster Semenya's book. Having read how evasive and traumatising some of these procedures can be, I am a bit hesitant about gender testing. Faith Kipyegon will soon attempt to become the first woman to run a sub four-minute mile. Do you think she can do it? I'm just amazed. I'm in awe. I need to be there in person when she attempts it in Paris. It is hard for me to even put into words what that means for women in sports. One of my college coaches was actually the third man to have run a sub-four mile. That was not that long ago, so for a woman to even attempt it is crazy. I'm always excited to see barriers broken by women in sport. The TCS World 10K Bengaluru has always seen a high percentage of participation from women. Tell us about the role of women in sports and athletics. I think sports has come such a long way for women. Even my event, the 400m hurdles, the first women's championship happened only in the 1980s. For me, sports has pushed me to new places, to meet new people. It was truly empowered me through leadership, taught me discipline and all of those great things. There are a lot of run clubs in India, and you have been involved in run clubs at a young age. Tell us about the community aspect of running... It's just so much fun when you're running together as a group. My enjoyable experiences in running is when I'm running for fun and running with people who want to unite and have that common goal to get out there and move their bodies. Running brings people and communities together. I've run since I was seven years old. At the time, I ran with a local track club. Those are my favourite days and memories as a child — walking to practice, because I wanted to be there with my friends.
Time of India
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
Rio Olympic champ Dalilah Muhammad lauds Neeraj Chopra's feats
Rio Olympics 400m hurdles gold winner Dalilah Muhammad is the brand ambassador of TCS World 10k in Bengaluru. (TOI Photo: Syed Asif) Keywords: Category / suppl. Categ.: IPTC-Keywords: Place:Bangalore Toi Bengaluru TOI Credits: Photographer:Syed Asif BENGALURU: American track star Dalilah Muhammad , women's 400m hurdles gold winner at the Rio Games, lauded champions like Neeraj Chopra and Letsile Tebogo who battled to glory without the best of support systems and hailed their phenomenal achievements. 'I remember watching Neeraj win the gold in Tokyo. That was actually my first experience watching him compete, and honestly, it was just phenomenal,' said Dalilah. 'And then you get to see the country that supports it and just what that does for the community and the people. It's just so inspirational,' said the international brand ambassador of the TCS World 10K Bengaluru . 'America has great inspirational athletes. But some of my favourite athletes, and their stories that inspired me way more, come from elsewhere. I recently went to Botswana, I know Tebogo. And just being able to witness an athlete win an Olympic medal from a country that doesn't have the system like America does, to produce such greatness is honestly phenomenal. And I think that can be done in so many different places like India,' she said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Dog licks arent kisses. Heres what your dog really means when it licks you. Novelodge Undo The US athlete who won two Olympic gold and two silver besides owning the world record, is gearing to bow out on a high after missing the Paris Games. 'I think a lot of people expect you to kind of go out when you can no longer do it at all. And for me, I want to go out knowing that I can still push myself,' she promised. 'This year, just as luck would have it, the World championships is the last competitive competition on our schedule. So hopefully I'll be in Tokyo and that'll be my last,' said the ace athlete, who last month ran her best season time at the Botswana Grand Slam meet . Slam series a big boon Giving her vote for the Grand Slam track series launched by Michael Johnson, Dalilah Muhammad said: 'I absolutely love it. I think for us that means just making our sport a professional sport. We have the Diamond League schedule, but there's not enough and we need more. The Grand Slam is really trying to push forward and giving athletes more opportunities to make money. It has started with the running events, but down the line we should also have the field events.' She also backed World Athletics for introducing prize money in the Olympics. 'I'm for it. We don't do it for the money; however, it definitely helps. We need ways to support ourselves and be at such a high level, like the Olympics. I believe athletes should definitely be able to make a living from that.' On her glittering career, Daliah said her best moment was the world record. 'My best moment was breaking that world record in 2019, it was a 16-year-old record. For me it was more so about the talent of the women that came before me and that haven't broken that record. So, it was just one of those redefining moments -- of where I had come and where I can even go further.' Ready to leap for Faith Expressing joy on three-time Olympic and World champion Faith Kipyegon 's goal to be the first woman to run a mile under four minutes in June, Dalilah said: 'When I heard about it, I was like, 'How can I be there? How can I witness it in person?' It's hard for me to even put into words. Imagine what that means for just women's sports. And to just hear women trying to break four minutes is amazing.' The Kenyan holds the women's mile world record of 4min 7.64sec, which she set in 2023.
