World Championships: Little fourth, Wilson fifth in final of 400m hurdles

EUGENE – Razorback Britton Wilson placed fifth in the final of the 400m hurdle at the World Athletics Championships on Friday evening while Arkansas volunteer assistant Shamier Little claimed fourth place.

Little posted a time of 53.76 seconds while Wilson finished in 54.02. The crew of four Americans in the eight-person final occupied four of the top five places.

“It’s amazing and a really cool opportunity,” said Wilson of racing in the world final. “I’m grateful to be here.

“It caught me off guard a little racing in lane one. I’ve never been in lane one before. It wasn’t a setback or anything, just an adjustment I needed to make. I’m disappointed, but excited I had the opportunity to race in the final.”

Tokyo Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin lowered her world record to 50.68, from a 51.41 at the USATF Championships, to win her first world title. She was a silver medalist in 2019.

Netherland’s Femke Bol, the bronze medalist in Tokyo, delivered a silver medal performance at Hayward Field with a time of 52.27, which equaled her season best for 2022. American Dalilah Muhammad ran 53.13 for bronze.

Bol and Muhammad produced the best-marks-for-place at the World Championships in second and third place.

Splits at 300m had McLaughlin leading the field with a 37.02, followed by Bol (38.24) and Muhammad (38.45). Little was in fourth at that stage of the race with a 38.98 split while Wilson was sixth (39.20) behind Jamaican Rushell Clayton (39.09).

Little maintained her fourth-place position behind the leading trio, while Wilson passed Clayton off the last hurdle to secure fifth place by a few strides. The split for Wilson over the last 100m of the race was 14.82 compared to 15.27 by Clayton.

This meet served as the third championship experience this summer for Wilson in Eugene. She won the NCAA title in early June, finished runner-up at the USATF Championships in late June, and now finished fifth in the World Championships in late July.

“There are things I know I need to improve on going into next year,” noted Wilson. “Figuring out what I need to do in each round for the next world championships, which are next summer. I’m definitely going to focus on the things I’ve seen at this meet and try to improve them for next time.”

World Championships | Arkansas schedule (PT)

Saturday | July 23

Sunday | July 24