By Jack Butler
For Saturday’s women’s 400-meter race at the Prefontaine Classic, Dalilah Muhammad just wants a win.
Starting her season successfully against a stacked field is important. All three medalists from the 2016 Rio Olympics are racing on Saturday, including the gold medalist herself—Muhammad.
“It just makes me excited. It will be a nice race to see where we are all at,” Muhammad said.
American Ashley Spencer was the bronze medalist, and Denmark’s Sara Slott Petersen was the silver medalist in the 2016 Olympics. Petersen has yet to run an official Diamond League race this year. Spencer ran a race earlier this season with a time of 54.78.
Muhammad is the only American woman to win Olympic gold in the 400-meter hurdles. She is 0.40 from breaking the American record in the event, but smaller goals need to be achieved before the record is broken.
“I see other things I need to hit first. It’s definitely there. I definitely want to run the American record,” Muhammad said. “0.4 is a big difference.”
Muhammad wants to continue her streak of running well at Hayward Field. At the 2016 Olympic Trials, she ran a personal best of 52.88 seconds.
Hayward wasn’t always a good luck charm for her. Injuries and just “bad luck” have held her back from performing well in Eugene. She finished 11th in the 2015 USA Track and Field Championships and 20th in the 2012 Olympic Trials.
It was a bad streak broken when Muhammad ran well in 2016.
“I’ve always kind of had that stigma; I’m glad I broke it finally,” she said. “I’ve always been nervous coming here, but I’m happy. It wasn’t this track; it was just bad luck.”
Muhammad and Her Faith
Given the current political climate, policies of the United States and her Islamic faith, Muhammad is prepared for possible travel challenges.
“I haven’t traveled internationally this year to get a true sense of what’s going on,” Muhammad said. “From a personal standpoint, I guess we’ll see. Stay tuned.”
In two weeks, Muhammad will travel to Jamaica for a race. Muhammad said she has a habit of arriving at the destinations last minute. Now, she will arrive early in case there are any complications at the airport.
“It’s unfortunate that I have to feel that way or think about those things,” she said. “Some things you don’t really understand until you’ve experienced it.”
For Muhammed, it is an extra challenge that other athletes don’t face, but it doesn’t daunt her.
“I wouldn’t call it an extra burden cause I’m born Muhammad and I’ve been Muslim my entire life and it’s what I’ve lived with,” Muhammad said. “Unfortunately it becomes your normal.”
