By BRENT STUBBS
Senior Sports Reporter
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
After a slow start, defending champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo stormed back in the latter part of the race to secure her berth in the women’s 400m final at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Erasing any concerns about her fitness after she finished last in the final of the 200m the day before – when she eased up after feeling a slight injury – Miller-Uibo finished first with her second fastest time of the season, 49.60 seconds, for the fourth fastest qualifying time going into Friday’s final.
Running out of lane six in her signature event, Miller-Uibo was just shy of her season’s best of 49.08. The Bahamian national record holder at 48.37 showed that she’s going to give it her best shot.
Using her 6-foot, 1-inch frame, the 27-year-old Miller-Uibo held off Great Britain’s Jodie Williams, who was second in a personal best of 49.97 – a remarkable turnaround from the 200m disappointment in her quest for the rare 200/400 double.
Unlike the 200m final where she got left in the blocks and couldn’t deliver her traditional comeback down the stretch, Miller-Uibo had enough real estate in the 400m and was able to make up ground on the back stretch. She surged to the front coming off the curve and maintained her lead through the line.
Jamaica’s Stephanie Ann McPherson topped the charts with the fastest qualifying time in heat three – a lifetime best of 49.34 – holding off American Allyson Felix (second in her season’s best of 49.89 for seventh overall).
Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino got the second best time, winning heat one in a national record of 49.38 over Jamaica’s Candice McCleo, who had a personal best of 49.51 for third overall.
Miller-Uibo has drawn lane seven for the final ahead of McPherson in six and Williams in eight. Felix will be on the outside in nine.
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