The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Shaunae Miller-Uibo raced a season’s best time to advance to the final as the fastest qualifier in the women’s 400m field at the World Athletics Championships.

The two-time Olympic champion in the event ran 49.55 seconds to win the first of three semi-finals last night at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

Miller-Uibo finished ahead of Jamaica’s Candice McLeod who came through for second in her season’s best time of 50.05 and Anna Kielbasinska of Poland was third in in 50.65 to advance as the eighth qualifier for the final.

Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic won semi-final three in 49.98 and was the only other athlete in the field to join Miller-Uibo with a sub-50 second time.

McLeod had the third fastest seed time followed by Sada Williams of Barbados (50.12- SB), Fiordaliza Cofil of the Dominican Republic (50.14 - PB), Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands (50.18 - NR), Stephanie Ann McPherson of Jamaica (50.56) and Kielbasinska.

Miller-Uibo will run in lane three of Friday night’s final, scheduled for 7:15pm local time.

“I don’t care what it takes to win, the main thing is just to win,” she told reporters following the heats. “Every last girl coming out here wants the same thing so it’s going to be a dog fight to the finish. It’s just about setting everything up properly, going out there and trying to bring home the gold.”

She opened the competition on day three when she ran 51.10 to win the first of six heats and advance to the semi-finals.

“We’ve been through a lot of injuries this season. Couldn’t seem to catch a break from some injuries but geared up and we’re ready for the champs. I don’t think we’re exactly where we want to be but we’re in great shape to put down some really good times,” she said.

“It felt great out there, the track is really fast, and I’m looking forward to some really great performances.”

The 28-year-old veteran said that the goal was to get through the round as easy as possible and get ready for the next round, but the ultimate goal is to win the gold.

A World Championships 400m gold medal has eluded Miller-Uibo in her star-studded career thus far.

At the 2015 meet in Beijing, China, she finished second behind Allyson Felix of the United States, and in 2019 in Doha, Qatar she was upset by Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser.

“This is my last year of really focusing on the 400m and I want to have some fun in my last few years into the sport,” she said.

“I definitely want to get into the [multi-event competitions] and really properly train for the 200m as well so we’ll see how it goes.”