FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. —- Star sprinter Abby Steiner and long sprint hurdler Shamier Little will battle in the same heat of the women’s 400m on Day Two at the 2023 Razorback Invitational here in Fayetteville, AR, on Saturday. Watch live streaming coverega of Day Here
Both athletes enter this clash in good form after making a winning start to their respective seasons in recent weeks. Multi star athlete and reigning world bronze medalist, Anna Hall will also contest this event but races from a separate section to her fellow Americans.
Abby Steiner Looking To Build On Season Opener
Steiner opened her 2023 campaign with a dominant victory over 400m at the 2023 Rod McCravy Memorial at her Alma mater in Kentucky on 14 January, while Little had a battle victory over 600m on this same track on 13 Jan.
This Saturday on the Randal Tyson Indoor Track, the American pair will race in section 9 of the women’s 400m. They will be joined by Great Britain’s World and European bronze medalist Nicole Yeargin and Ashanti Denton of Arkansas.
Steiner, who won two goal medals at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon as part of the USA relay squads, made an impressive start to her debut season as a professional athlete after clocking 51.70 seconds for a victory on the oversized track at the 2023 Rod McCravy Memorial.
The 23-year-old former University of Kentucky standout and the recent winner of The Bowerman Women’s Award starts as the favorite to win the 400m this weekend. Still, it may not be as easygoing as her season opener.
Determined Shamier Little Will Be Tough To Beat
Little enters this showdown with Steiner as the world leader over the 600m this season with a time of 1:24.65, achieved at the Arkansas Invitational, and I am expecting the 400m hurdles specialist to make life very uncomfortable for her compatriot.
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Little owns an indoor 400m personal best of 50.57 secs, while Abby Steiner comes into this clash aiming to improve on her lifetime best.
Yeargin, a bronze medalist with Great Britain’s 4x400m relay teams at the 2022 World Championships and European Championships, will also be one to watch as she looks to separate the USA pair.
The women’s 400m event will also feature World Championships Heptathlon bronze medalist Anna Hall, who will race from Section 10, Dajour Miles of Kentucky in Section 14, Florida’s Talitha Diggs, who starts in Section 15, Arkansas’ Paris Peoples in Section 13 and LSU’s Garriel White, who starts in the 12th Section.
