Want to still take a crack at the 400m world record:Miller-Uibo

The mention of Shaunae Miller-Uibo elicits memories of her famous dive across the finish line to win gold in the women’s 400m at the 2016 Rio Olympics. It helped the Bahamian track and field sprinter, who specialises in the 200m and 400m, pip Allyson Felix by 0.07 seconds for the yellow metal.

A decade has passed, but Miller-Uibo, who is in India for the first time in her capacity as an international ambassador for Sunday’s Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon, remembers the moment vividly.

“I remember that when I had covered the first 100m, I felt very great. But with 50m to go, I did not have anything left to give. I heard everyone’s footsteps around me. I saw Allyson in my (peripheral) view and that is what had me leaning towards the line,” she took a trip down memory lane at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Thursday evening.

She went on to defend her gold medal five years later at the Tokyo Olympics. She also won gold at the 2022 Eugene World Championships. However, the 32-year-old isn’t done yet, never mind that she is now the mother of two children.

With the World Championships slated for 2027 followed by the 2028 LA Olympics, Miller-Uibo, whose personal best in 400m is 48.36 seconds, is still targeting the world record. That belongs to East Germany’s Marita Koch, who was timed at 47.60s in 1985. In the 200m, Miller-Uibo’s personal best is 21.74 seconds while Florence Griffith-Joyner (21.34s) holds the world record.

“I had two babies. One in 2023 and another in 2025. I have been building back up ever since. This season went really well for me. I was trying to shake off the rust. It is about setting new goals for myself. I would like to give a crack at the world record. I feel I am more than capable of doing it,” she asserted.