Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo arrived in Belgrade, Serbia for the World Athletics Indoor Championships 2022 this week and she is targeting the world title, despite not making a single appearance this winter. You can watch all the live streaming and television coverage of the three-day meeting.
The Bahamian hasn’t competed since retaining her Olympic 400m title at the Tokyo Games last August, but reports from her camp has suggested that she’s been looking good in training and is confident about challenging for the gold medal.
Miller-Uibo, who owns a personal best indoor time of 50.21 seconds, which she set in her lone winter appearance over the event in Staten Island, New York, last February, says she feels good and is looking forward to testing her current training progress against some of the top athletes in the world so far this year.
“We just got in today [Wednesday], and so far, I feel pretty good,” she told reporters. “For me, this one is just a chance to see where we’re at with training.
“That said, it’s the first one of the year, and it’s a World Championships, so I definitely have to be ready. But it’s partly just to have a bit of fun.”
READ MORE: Miller-Uibo to open 2022 season at World Indoor Championships
Miller-Uibo is set to face-off with Dutch European champion and world-leader Femke Bol in a two-lap event, but she remains focus on winning the world title at the outdoor championships in Eugene, Ore., later this summer.
“The main goal this season is to be ready to defend my title at the World [Outdoor] Championships in Oregon and this is about working towards that goal,” the Bahamian star added. “After that, cross fingers, I’ll do the Commonwealth Games as well.”
Final indoor 400m race for Miller-Uibo?
Meanwhile, despite being in high spirit about racing this weekend, Miller-Uibo admits that running the sharp turns indoors isn’t her favorite thing to do, noting that this could very well be her last time competing over the 400m in this format.
She went on to explain the reason below.
“Indoors is not my favourite,” the 27-year-old admitted. “I actually went into retirement with the indoor 400m in 2014. I came back again last year to give it another go, but after this season I think I’ll put it back into retirement and concentrate on the outdoors.
“There are just too many turns for me and I never get a chance to really open out my legs. It is a lot of fun, though, and I’m looking forward to it.”
The World Athletics Indoor Track and Field Championships 2022 will take place from 18-20 March in Belgrade, Serbia.
The heats of the women’s 400m will take place on Friday (18) with the final scheduled for Saturday (19).
