Dalilah Muhammad says good-bye

This is Stuart Weir’s tribute to Dalilah Muhammed, Olympic gold and silver, World Champs silver (twice) and a bronze. Dalilah announced her retirement after this season earlier in the year.

Dalilah Muhammad says good-bye

Unless she changes her mind, Dalilah Muhammad has jumped her last hurdle.  The 35 year-old said earlier this year that Tokyo would be her last race. What an illustrious career it was! Olympic champion at 400h in 2016, World champion in 2019 plus an Olympic silver, two world championship silvers and a bronze. And relay medals at Olympics and Worlds. In 2019 she broke the World Record, running 52.20 .

In Tokyo she finished seventh in the 400h in 54.82, commenting afterwards: “It’s definitely not the race I wanted but the thing about getting older in this sport is you have to deal with injuries. And track and field can be such a demanding sport. You have got be 100 per cent healthy on the day, at that moment, and I have been dealing with so much backstage. I have been having a lot of mixed emotions. I did not even want to step on the line but my team wouldn’t let me quit, for which I am so thankful. I think it’s probably my slowest race of the year. Being out on the track with my two training partners was so special. Watching the girls grow, it’s been so motivating for me”.

Reading flashquotes from other athletes showed the respect in which she is held.  Femke Bol said of her prelim: “The advantage for me today was having Dalilah running in lane seven so I was able to see her throughout the race. I overtook her in the last 150 metres”. Belgian athlete Naomi van den Broeck commented: “It was a huge honour to run against Dalilah. I have been a great fan of Dalilah for some time now and I am honored to be part of her final races. It was giving me goosebumps thinking about it, and maybe after the race I will introduce myself to her”.

Gianna Woodruff, a training partner commented: “I learned a lot from training with Dalilah. We have a friendship going on almost 10 years. We started off as training partners and then she took me under her wing. Now she is like a big sister to me. She is leaving athletics as a legend. I just want to remember her like that”.

Jasmine Jones added her tribute: “I can’t believe is Dalilah Muhammad’s last race. Since I was in seventh grade, I wanted to be like her. I watched her all through middle and high school. She is going out as the queen of the 400m hurdles for me. She is a huge inspiration. I did the 100m hurdles in high school and college. Watching the Tokyo Olympics was a huge inspiration and persuaded me to take on the 400m hurdles”.

I remember talking to her shortly after that world record and she admitted: “Every time someone says it back to me it seems a bit crazy even to me.  I think it has  finally sunk in.  It came after 7 years as a professional”  Se also added: “Sometimes when you do a really fast time on the track you wonder if you will be able to do it again”.

A great athlete and a lovely person who will be missed.