Today we bring you a brief preview of the men’s 400m. This event will be quite competitive and should feature the likes of the world leader Michael Norman from the United States. At the Prefontaine Diamond League, and per Ato Boldon, he “finally woke up” and broke Michael Johnson’s long standing 22-year-old record with a massive time of 43.60! Shots fired! With home advantage and crowd support and at the same site where he has run his fastest times, this race is going to be epic. The “Man with the Plan” from the Bahamas, Steven Garner, will be the main challenger and “Mr. Easy,” the defending World Champion, who has not lost a race since 2017, is ready to go. He won this event in the Doha World Championships running 43.48 which placed him at number 6 on the All-time List. At the Paris Diamond League, he ran the 400m with a quick and easy 44.21 for a comfortable victory. Let’s not forget about Kirani James, another Caribbean man, who hails from the Spice Island of Grenada. He should factor here as well. He looks to be in spanking form and should challenge for one of the medals. The number two man in the world this year, Champion Allison ran a PB of 43.70 at the United States trials and with a name like that should not be overlooked and could create an upset. Randolph Ross and Michael Cherry, the other two United States entrants should make things interesting here. However, with his recent resurgence, and getting back to form, we should never count out the world record holder Wayne Van Niekerk. He ran 44.58 in his opener to win the men’s 400m at recently concluded Stars and Stripes Classic 2022 – American Track League meeting on July 2. Could it be a case of too little too late for him? Track fans, please zero-in and let’s hear your predictions.
Review by Viccarrio Gibbs