LOS ANGELES (MAY 29) — Salwa Eid Naser continued her comeback to competitive racing with another promising performance, securing a second-place finish in the women’s 400 meters at the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix. The World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, was held at the UCLA Drake Stadium in California on Saturday, 27th May.
After serving a two-year suspension for missing out-of-competition tests between March 2019 and January 2020, Naser made her comeback on February 18, 2023. In the very fast women’s 400m race at the USATF LA Grand Prix this past weekend, she finished second to Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, who recorded an impressive world-leading time of 48.98 seconds for the victory.
Naser, the gold medalist from the 2019 World Championships, achieved a time of 50.27 seconds, surpassing her previous season’s best of 50.88 seconds, which she set at the Bobcats Last Chance Meet in Miramar, Fla., on 13th May. Read more: Full Results – 2023 USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix
This race marked her third appearance in the 400m event this season. She previously ran 52.24 seconds, securing second place at the Grand Prix Sudamericano Ciudad de Santiago in Chile before heading to the USA for the latest meet.
Step In The Right Direction For Salwa Eid Naser
This performance represents a significant step forward for the Nigerian-born Bahraini athlete, who aspires to reclaim the form that propelled her to victory in the 2019 world championships after finishing second in the 2017 edition.
Due to her unfortunate two-year suspension imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Naser was unable to defend her world title at the 2022 championships in Oregon, last summer. Additionally, she missed the delayed Tokyo Olympic Games, which took place in 2021.
It will be intriguing to see if the 25-year-old, who holds a personal best of 48.14 seconds, the third-fastest time among performers in the history of the 400m event, can rediscover her top form to compete against formidable rivals such as world and Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino, Britton Wilson and Gabby Thomas from the USA, Sada Williams from Barbados, and other elite runners worldwide.
The 2023 World Athletics Championships are scheduled to take place from 19th August to 27th August 2023 in Budapest, Hungary.