NBC Sports
05-04-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
McLaughlin-Levrone wins 400m hurdles in Jamaica
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone dominated in her first race of 2025, taking the 400m hurdles in the debut of the Grand Slam Track series in Jamaica. She clocked 52.76 seconds, beating Dalilah Muhammad by 1.83 seconds.
NBC Sports
04-04-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Dalilah Muhammad believes 2025 will be her final season on the track
Dalilah Muhammad, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist and former world record holder in the 400m hurdles, believes this will be her final season on the track. 'It's going to be it for me this year. I think this will be it,' she said Thursday on the eve of the debut of Grand Slam Track in Kingston, Jamaica (Friday, 6 p.m. ET, Peacock). 'I haven't really made an announcement or publicly known, but yeah, I'm thinking one and done.' Muhammad, 35, previously said in 2023 and 2024 that she would race her last Olympic Trials in 2024 but didn't know how far into the 2028 Olympic cycle she would go before retiring. Muhammad, who grew up in Jamaica, Queens, in New York City, finished fifth in the 400m hurdles at her last NCAA Championships for USC In 2012. Twenty days later, she was sixth in her first-round heat at the Olympic Trials. She stayed in the sport, unsponsored, and in Los Angeles, financially supported by her parents. Mom Nadirah worked as a child protection specialist. Father Askia served as a Muslim Chaplain for the New York City Department of Correction and an adjunct professor of Islamic Studies at the New York Theological Seminary. In 2013, she raced her first Diamond League meet while wearing shorts and a tank top that she bought on clearance at Ross Dress for Less. Over that season, Muhammad lowered her personal best time in the 400m hurdles from 56.04 to 53.83 and won the U.S. title. Then she earned silver at the 2013 World Championships, picking up a Nike sponsorship along with it. She went to the 2016 Olympics owning the fastest time in the world for the year by 1.08 seconds over her next-closest competitor in Rio. She lived up to overwhelming favorite status, winning by a comfortable 42 hundredths. 'The gold was so far from my mind; that definitely wasn't the goal going into 2016,' she said. 'I just wanted to make it as a 400m hurdler.' Then in 2019, Muhammad broke a nearly 16-year-old world record in the event, running 52.20 at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships. Two months later, she lowered the record again — to 52.16 — to win the world title. She took silver at the Tokyo Games behind countrywoman Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. Both went under the existing world record. Muhammad is currently the third-fastest woman in history behind McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol of the Netherlands. 'At a young age, you never know where it's going to take you,' Muhammad said Thursday. 'I think I just always had that little something that I just wanted to keep going. I wanted to push those boundaries and push forward.' Muhammad was challenged by injury in the Paris Olympic cycle. She placed sixth at the 2024 Olympic Trials. Anna Cockrell, runner-up at trials and silver medalist in Paris, used her post-race TV interview to praise Muhammad. 'You revolutionized this event,' she said. 'The impact you've had on the sport goes beyond medals, goes beyond records. Your grace, your poise, your competition, your mentorship of me. I can't say thank you to D enough.' On Thursday, McLaughlin-Levrone echoed that while sitting next to Muhammad. 'Dalilah, you truly did just change the game for all of us,' she said. 'I think just seeing you break that world record after so long of it being there, it inspired all of us. So it's truly because of just the amazing talent you have that we are where we're at now.' Nick Zaccardi,
