Dalilah Muhammad Rethinks Retirement Plans After Missing Podium at World Championships

Dalilah Muhammad might return to the track for one more season, following her comments after the women’s 400m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

The former 400m hurdles world record holder had earlier this year announced that the 2025 season will be her last, with the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo serving as her final major competition.

However, after competing in the 400m hurdles and finishing seventh in 54.82 seconds, she might be reconsidering hanging her spikes.

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Femke Bol comfortably defended her title, clocking a world-leading time of 51.54 seconds ahead of American Jasmine Jones, who came in second in a personal best time of 52.08 seconds. Emma Zapletalova rounded up the podium in a national record time of 53.00 seconds.

Going into the final of the race, Dalilah Muhammad had hoped to finish in the podium bracket, but things did not go as planned.

After the race, the two-time world champion told reporters that she always wants to achieve more, and after finishing the race, she felt like there was still more she could do.

The former Olympic champion revealed that she has not officially made a decision to retire, and she will have a conversation with her team to know the way forward.

“I feel good. I think you’re always going to want more for yourself, and I think that’s been the most difficult part for me. It’s that you have a few injuries, and you think, ‘Oh man, that wasn’t the case, I can do this.’ But after a while, you just have to call it at some point,” Dalilah Muhammad said after the race.

“So, it’s not officially, I’m calling it. I will make a final statement with the team and really make that decision. Well, kind of, that was the plan coming into this year, but I think things happen and plans change, and we’ll see if that’s still the plan.”

She extended grace to herself following her performance, noting that there is a lot she has been able to achieve in the sport, from setting world records to winning multiple titles.

Dalilah Muhammad disclosed that at the start of the final race, she felt a bit of discomfort and decided not to push herself beyond the limits.

The American was aware that the move would be detrimental to her title reclamation hopes, or rather, even winning any medal, but decided to do what was best for her health at the moment.

“But I’m really proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish in this sport. I’m proud of the mark I set, the advancements I’ve personally made and as a whole made in the 400m hurdles,” she revealed.

“Even going into this race, I was thinking that because maybe I was feeling a little something, I would go out a little bit slower than I do and work the back half, and I was like, there’s no way you can do that, and I’m partly to blame for that.”

She won her first world championship medal in 2013 in Moscow, a silver, before heading to the 2017 edition and adding another silver. She then won double gold in 2019, in the 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay, before winning a bronze in 2022.

At the Olympic Games, Dalilah Muhammad won her first medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, and then won gold in the women’s 4x400m relay and silver in the 400m hurdles at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.