ATHLETICS – BAHRAIN’S superstar sprinter Salwa Eid Naser powered to a sensational victory early yesterday morning in the women’s 400 metres at the Grand Slam Track Kingston meeting, held in Kingston, Jamaica.
Naser triumphed with the world’s fastest mark this year after going below the 49-second barrier for the second time this season.
Her win came after finishing a solid fourth in the women’s 200m at the same meeting, where she ran sub-23 seconds. The two races were less than 24 hours apart.
Naser had a strong start to the 400m sprint and was already powering ahead midway through the race. The former world champion enjoyed a clear lead as she entered the home stretch, and won with a comfortable gap from her closest challengers, who included Gabrielle Thomas of the US and reigning world and Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic.
Naser posted a scintillating winning time of 48.67 seconds. She was the only runner to go below 49 seconds.
Thomas, who won the 200m the day prior, followed as the runner-up in 49.14s, while Paulino came third in 49.35s.
Alexis Holmes of the US finished fourth in 50.12s, Stacey Ann Williams of Jamaica was fifth in 50.37s, and Nickisha Pryce, also of Jamaica, was sixth in 50.92s. The race classification was rounded out by Talitha Diggs of the US in seventh with a time of 52.05s and Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain in 52.15s.
Salwa’s 400m run in Kingston was her second over the single lap in 2025. She had previously also competed over the 400m in a meeting in the Dominican Republic last month, where she ran a 48.94s time en route to claiming a fine victory.
The 26-year-old’s 48.67s mark yesterday eclipsed the previous world lead of 49.24s, set in March by Isabella Whittaker of the US.
It was also not far from her personal best of 48.14s, which is also an Asian and Bahraini record, set in 2019 en route to claiming her maiden world championships crown.
Naser is a multi-titled elite athlete. Aside from her world title, she also bagged the 400m silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, which was her first-ever Olympic accolade.
She is expected to be one of Bahrain’s top medal hopefuls at this year’s World Athletics Championships, set to take place in Tokyo from September 13 to 21.
The Grand Slam Track Kingston event is part of a series of meetings under the Grand Slam Track franchise, which is dedicated to creating the best head-to-head matchups and rivalries for fans globally.
Racers in the series are selected from the best on the planet across each event group. Each season, 48 competitors are named to the Grand Slam Track League as Racers. They are selected by the Grand Slam Track Racing Committee based on a combination of factors.
Racers commit to racing in all four Slams per year. There are also 48 additional competitors selected on a Slam-by-Slam basis to challenge the Racers.
Grand Slam Track events are conducted annually in cities around the world with an emphasis on racing early in the athletics season so competitors can still focus on the major championships later in the calendar.
Following Kingston, the other 2025 Grand Slam Track season locations are Miami from May 2 to 4, Philadelphia from May 30 to June 1, and Los Angeles from June 27 to 29.
There will be a total of eight competitors in each race comprising four Racers and four Challengers.
The winner of the Slam for each event group will be the competitor with the highest point total across both events contested.
There is a $12.6million total prize pool across the season. At each event, race winners get $100,000.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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