Brazilian hurdler Alison dos Santos produced a historic performance in Zurich on Thursday, smashing the men’s 400-meter hurdles world record with a time of 45.80 seconds at the Diamond League meeting.
The 26-year-old lowered the previous record of 45.94, set by Norway’s Karsten Warholm in the unforgettable Olympic final in Tokyo in 2021, by 0.14 seconds.
Warholm was in the race as his record fell, finishing second in 46.69.
Dos Santos’ previous personal best was 46.29, set when he won the world title in Eugene in 2022. Before Thursday, that performance ranked him third on the all-time list behind Warholm and American Rai Benjamin.
The Brazilian has been one of the dominant figures in the event alongside Warholm and Benjamin, with the trio responsible for many of the fastest performances ever recorded in the 400-meter hurdles.
Before their era, the benchmark belonged to American Kevin Young, whose 46.78 at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics stood as the world record for nearly three decades.
(Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
Dos Santos won bronze at both the Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 Paris Games. Now, for the first time in his career, he owns the world record.
The Zurich meeting also produced drama in the women’s 100 meters, where Olympic champion Julien Alfred ran a personal best of 10.70 seconds to edge world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden by five thousandths of a second.
Jefferson-Wooden had won 11 consecutive 100-meter finals since the Paris Olympics before Thursday’s defeat.
Sha’Carri Richardson finished third in 10.97, with the three sprinters expected to meet again at the upcoming World Athletics championship event in Budapest in September.