by Stuart WeirThe 400 meters in Monaco for women would have been the finest race of the night, if not for Beatrice Chepkoech cranking the WR into the next century with her 8:44.32. Here is Stuart Weir’s last column on Monaco Herculis EBS meeting on 20 July 2018.
Shaunae Miller-Uibo ran 48.97 for the 400 meters, photo by PhotoRun.net
Women’s 400
It would a terrible pun to say that Shaunae Miller-Uibo pulled off a Herculean feat at the Herculis meet – so I won’t say it. But when the irresistible force meets the immovable object, then something has to give. That was the scenario for the clash of the giants (giantesses?) in the women’s 400 metres.
This season’s Diamond League series of 400s has been dominated by Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain, who has won in Rome, Oslo, Stockholm, Paris in Lausanne. And in the first four she ran a series of times, each one faster than the previous one, culminating in 49.55 in Paris.
Shaunae Miller-Uibo, on the other hand, started her season at the Commonwealth Games in Australia in April winning the 200m and repeating the feat in the Shanghai Diamond League. She won the 400m in Eugene with a pre Herculis world lead of 49.52 and then reverted to the 200m in Rabat and, of course, won again. The IAAF stats page also informed me that in the middle of this sequence she won the high jump and shot put in the Bahamian championships. You would think she was married to a decathlete or something!
So we came into the Herculis with two unbeaten athletes – although Naser’s preparation had been a little boring, no shot puts or high jumps! Miller-Uibo went out hard and never looked like being caught. The clock stopped at an incredible 48.97. Naser in second (49.08) broke the Asian record, commenting: “It was really fun to compete against Shaunae for the first time this year! We were both unbeaten under 50 and now I’m aiming for the Diamond League trophy and the Asian Games! So good to break the Asian record!”
Shaunae’s reaction to her performance showed not an ounce of resting on her laurels: “I got this sub 49 I was waiting for, so I’m very happy, although also very tired. The crowd here is amazing, Naser was doing a great race and that helped too. You know it was my only 4th race over the 400m this season. My coach and I are trying different race strategies. This was a faster first 200m or something like that. Next goal is to remain consistent on this level and long term another barrier that is 48 seconds”.
This places Miller-Uibo in the top 10 on the all time world list, a list which includes Cathy Freeman (1996), Sanya Richards (2006), Valerie Brisco-Hooks (1984), Marie-Josee Perec (1996) and on top of the list Marita Koch (1985) with 47.60.
Earlier this week I had the privilege of sitting down with Shaunae for a few minutes. I asked whether she preferred 200m or 400m: “I’ve been asked that a lot of times. I love both events but I love the 400m a little bit more”, she told me. “Even though some people think I’m better at 200m, I would still put the 400m ahead. I feel with the 400m I’m still learning a lot of things so hopefully when I put it together we can see the times drop but it’s my favourite and the one I think I’m better at.
“The 400m is a tough event but that’s what I love about it. It’s not an event that anyone can just pop in and do it but that’s what makes me love it a bit more. It’s a tough event and I love to go at it”.
Then she added a scary thought: “I’m still learning and this year we’ve been working on the whole lot of new things. And learning to put it all together and definitely using my speed to my advantage”.
48.97 and still learning the event. Wonder what she will run when she has mastered it!
