BEIJING, China – Texas A&M’s Shamier Little claimed a silver medal in the final of the 400 hurdles at the IAAF World Championships, producing a time of 53.94 seconds from lane two inside the Bird’s Nest stadium on Wednesday.
“It’s exciting, finishing with a medal is a big deal to me,” said Little, the youngest hurdler among the finalists. “What I’ve accomplished so far in just coming here and barely getting into the final.
“I set my race up, that was a big part of it. Bringing it home was another big part of it. I made sure I stayed tough. That’s what I did and that’s what made a difference between today and the semifinals.”
The 20-year-old Chicago native, who will be an A&M junior this upcoming season, continues to add to an impressive collection of medals amid her first two seasons as an Aggie. In 2014 Little won NCAA, US Junior and World Junior championships. This year she set a world-leading time of 54.68 in winning the SEC, improved her world-leading time to 53.74 to defend her NCAA title, claimed the USATF championship (53.83) and won the Pan Am Games (55.50).
Little becomes the first female to medal at the World Junior Championships and then medal the following year at the World Championships. Others who have accomplished that feat include Grenada’s Kirani James in the 400 (2010 WJr gold, 2011 WCh gold), Trinidad & Tobago’s Darrel Brown in the 100 (2002 WJr gold, 2003 WCh silver) and Llewellyn Herbert of South Africa in the 400 hurdles (1996 WJr silver, 1997 WCh silver).
Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic became the first female to successfully defend a World Championship 400 hurdle title with a world-leading time of 53.50 seconds as American Cassandra Tate placed third in 54.02. Hejnova also finished ahead of a pair of Americans in winning the 2013 World title as the U.S. duo of Dalilah Muhammad and Lashinda Demus finished second and third.
Little’s steady progression from her lane two position in the final had her making up the stagger of Eilidh Child of Great Britain, lane 3, at the fifth hurdle and she was even with Denmark’s Sara Petersen, lane 4, by the seventh hurdle. Then Little challenged the fast starting Tate, stationed in lane 6, and Petersen for the runner-up position at hurdle eight.
At the ninth barrier Little and Tate each clipped the hurdle and they remained even at the final hurdle, a couple of strides ahead of Petersen. Then on the run in over the final 40m of the race, Little gained an edge over Tate to finish a stride ahead of her U.S. teammate for the silver medal.
“I was glad I got to see the field ahead of me instead of kind of running out there on my own from an outside lane,” noted Little. “I feel like I executed my race well, and I was happy with the outcome.”
Petersen finished fourth in 54.20 over Jamaica’s Janieve Russell (54.64), Child (54.78) and South Africa’s Wenda Nel (54.94). Kaliese Spencer of Jamaica, who placed fourth at the World Championships in 2009 and 2011 as well as the 2012 Olympics, lost her stride when she hit the second hurdle and finished eighth in 55.47.
Little has recorded three times under 54 seconds this season and currently has the second (53.74), fourth (53.83) and fifth (53.94) fastest performances on the 2015 world list.
In prelims of the women’s 200 meters Texas A&M grad Jeneba Tarmoh won her heat in 22.79 seconds (0.0 wind) to reach the semifinal round. Tarmoh will run in the third of three semifinal heats on Thursday (6:35 a.m. CT) along with Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown and Dina Asher-Smith of Great Brtitain as the top two finishers and the next two fastest times advance to the final.
In men’s triple jump qualifying Aggie junior Latario Collie, representing the Bahamas, produced a mark of 53-2 ¼ (16.21) and did not advance to the final.
EVENT Schedule – 2015 IAAF World Championships – Beijing, China
AUGUST 27
Beijing Central Time Event Round Aggie Entry
09:30 20:30 (26 Aug) M Discus Throw Qualification Group A
09:35 20:35 (26 Aug) W High Jump Qualification
09:40 20:40 (26 Aug) W 5000 Meters Heats
10:20 21:20 (26 Aug) W Long Jump Qualification
10:35 21:35 (26 Aug) M 1500 Meters Heats
10:50 21:50 (26 Aug) M Discus Throw Qualification Group B
11:15 22:15 (26 Aug) W 100 Meters Hurdles Heats
AFTERNOON SESSION
19:00 06:00 W Hammer Throw Final
19:05 06:05 M 110 Meters Hurdles Semi-Final
19:10 06:10 M Triple Jump Final
19:35 06:35 W 200 Meters Semi-Final Jeneba Tarmoh
20:05 07:05 W 800 Meters Semi-Final
20:40 07:40 W 400 Meters Final
20:55 07:55 M 200 Meters Final
AUGUST 28
08:30 19:30 (27 Aug) W 20 Kilometers Race Walk Final
09:00 20:00 (27 Aug) M 100 Meters Decathlon
09:45 20:45 (27 Aug) M High Jump Qualification
10:05 21:05 (27 Aug) M Long Jump Decathlon
11:55 22:55 (27 Aug) M Shot Put Decathlon
AFTERNOON SESSION
16:15 03:15 M High Jump Decathlon
19:00 06:00 W Javelin Throw Qualification Group A
19:25 06:25 W 100 Meters Hurdles Semi-Final
19:50 06:50 W Long Jump Final
19:55 06:55 M 1500 Meters Semi-Final
20:20 07:20 M 400 Meters Decathlon
20:25 07:25 W Javelin Throw Qualification Group B
21:00 08:00 W 200 Meters Final (Jeneba Tarmoh)
21:20 08:20 M 110 Meters Hurdles Final
21:35 08:35 W 100 Meters Hurdles Final
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics