Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton and Shiann Salmon finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the final of the Women’s 400m hurdles at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.

Clayton, who won bronze at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, ran a brilliant 52.68 for fifth while Salmon ran 53.29 in fifth.

American superstar Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone set the Stade de France track ablaze with a phenomenal world record 50.37 to successfully defend her Olympic title, breaking the previous mark of 50.65 she set in winning at the US Olympic Trials in June.

McLaughlin-Levrone’s countrywoman, Anna Cockrell, produced a massive personal best 51.87 in second while 2023 World Champion Femke Bol took bronze in 52.15.

The USA's Jasmine Jones ran a personal best 52.29 in fourth. Canada's Savannah Sutherland and France's Louise Maraval were seventh and eighth with 53.88 and 54.53, respectively.

Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton and Shiann Salmon booked spots in the women’s 400m hurdles final at the Paris Olympic Games following contrasting performances in their respective semi-finals at Stade de France on Tuesday.

Like she has done all season, Clayton went out hard and relaxed somewhat mid-race, before powering home to win semi-final one in a flat 53.00s. She took American Jasmine Jones (53.83s) into the final with her.

American World Record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone cruised to victory in semi-final two in 52.13s, ahead of Frenchwoman Louise Maraval (53.83s), while Jamaica’s Janieve Russell (54.65s) battled hard for fourth but missed a spot in the final.

Meanwhile, Salmon ran a well-paced race for third in semi-final three. She stopped the clock in a personal best of 53.13s, which was good for one of the two non-automatic qualifying spots.

The race was won by gold medal favorite Femke Bol of the Netherlands in an easy 52.57s. American Anna Cockrell (52.90s) was second, while Canada’s Savannah Sutherland (53.80s) also progressed as a non-automatic qualifier.

The final is scheduled for Thursday, August 8.

Despite not being at peak fitness, Janieve Russell was determined to secure a place on Jamaica’s team to the upcoming Paris Olympic Games, and so the 400m hurdler knew she had to demonstrate resilience and tenacity to achieve the feat.

In fact, Russell’s second-place performance at the JAAA National Senior Championships this past weekend was a testament to her unyielding spirit, as she soared above her injury concerns with precision and speed, crossing the finish line in 53.33s –a time that marked her fastest ever run at the National Stadium. Rushell Clayton won in a brisk 52.51s, with Shiann Salmon (53.71s) in third.

Having had her season fraught with challenges and injuries, raising doubts about her ability to compete at her usual high standards, Russell believes her performance dispelled any doubts about her readiness to compete on the world stage.

“I am a very strong-willed person, so I came in determined to punch my ticket to Paris and I did that so I am really grateful. I have a good support team in terms of family and friends and of course, I have to give God thanks because my faith has been carrying me through,” a jubilant Russell said after catching her breath.

“This is also a confidence booster for me because it is the fastest I’ve ever ran in Jamaica and the other competitors can say the same. So this was the first phase, make the team to Paris, now, it's all about staying healthy and continuing to train hard so I can be healthy enough to challenge for a medal at the Olympics,” she added.

With a focused mindset and an unwavering determination, Russell, a multiple Commonwealth Games gold medallist and World Championships relay silver medallist, has shown that once healthy, she is a force to be reckoned with.

The 30-year-old's performance is particularly inspiring given the high level of competition she faced at the National Championships, and her ability to push through physical pain and still deliver a top-notch performance is a testament to her mental strength and athletic prowess.

“It feels really great to know that I am now on my way to Paris, I'm already considering myself a three-time Olympian, which is really a wonderful feeling. So, I just have to give God thanks because trust me, my journey has been a rocky one, I am not 100% in terms of fitness, so I basically came out here with guts and faith to achieve this objective,” Russell, who was a part of the bronze medal-winning 4x400m relay team at the 2020 Tokyo Games, declared.

“So it is very satisfying because the injury that I have is a really serious that I competed with. I have a crack bone in my heel, so to come out here and to run against a fine field of ladies, I'm really, really happy because I was lined up with medalists at World Championship, medalists at Commonwealth, NACAC, finalists at World Championships, so again, it's really good feeling knowing I’m on my way to another Olympic Games,” she noted.

As she looks ahead to the Paris Olympics, where she is expected to also face the likes of Dutchwoman Femke Bol and American World record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Russell is more motivated than ever. Her recent performance has reinforced her belief in her capabilities and her potential to possibly stand on the Olympic podium.

“The goal and expectation is just to remain healthy and as long as I am healthy and fit then I know I can vie for a medal for Jamaica in Paris. This performance has shown me that I'm on the right track, and I just need to keep pushing forward,” Russell ended.

Caribbean athletes showcased their prowess at the New York Grand Prix on Sunday, delivering a series of standout performances. However, the event was marred by a potentially devastating setback for double-double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, who sustained an injury just weeks before the Jamaican national championships.

Kirani James, Devynne Charlton, Rasheed Broadbell, and Carey Johnson emerged as the stars of the day, demonstrating their elite capabilities on the international stage.

Thompson-Herah, who has been eyeing a historic third consecutive 100m and 200m Olympic double in Paris this summer, saw her season cast into doubt. Competing in the 100m dash, she appeared to start well but ultimately finished last in 11.48 seconds, visibly limping and requiring assistance off the track afterward.

“I felt something uncomfortable as I began to push. I still tried to go but it got worse so I am awaiting professional advice moving forward. Thanks for your continued support,” Thompson-Herah posted on Instagram.

The race was won by Favour Ofili, who clocked a season’s best of 11.18. The USA’s Morolake Akunison and Aleia Hobbs finished second and third in 11.20 and 11.21, respectively.

In the women’s 100m hurdles, Devynne Charlton showcased her dominance by clinching victory in a tightly contested race. Battling a headwind of -1.9m/s, the world indoor 60m champion edged ahead to win in 12.56 seconds. Alaysha Johnson was a close second in 12.58, while 100m hurdles world record holder Tobi Amusan finished third in 12.66.

The men's 110m hurdles saw another thrilling race, with Rasheed Broadbell narrowly missing out on victory. In a repeat of their Racer’s Grand Prix encounter, the USA’s Trey Cunningham held off Broadbell, winning in 13.21 seconds to Broadbell’s 13.28. Michael Dickson of the USA took third in 13.45, with Jamaica’s Tyler Mason finishing fourth in 13.52.

The men’s 400m was a highlight of the meet, delivering a nail-biting finish. As the runners entered the home stretch, Kirani James surged ahead to clinch victory in 44.55 seconds. Chris Bailey secured second place in 44.73, narrowly edging out South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk, who finished third in 44.74. Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards also impressed, finishing fourth with a season’s best of 44.82.

However, the performance of the meet came from Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who delivered a spectacular performance in the women’s 400m, clocking 48.75 seconds despite running into a headwind. Her time was the second fastest ever by an American woman and eclipsed the previous world lead of 48.89 set by Jamaica’s Nikisha Pryce just a day earlier. Talitha Diggs finished a distant second in 50.91, with Jamaica’s Stacey-Ann Williams close behind in 50.94 for third.

In the 200m events, Gabby Thomas won the women’s race in 20.42, while Noah Lyles dominated the men’s event, finishing in 19.77.

Despite the mixed fortunes, the performances of Caribbean athletes like Kirani James, Devynne Charlton, and Rasheed Broadbell highlighted their readiness for the upcoming championships and underscored their potential for the Paris Olympics. However, the injury to Elaine Thompson-Herah cast a shadow over the day, leaving fans and fellow athletes hoping for her swift recovery and return to the track.

By all indications, the women’s 400m hurdles at the upcoming World Athletic Championships in Budapest, Hungary, would appear to offer one key question – how much faster can Femke Bol go?

Following Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s decision not to defend the world title she won in her home setting of Oregon last year, when she left her Dutch rival halfway down the finishing straight as she improved her world record to a staggering 50.68s, Bol’s pathway has now been cleared.

The Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist prepared for the 400m hurdles in spectacular fashion during the indoor season, as she worked on her speed over 400m flat. To such effect that on February 19, she broke the longest standing athletics track record in the book when she clocked 49.26s to win the Dutch indoor title, eclipsing the mark of 49.59s set in 1982.

The high point of her season so far occurred in front of a sell-out 50,000 crowd at the London Stadium on July 23, as she ran a European and Diamond League record of 51.45s.

"I've been wanting to run a 51 ever since Tokyo. I had a feeling I could do it but I still can't believe I've done it," said the 23-year-old.

Her time was one-hundredth of a second faster than McLaughlin-Levrone ran to win the Tokyo Olympic title in a race where Bol finished third behind the defending champion Dalilah Muhammad.

It was only four-hundredths of a second slower than the world record McLaughlin-Levrone set at last year’s US trials in Oregon. But it was the best part of a second slower than the current world mark of 50.68s run by her rival at last year’s World Athletics Championships.

Such is the measure of the challenge for this amiable Dutch athlete.

While McLaughlin-Levrone will be absent from the event – and indeed the championships because of a late knee issue – her predecessor as world and Olympic champion, Muhammad, will be present, albeit that the 33-year-old’s season’s best of 53.53s only has her at fifth place in this season’s world list.

Muhammad’s US colleague Shamier Little, whose 2021 personal best of 52.39s has her at fifth place in the all-time list, will also be a medal contender, as will the Jamaican trio of Andrenette Knight, who has clocked 53.26s this season; Janieve Russell, with a 2023 best of 53.65s; and Rushell Clayton, who has clocked 53.79s.

Look out too for Britain’s Jessie Knight, who has run a personal best of 54.09s this season, and Viktoriya Tkachuk of Ukraine, who has a best of 53.76s.

Olympic and World Championship silver-medalist, Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, continued her unbeaten start to the 2023 season by outdueling American 400m hurdles world record holder, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, to win the 400m at the Paris Diamond League on Friday.

McLaughlin-Levrone, the reigning Olympic and World Champion and in the 400m hurdles, ran extremely aggressively in the first 300m before Paulino used her experience in the flat 400m to reel her in and cross the line first in 49.12. The American ran a personal best 49.71 for second while 2019 World Champion Salwa Eid Naser ran 49.95 for third.

Elsewhere on the track, Kenyan Faith Kipyegon, who set a spectacular 1500m world record in Florence last week, was at it again, running 14:05.20 to set a new world record in the 5000m. Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey, the previous world record holder, was second in 14:07.94 while her countrywomen Ejgayehu Taye was third in 14:13.31.

Commonwealth Champion, Kyron McMaster, ran a season’s best for fifth in the 400m hurdles.

The BVI native, who fell at the LA Grand Prix on May 27, ran 48.65. The race was won by American CJ Allen in 47.92 ahead of France’s Wilfried Happio (48.26) and World Championship bronze medalist Trevor Bassitt (48.28).

Jamaica’s Natoya Goule ran a season’s best 1:58.23 for third in the Women’s 800m. Keely Hodgkinson took the race in a new personal best, British record and world leading 1:55.77 while American Ajee Wilson was second in 1:58.16.

2011 World 100m champion, Yohan Blake, ran 10.16 for fourth in the Men’s 100m behind reigning 200m World Champion, Noah Lyles (9.96), Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala (9.98) and Botswanan World Junior record holder Letsile Tebogo (10.05).

In the field, Jamaican 2019 World Championship silver medalist Danniel Thomas-Dodd threw 19.25m for fourth in the Women’s shot put behind Portugal’s Auriol Dongmo (19.72m) and Americans Chase Ealey (19.43m) and Maggie Ewen (19.26m).

World champions and world record-breakers Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Mondo Duplantis have been named the World Athletes of the Year.

