TOKYO, Japan – Sources close within Shaunae Miller-Uibo’s circle have confirmed that she will run both the women’s 200 and 400 meters (m) at the Games of the 32nd Olympiad currently ongoing in Tokyo, Japan.

The Bahamian track and field superstar, who was denied the opportunity five years ago, has apparently determined, in consultation with her team, that this is the best course of action to take.

It was something that Miller-Uibo always wanted to do, but a conflicting schedule prompted her to lean toward one event over the other and that event was the women’s 200m, seeing that she already has the Olympic title in the longer race.

After running both events at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ (BAAA) Junior and Senior National Track and Field Championships at the end of June, Miller-Uibo was asked again if she would consider doing both events in Tokyo and she simply said, “We’ll see.”

She has been one of the world’s best sprinters over both disciplines in this Olympic cycle, posting world leading times in the women’s 400m in 2017 and 2018, and in the women’s 200m in 2019 and 2020.

Miller-Uibo is one of the world’s most versatile female athletes – one of just four athletes in history to ever run under 49 seconds in the women’s 400m, under 22 seconds in the women’s 200m and under 11 seconds in the women’s 100m. She is known for her superior top end speed and ability to reel in the quickest of athletes in the world once she straightens up and reaches maximum acceleration.

However, Miller-Uibo has been battling a groin injury over the past few weeks, one that contributed in her 16-race unbeaten streak in the women’s 200m being snapped at the 2021 Gyulai István Memorial in Székesfehérvár, Hungary, at the beginning of July. She had a 26-race unbeaten streak snapped at the Doha World Championships in 2019.

With World Champion Salwa Eid Naser, of Bahrain, serving a two-year ban for a “whereabouts failures” violation and world leader Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi, both 18-year-olds of Namibia, out of the Olympics due to high testosterone levels, Miller-Uibo would be an overwhelming favorite for the gold medal in the women’s 400m in Tokyo, lining her up to repeat as Olympic champion.

The 200m is a far more daunting task, but the 27-year-old Bahamian is up to the challenge.

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