Sports
Cardozo Alumna To Defend Gold Title At Tuesday's Olympic Games
Dalilah Muhammad, the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the 400m hurdle, will defend her title in this week's final after a tough season.
BAYSIDE, QUEENS — Record-setting track and field athlete Dalilah Muhammad is preparing to defend her gold metal title in the 400 meter hurdle Olympic event this week.
Amid a downpour, Muhammad crossed the finish line of her first semifinal heath on Monday with a time of 53.30 seconds, NBC reported. She ran a 54.97 time in the first round of competition last week.
Muhammad is one of three American women racing in the final event at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday (EST), but after a challenging year she is reportedly ready to win. “[Tokyo] is going to be a battle,” she told the Washington Post in June, after getting bested by one of her teammates in the Olympic trials.
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This spring, Muhammad — a born-and-raised Queens athlete, who attended Bayside’s Cardozo High School — faced a series of setbacks, including a hamstring injury and a fight against the coronavirus.
Then, at the Olympic trials in Oregon she was outpaced by teammate Sydney McLaughlin’s record-setting time.
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Despite what is depicted as a rivalry between the two athletes, Muhammad told the Washington Post that she doesn’t see their competition as such.
“It’s actually unfortunate to me that it’s so looked upon [as a rivalry] because it makes it seem like we’re always going head-to-head, where in reality I wish Sydney nothing but the best,” she told the Washington Post, adding that having a strong competitor actually pushes her harder.
“I love seeing where the event can go,” she told the Post.
Rivalry or not, on Tuesday Muhammad and McLaughlin will both race in the final 400 meter hurdle Olympic event, alongside their teammate Anna Cockrell.
Defending her gold title is on the line, but for Muhammad the event is about more than that.
“We talk so much about being at the pinnacle of your career. For me, it doesn’t feel like the top. For me, it just feels like it’s part of the journey, and the journey is not over yet,” she told the New York Times.
The final 400m hurdle event will take place at 10:30 p.m. (EST) on Tuesday, Aug. 3.
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