They were the final winners to be revealed as part of the World Athletics Awards 2022, along with the winners of the Rising Stars awards: Serbian javelin thrower Adriana Vilagos and US sprinter Erriyon Knighton.

McLaughlin-Levrone and Duplantis – winners of the Rising Stars awards just four years ago – broke the world records in their respective disciplines on more than one occasion this year, with their final record-breaking performances coming at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.

McLaughlin-Levrone improved her own world 400m hurdles record by 0.78, first to 51.41 at the US Championships and then to an awe-inspiring 50.68 at the World Championships. That secured her a first individual senior world title, and she followed it by anchoring the US team to another 4x400m victory.

The 23-year-old made a statement with her first 400m hurdles race of the year, clocking 51.61 in Nashville in early June. At that point it was the third-fastest time ever recorded, but the all-time list soon underwent further revisions.

Lining up at the US Championships at Hayward Field, McLaughlin-Levrone stormed to victory in the 400m hurdles in 51.41, taking 0.05 off the mark she set at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.

“I think there’s a little bit more in the tank there,” she said after her US Championships win. “Hopefully when it’s time we can just empty it completely.”

Back at Hayward Field a month later, McLaughlin-Levrone obliterated her previous best, running 50.68 as the home crowd and the rest of the world watched on in amazement.

"All of my goals were accomplished this year," said McLaughlin-Levrone. "We were able to accomplish everything we set out to do. It couldn’t have been any better, and I was so grateful that I was able to produce that performance in front of a home crowd."

Just when you think Duplantis could not be more dominant, the Swedish pole vaulter has a season like 2022, during which he set three world records, won two global titles, won 18 of his 19 competitions, and vaulted six metres or higher 23 times.

Duplantis, despite only just turning 23, now has more six-metre clearances than any other pole vaulter in history.

His record-breaking 2022 campaign began with an undefeated indoor season, during which he set a world record of 6.19m in Belgrade. He returned to the Serbian capital two weeks later for the World Athletics Indoor Championships, where he struck gold with 6.20m, another improvement on his own world record.

He was then victorious on the Wanda Diamond League circuit, including a 6.16m vault in Stockholm, the highest ever outdoor vault in history. It was the perfect warm-up for the World Championships three weeks later.

As the last athlete competing on the final day of competition at the World Championships in Oregon, Duplantis soared over a world record of 6.21m with room to spare.

Less than a month later, he retained his European title with a championship record of 6.06m in a competition where he registered no misses. He then wrapped up his season with a victory at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich.

"Going into the year, I had really high expectations of myself and I had some really big goals," said Duplantis. "I wanted to win the world indoors, the world outdoors, the Europeans, the Diamond League final, and I wanted to break the world record a few times.

"I was able to do that and it was a bonus, the cherry on top, to do be able to do it (break the world record) at the right times, to do it at world indoors and do it at world outdoors. I can’t complain."

Vilagos and Knighton named Rising Stars of 2022

It was a season of back-to-back successes for this year’s Rising Stars.

Vilagos successfully defended her world U20 javelin title, doing so with a championship record of 63.52m and breaking the European U20 record in the process. Less than three months later, she claimed silver at the senior European Championships in Munich.

“Defending my world U20 title in Colombia was my main goal, but winning a medal at the European Championships was the biggest surprise,” said Vilagos. “It was a good year and this award crowns it.”

Knighton, meanwhile, has been named Rising Star for the second year in a row. He clocked a lifetime best of 19.49 in April which couldn’t be ratified as a world U20 record, but he went on to break the mark officially at the US Championships, where he ran 19.69. He followed that with a bronze medal at the World Championships in Oregon, then went on to achieve victories on the Continental Tour and Diamond League circuit.

Remarkably, both Rising Stars will still be U20 athletes for 2023.

“Winning this award back to back means my talent is getting recognized on a bigger stage,” said Knighton, the first athlete ever to win two Rising Star awards. “I’ve put in the work to achieve this and I’m very grateful.”