Running News Daily

Anna Polinari produced the race of her career at the Meeting Madrid, storming to a sensational personal best of 50.36 seconds to claim victory in a thrilling women's 400m contest and register the fastest time by an Italian woman in 17 years.

The Italian star held her composure under immense pressure, edging Bahrain's Kemi Adekoya by the slimmest of margins. Adekoya crossed the line just 0.01 seconds behind in 50.37, capping off one of the closest one-lap battles of the season.

Polinari's breakthrough performance places her among the finest Italian quarter-milers in history. Her 50.36 is the quickest time by an Italian woman since Libania Grenot set the national record of 50.30 in 2009, underlining the significance of the milestone and marking a new chapter for Italian women's sprinting.

The race remained fiercely competitive from start to finish. Chile's Martina Weil secured third place in 50.43, while Ireland's Sharlene Mawdsley finished fourth in the identical time, separated only by the photo finish.

Beyond the victory, Polinari's performance sends a powerful message ahead of the major championships. Producing a personal best in such a high-quality field demonstrates not only her growing confidence but also her ability to thrive under pressure against world-class opposition. With her form peaking at the right time, she has emerged as a serious contender on the international stage.

For Italian athletics, the result is a landmark moment. Breaking a 17-year barrier is no small feat, and Polinari's remarkable run highlights the resurgence of Italy's women's sprint program. If she continues on this trajectory, the national record of 50.30 now appears well within reach, setting the stage for an exciting remainder of the season.

The magical freshman season of Texas A&M sensation Athing Mu hit a new high on Saturday evening as the 18-year-old clocked a stunning 1:58.40 at the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., obliterating several records in the process.

Prior to tonight, no collegiate woman had run faster than 2:00.69 indoors (Jazmine Fray in 2017 for Texas A&M), but Mu went from 2:01.07 to 1:58.40 in a single race. She also took more than two seconds off the official world U20 record and 0.63 off Keely Hodgkinson‘s unratified 1:59.03 from earlier this year.

he time was also faster than Raevyn Rogers’ overall collegiate record of 1:59.10, set outdoors in 2017. And it also ranks Mu #2 on the all-time US indoor list at 800 meters, just behind Ajee’ Wilson’s American record of 1:58.29 last year. Mu is also now the 2nd fastest American U20 – just behind the 1:58.21 that Wilson ran to get 5th at Worlds outdoors in Moscow in 2013.

Mu made history by running a fearless race. With no pacemaker in the field, Mu went straight to the front, hitting 200 in 28.65, and coming through 400 in 57.96 — a remarkable split for an indoor race. Mu ran her third lap in 29.64 to hit 600 in 1:27.60, and though her final lap was by far her slowest — 30.81 — she held on for a stellar time.

This may have been the most impressive run of Mu’s young career, but it is far from the only one. Mu first made national headlines two years ago as a 16-year-old by defeating Rogers to win the 2019 US indoor 600m title, setting an American record of 1:23.57 in the process. 

After graduating high school in 2020, Mu headed off to Texas A&M — following the same path of fellow US phenom Donavan Brazier — and her first season in 2021 has seen Mu reel off a string of terrific performances. On January 23, she ran 1:25.80 to break the collegiate record at 600 meters. The following week, Mu ran one of the fastest 4x400m splits ever (50.03) to anchor her Texas A&M squad to the win at Texas Tech. And a week after that, Mu ran 50.52, which broke the world U20 record of 50.82 set by future Olympic champion Sanya Richards-Ross. (That’s assuming the record is ratified; Sydney McLaughlin actually ran faster as a U20 athlete — 50.36 — but McLaughlin’s time was never ratified as a WR).

Mu will compete next at the NCAA Indoor Championships, also in Fayetteville, from March 11-13. Whether she chooses to run the 400 or the 800, she will be the favorite.

Two of the world’s most talented teenagers produced stand-out performances on either side of the Atlantic on Saturday.

USA’s Athing Mu sped to a 50.52 clocking to win the 400m at the Charlie Thomas Invitational in College Station. If ratified, the 18-year-old’s time would improve the official world U20 indoor record of 50.82 set by 2012 Olympic champion Sanya Richards-Ross.

The fastest indoor time ever achieved by an U20 sprinter, however, remains the 50.36 clocking set by Sydney McLaughlin in 2018; her time could not be ratified as a world U20 indoor record. Mu now moves to 20th on the senior world all-time indoor list and fourth on the senior US list.

In recent weeks, Mu has been lighting up indoor tracks on the US collegiate circuit. She clocked a North American U20 indoor record of 2:01.07 for 800m in January and followed it one week later with a world-leading 1:25.80 run over 600m. Last week she ran a 50.5 anchor leg in a 4x400m in Lubbock, hinting at her potential for the individual 400m.

Jamaica’s Charokee Young finished a distant second to Mu in College Station, running 51.93.

The men’s 400m in College Station also produced some swift times with Noah Williams setting an outright PB of 45.47 to win from Sean Burrell (45.57). St Lucia’s Julien Alfred won the women’s 60m in 7.17, having clocked 7.15 in the heats.

Adrian Piperi, the 2015 world U18 shot put champion, produced a big PB of 21.74m to move up to 11th on the US indoor all-time list.

European U20 long jump champion Larissa Iapichino got her 2021 campaign off to a flying start, quite literally, at the Italian U23/U20 Championships in Ancona on Saturday (6).

The 18-year-old leapt an indoor PB of 6.53m in the second round, beating her own national U20 indoor record, and then improved to 6.70m in round three. She went even farther in the fifth round, leaping 6.75m.

Her winning mark moves her up to fourth on the world U20 indoor all-time list and is just 13 centimeters shy of the world U20 indoor record set by Heike Drechsler back in 1983.

2016 Olympian, Sydney McLaughlin and NCAA champion has joined the New Balance team. McLaughlin burst onto the scene in 2016 when she qualified for the Rio Olympics as a 16-year-old high school student. The 400m hurdler now has nearly 300,000 Instagram followers and a multi-year New Balance contract. McLaughlin graduated high school in 2017 and started at the University of Kentucky last fall. Many running fans were surprised at the hurdler’s decision to go to school as opposed to turning pro right out of the gate, but her first year in the NCAA was very successful. The freshman managed to set the collegiate outdoor record and world junior record in the 400m hurdles, running 52.75, and a world junior record in the indoor 400m of 50.36. Immediately after the NCAA Outdoor Championships, McLaughlin announced that she would not be returning to collegiate running. McLaughlin said in a press release, “New Balance has a long-standing history as an excellent running company and they are the perfect partner for me. I’m thrilled to join the Team New Balance family, a brand that not only shares the same values and principles that are important to me but also supports its athletes on and off the track.”