AP Photo/Martin Meissner - Dalilah Muhammad, centre, heads to a world record in the women's 400 metre hurdles Friday in Doha, Qatar while Medicine Hat's Sage Watson, to her left, trails en route to an eighth-place finish at the track and field world championships.
Two days after breaking the Canadian record, Sage Watson was part of the fastest race ever.
So fast, in fact, that she had to settle for eighth. In a race where the world record was broken, that’s not such a bad place to be.
The Seven Persons star crossed the line in 54.83 seconds in Friday’s 400 metre hurdles at the world track and field championships in Doha, Qatar. She was last in the final by 37 hundredths of a second and far back of the winner, American Dalilah Muhammad who broke her own record with a time of 52.16.
“So honoured to be part of the fastest race in history,” wrote Watson on her Instagram account.
“Thank you everyone for all the support.”
Watson may have peaked with her semifinal run of 54.32 seconds Wednesday – breaking Rosey Edeh’s 23-year-old Canadian mark set at the 1996 Olympics – but that’s not to say she can’t go faster next year. Making the final was a major goal to accomplish and now Watson can plan ahead to next year’s Olympics in Tokyo, looking to take the next step towards a podium finish.
“I have a lot to build on moving forward,” Watson told The Canadian Press. “I’m really happy with my performance in Doha. To make the final is an honour and just going to keep building on it.”
Muhammad, racing on the lane inside Watson, made up the stagger on her Canadian counterpart less than 100 metres in and was pushed to the finish by fellow American Sydney McLaughlin, who finished in 52.23. Both were faster than the previous person to hold the record, Russian Yuliya Pechonkina who ran 52.34 back in 2003. Muhammad ran 52.20 earlier this summer.
No women’s 400 hurdles race has ever seen all eight contestants break the vaunted 55-second barrier before.
Watson’s time at world isn’t over, as she’s expected to race in the 4×400 metre relay heats Saturday around 10:55 a.m. Mountain time. Canada is seeded third in its heat and will need to maintain that position or have a fast enough time of the non-automatic qualifiers to reach Sunday’s 12:15 p.m. final.
