Dalilah Muhammad
USA
Athletics
Overall Ranks
#20 among American Olympians
#16 among Track & Field Athletes
#12 among American Track & Field Athletes
#6 among Female American Olympians
#5 among Female Track & Field Athletes
#3 among Female American Track & Field Athletes
Olympic Results
2016
400m Hurdles - Gold
2020
400m Hurdles - Silver
4x400m Relay - Gold
Total
Events - 3
Gold - 2
Silver - 1
Dalilah Muhammad was born on February 7, 1990 in Jamaica, New York, and began training as a runner when a local coach saw her running through the streets at age 7. When she was 17, she won the World Youth Championship in the 400m hurdles, then after graduating from high school, moved across the country to attend USC.
While at USC, she competed in the 2012 US Olympic trials, but failed to make the team. The next year, she took silver in the World Championships in the hurdles, but injuries slowed her down over the next couple of years, and she returned to competition just before the 2016 Olympic trials, where she won, earning her place on the team heading to Rio.
When she got to the Olympics, the favorite was Zuzana Hejnova of Czechia, who had won the last 2 World Championships, but Muhammad started to get noticed after running the fastest time in the semifinal round. By the fourth hurdle in the final, Muhammad had a clear lead, and she never let anyone else make it close, winning the race by 0.42 seconds to become the first American woman to ever win the event.
After finishing second in the 2017 World Championships, she set a new world record at the US Championship in 2019, then added a World Championship win later that year, also setting a new world record in the process. But at the 2021 Olympic trials, she finished second behind Sydney McLaughlin, who broke the world record again, setting it at 51.9 seconds.
The pair was expected to fight it out for gold in Tokyo, and the race lived up to expectations. Muhammad took the lead early, and was a step ahead of McLaughlin and Femke Bol of the Netherlands through the 8th hurdle, but McLaughlin closed the gap by the final hurdle, then had a better finishing kick to win gold. Both runners broke the previous world record, but Muhammad lost by 0.12 seconds.
Both of them also competed in the 4x400m relay later that week, and the squad that ran in the final was one of the strongest ever assembled. McLaughlin ran the first leg, and held a slight lead when she handed off to Allyson Felix, who extended the lead to 5 meters when Muhammad took the baton and pulled away, leaving a gap of 15 meters at the final handoff. Athing Mu (#85 in this countdown) ran the anchor leg, and the USA won by nearly 4 seconds.
She tried to make the US team for the 2024 Olympics, but did not qualify after the trials. She is still running, and has even started running the 800 meters this year, possibly with an eye toward the 2028 games, but she is starting to age out of competitive running. Even with her limited Olympic experience, she had two very strong gold medal wins, plus a silver medal that was faster than the world record, and she stands today as one of the greatest Olympians of all time.
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