Ultimate preview: women's 400m hurdles

Anna Cockrell at the World Championships in Tokyo (© World Athletics Birgit Dieryck)

Semifinals: Saturday 12 Sep, 18:46Final: Sunday 13 Sep, 18:08

Contenders:Anna Cockrell (USA) 💎Emma Zapletalová (SVK)Jasmine Jones (USA)Rushell Clayton (JAM)Gianna Woodruff (PAN)Dalilah Muhammad (USA)Kemi Adekoya (BRN)Amalie Iuel (NOR)Fatoumata Binta Diallo (POR)Paulien Couckuyt (BEL)Ayomide Folorunso (ITA)Sanique Walker (JAM)Ashley Miller (ZIM)Shiann Salmon (JAM)Lina Nielsen (GBR)Shamier Little (USA)Sára Mátó (HUN)

World lead: 52.13 Anna Cockrell (USA) Zurich, 27 Aug2026 world list | world rankings

World record: 50.37 Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA) Paris, 8 Aug 2024world all-time list | world record progression

Emma Zapletalová has very much had to play the long game but finally her patience is paying off.

The Slovakian athlete had to endure three years of injury-ravaged seasons, missing the 2023 season altogether and running just three times the following year.

There were signs of promise last season when she performed well throughout the Diamond League and then finished on the podium at the World Championships but 2026 has proved to be her revelation.

She talked recently about finally running injury free and the results have been stand-out with five Diamond League 400m hurdles victories to her name as well as becoming the first Slovakian woman to win a European title which she achieved in Birmingham.

The one blemish was a sixth place in Zurich where Anna Cockrell clocked the fastest time of the year when she won in a meeting record of 52.13, and Cockrell again just edged Zapletalová at the Diamond League Final in Brussels.

Cockrell’s Zurich time was her fastest since running 51.87 to finish second at the Paris Olympic Games, a time that had put her fourth on the world all-time list.

But the Ultimate Championship looks unlikely to be a straight head to head between this pairing.

Dalilah Muhammad was meant to have packed up her running spikes with Tokyo pencilled in as her final ever competitive outing last year but, at 36, she is still running rapidly.

She was second behind Cockrell in Zurich, a decade on from winning Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro, but she struggled in Brussels. Surely Budapest will be the swan song to an illustrious career.

Others likely to be in the mix include Muhammad and Cockrell’s US compatriot Jasmine Jones, the Tokyo world silver medallist ranked third in the world this season, and Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton.

And home fans will be hoping that Sára Mátó will be able to give them something to cheer about having earned one of the host member federation spots for the event.

Matt Majendie for World Athletics

Title key: 🏅 Olympic champion, 🌍 world champion, 💎 Diamond League champion