Dalilah Muhammad (born February 7, 1990) is an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete who specializes in the

400 meters hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ar ...

. She is the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

champion and

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the List of Olympic Games h ...

silver medalist, becoming at the latter the second-fastest woman of all time in the event with her personal best of 51.58 seconds. Muhammad was second at both the

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

and 2017 World Championships to take her first gold in

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, setting the former world record of 52.16 s. She was the second female 400 m hurdler in history, after

Sally Gunnell Sally Jane Janet Gunnell (born 29 July 1966) is a British former track and field athlete, active between 1984 and 1997, who won the 1992 Olympic gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles. During a golden 24-month period between 1992 and 1994, Gunn ...

, to have won the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

, World titles and broken the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

. At both the 2019 World Championships and Tokyo Games, she also took gold as part of women's

4×400 metres relay Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

team. Muhammad won the 400 m hurdles at the 2007 World Youth Championships, and placed second in the event at the 2009 Pan American Junior Championships. Collegiately, she ran for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ''Trojans'', the women's athletic teams are referred ...

, for whom she was a four-time

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She was also the 2013, 2016, and 2017 American national champion and a two-time Diamond League winner.

Early life

Dalilah Muhammad was born February 7, 1990, in Jamaica, Queens,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, to parents Nadirah and Askia Muhammad.

Athletic career

High school and college track

Dalilah Muhammad competed in various track and field events at high school, including the

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

, sprints, and high jump. While at

Benjamin N. Cardozo High School Benjamin N. Cardozo High School is a state school, public secondary education in the United States, high school in the Bayside, Queens, Bayside neighborhood of Queens, New York City. The school was named for Benjamin N. Cardozo, who served as List ...

Bayside, Queens Bayside is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Whitestone to the northwest, the Long Island Sound and Little Neck Bay to the northeast, Douglaston to the east, Oakland Gardens to the south, and Fresh Meado ...

, she won the 2008

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

and Nike Outdoor Nationals titles in the 400 m hurdles. During that period, she also gained her first international experience. At the 2007 World Youth Championships in Athletics, she took the 400 m hurdles gold medal. Muhammad earned 2007 Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year for

. In 2008, she enrolled at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

on a

sports scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United Sta ...

, majoring in business. Joining the

track team, she competed extensively in her first season. At the Pacific-10 Conference meet, she was runner-up in the 400 m hurdles, fourth in the 4×400-meter relay, and also set a personal record of 13.79 seconds as a finalist in the 100-meter hurdles. The NCAA Outdoor Championship saw her set a 400 m hurdles best of 56.49 seconds and finish in third place in the final. She won the national junior title that year and was the silver medallist at the 2009 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships. In her second year at USC, she was a runner-up at the Pac-10 championships but narrowly missed out on the NCAA final. The 2011 outdoor season saw her repeat her Pac-10-second place, and a personal record of 56.04 seconds in the NCAA semi-finals led to a sixth-place finish in the 400 m hurdles final. In 2012, she set personal records in the sprint hurdles events, running 8.23 seconds for the

60-meter hurdles 60 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling which is generally run in indoor competitions. It is equivalent with the first 5 hurdles of a standard outdoor hurdle race. The current women's and men's world records are 7.68 seconds ( Susanna K ...

and 13.33 seconds for the 100 m hurdles. She ranked fifth in the latter event at the Pac-12 meet, where she placed third in the 400 m hurdles. She was again an NCAA finalist in her speciality, coming in fifth, and she also participated in the heats at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials. She ended her career as a USC Trojan athlete as the school's third fastest ever 400 m hurdler and a four-time NCAA

Professional

After graduating from USC, she chose to compete professionally in the 400 m hurdles. She improved her personal best in the 2013 season with 55.97 then 54.94 seconds in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. In her

IAAF Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

debut, she placed fourth at the

Shanghai Golden Grand Prix The Diamond League Shanghai is an annual athletics event at the Shanghai Stadium in Shanghai, China as part of the Diamond League. The meeting was founded as the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix in 2005. The meet assumed its current name in 2010. From ...

with a time of 54.74 seconds. She won at the

Memorial Primo Nebiolo The Memorial Primo Nebiolo is an annual track and field meeting held at the Stadio Primo Nebiolo (Turin), Stadio Primo Nebiolo in Turin, Italy in early June. History The history of the Turin competition dates back to 1963, when the Torino Meeting ...

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in 54.66, then she placed third at the

Bislett Games The Bislett Games is an annual track and field meeting at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, Norway. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. History The first international athletics meeting at Bisl ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

with a run of 54.33 seconds. At the 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, she improved her personal record by half a second with a run of 53.83 in the final to win her first national title in the 400 m hurdles. Muhammad has represented

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

since 2013. At the

2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships was held at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California. Organised by USA Track and Field, the four-day competition took place June 26–29 in conjunction with the USA Junior Combined Events Outdoo ...

, Muhammad qualified for the 400 m hurdles but did not start. At the

2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships were held at Hayward Field, University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. Organized by USA Track and Field, the four-day competition took place June 25–28 and served as the national championships i ...

, she placed 7th with a time of 57.31. Noite de atletismo no Engenhão 1038893-18

At the 2016 United States Olympic Trials, she won the 400-meter hurdles in 52.88. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she won gold in the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of e ...

, making her the first American woman to ever win gold in the 400-meter hurdles. The following year, she won the

2017 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2017 USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships were held at Hornet Stadium on the campus of California State University, Sacramento in Sacramento, California. Organized by USA Track & Field, the four-day competition took place June 22–25 an ...

with new personal best of 52.64. Muhammad went on to compete at the 2017 World Championships, and came away with a silver medal. She also won the

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and

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Diamond League titles in her event. Muhammad broke the 400-meter hurdles

at the

2019 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2019 USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships were held at Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Organized by USA Track & Field, the four-day competition took place from July 25–28 and served as the national c ...

with a time of 52.20 seconds, improving

Yuliya Pechonkina Yuliya Sergeyevna Pechonkina, née Nosova (russian: Юлия Серге́евна Печёнкина, born 21 April 1978 in Krasnoyarsk) is a Russian former athlete who specialized in the 400 metres hurdles and 4 × 400 metres relay. She was prev ...

's 16-year-old record of 52.34 (2003). Muhammad was only the second woman in the history of the 400m hurdles, after

, to have won the Olympic title and broken the world record. In September, the IAAF ratified Muhammad's time as the official world record. She won the gold medal at the 2019 World Championships, improving her time by 0.04 seconds, setting the new world record with a time of 52.16 seconds. At the end of the season she was selected for the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Award by the U.S.A. Track and Field Federation and by

Track and Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runni ...

at its World Women's Athlete of the Year, voted their first choice by 24 of the publication's 36-member panel.

Track statistics

DOH80081 400mH women final muhammad mc laughlin

Dalilah Muhammad at 2022 World Championships

Information from

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

profile unless otherwise noted.

Personal bests

International championships

400 m hurdles circuit wins and titles

* Diamond League champion (2): Diamond blue

. **

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Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

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Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

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: Eugene () **

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National championships

*NCAA results from Track & Field Results Reporting System.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammad, Dalilah 1990 births Living people American female hurdlers African-American female track and field athletes African-American Muslims 21st-century Muslims Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Benjamin N. Cardozo High School alumni Diamond League winners Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic female hurdlers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field People from Jamaica, Queens Sportspeople from Queens, New York Track & Field News Athlete of the Year winners Track and field athletes from New York City USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners USC Trojans women's track and field athletes World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships winners 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women