One of the greatest 400m hurdlers in history, Dalilah Muhammad, has confirmed that 2025 will be her final year in track and field, bringing an extraordinary career to a close. The 2016 Olympic champion made the announcement during a media engagement at the AC Hotel in Kingston on Thursday, ahead of the start of the Grand Slam Track Series, which begins later today at the National Stadium.
Sitting between Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the woman who succeeded her as Olympic champion and world record holder, and Jamaica's Rushell Clayton, Muhammad shared the news that her time in the sport is nearing its end.
“It's gonna be it for this year. I think this will be it,” she said when asked how much longer she plans to compete. “I haven't really made an announcement or publicly said it, but yeah—I think I’m one and done.”
Muhammad, 35, will leave behind a legacy that helped redefine the women’s 400m hurdles. She won Olympic gold in Rio in 2016 and added Olympic silver in Tokyo in 2021, where she also claimed gold as part of the USA’s 4x400m relay squad. Her World Championship résumé includes gold medals in the 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay in Doha in 2019, as well as silver medals from Moscow 2013 and London 2017, and a bronze from Eugene in 2022. She also captured back-to-back Diamond League titles in 2017 and 2018, affirming her dominance across both major championships and the professional circuit.
In 2019, Muhammad made history when she broke a 16-year-old world record, clocking 52.20 at the U.S. Championships, and later bettered it with a stunning 52.16 to win gold at the World Championships in Doha. She remains the third-fastest woman in history, with a personal best of 51.58.
As Muhammad made her heartfelt declaration, McLaughlin-Levrone—seated to her right—paid tribute to the woman who blazed the trail she now follows.
“Dalilah, you truly did just change the game for all of us,” said McLaughlin-Levrone. “Just seeing you break that world record after so long of it being there, it inspired all of us. It’s truly because of just the amazing talent that you have that we are where we are now.”
The two Americans, often rivals on the track and icons off it, shared a rare and genuine moment of mutual respect—marking not only a generational handover but the celebration of an era defined by record-breaking brilliance.
Muhammad is expected to continue competing through the Grand Slam series and possibly into the World Championships later this year, closing her career with the same grace and excellence that made her a global star.