Shafiqua Maloney improves 600m national record, No. 7 all-time

BERLIN, Germany – Racing over 600m in the ISATF Continental Tour Silver meeting at Olympiastadion, Arkansas alum Shafiqua Maloney improved her St. Vincent & the Grenadines national record with a 1 minute, 22.98 second runner-up performance.

Kenya’s Mary Moraa won the race in an all-time world best of 1:21.63 to better the previous world best and meet record of 1:21.77 set in 2017 by South African Caster Semenya.

In the Paris Olympics, Moraa finished third (1:57.42) while Maloney placed fourth (1:57.66) in the 800m final as the pair were separated by 0.24 of a second in a battle for the bronze medal.

Racing in Paris, France, at the Paralympic Games on Sunday, Arkansas alum Hunter Woodhall earned automatic qualification to the T62/T64 100m final with a time of 11.02 from lane nine for third in his prelim heat.

Woodhall finished behind Italian Mexcel Amo Manu (10.69) and Germany’s Johannes Floors (10.92) in a race that had a -0.1 headwind. The two time qualifiers for the final also came out of this heat.

The 100m final will be run on Monday, September 2, at 12:50 p.m. (CT). Woodhall will also race in the T62 400m final on Friday, September 6, at 12:33 p.m. Coverage of the Paralympic Games is available through NBC Peacock TV.

Another Arkansas alum racing in Berlin included Omar McLeod finishing third in the 110m hurdles with a time of 13.28 to place behind American Grant Holloway (13.14) and Rachid Muratake of Japan (13.21) with American Freddie Crittenden in fourth place (13.58).

Maloney entered the rarely run 600m in Berlin as the 2024 world leader from a 1:23.80 she produced on April 6 in Miramar, Florida.

Moraa and Maloney pulled away from the field of seven runners early on in the race and led throughout. They covered the first 200m in 25.5 seconds, and completed the first lap in 52.68 at 400m just a stride apart.

Finishing third in the race was German Alica Schmidt in 1:24.88 with Nelly Jepkosgei of Bahrain fourth in 1:24.94 while Kenyan Vivian Chebet Kiprotich placed fifth at 1:25.42.

Maloney’s improved time ranks as the No. 7 performer and performance on the all-time world list. With Moraa leading the 600m all-time list now over Semenya, others ahead of Maloney include Ajee Wilson (US) 1:22.39, Ana Quirós (Cuba) 1:22.63, Athing Mu (US) 1:22.74, and Maria Mutola (Mozambique) 1:22.87.

Maloney moved ahead of the following all-time top 10 performers: Francine Niyonsaba (Burundi) 1:23.18, Pamela Jelimo (Kenya) 1:23.35, and Keely Hodgkinson (Great Britain) 1:23.41i.

Including the indoor season, Maloney has generated 14 national records in six events, ranging from 400m to the mile, during her 2024 campaign.

Maloney’s current list of St. Vincent & the Grenadines national records include the following: