Eugene (United States) (AFP) - World record holder Sydney McLaughlin and defending champion Dalilah Muhammad remained on course for another heavyweight showdown after easing through their opening 400m hurdles heats at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon on Tuesday.
The two American stars have fought a series of epic battles over the distance in recent years, with McLaughlin storming to Olympic gold and a world record in a sensational performance at last year’s Tokyo Games.
The prodigiously gifted 22-year-old bettered her own world record with another breathtaking exhibition of front-running at the US trials in June, when she blasted to a new mark of 51.41sec in a meeting also held at Eugene’s Hayward Field.
On Tuesday, McLaughlin raced well within herself, leading from the outer-most lane before winning her heat in a comfortable 53.95sec.
Muhammad, the 2016 Olympic champion who beat McLaughlin in a thrilling 2019 World Championship final in Doha – where she set what was then a world record 52.16sec – was similarly unflustered in her heat, cruising home in 54.45.
Muhammad says she is expecting another battle royale in Eugene.
"This event has become one of the main focuses for the last couple of years," the 32-year-old said.
"Every time you go out to compete it's going to be a battle and could be any one of our days.So we'll just have to see how it goes in the final.”
Muhammad is also unfazed by suggestions that McLaughlin has had the upper hand in recent meetings."I feel like I have a long list that carries its own weight and that's all I'm focused on," Muhammad said.
Meanwhile the Netherlands' Femke Bol, seen by many as the best outside bet of upsetting the McLaughlin-Muhammad axis in Eugene, qualified fastest for the semi-finals after winning her heat in 53.90sec.
The semi-finals in the women's 400m hurdles take place on Wednesday, with the final set for Friday.
