DES MOINES, Iowa — Dalilah Muhammad broke a 16-year-old world record in the 400-meter hurdles by finishing in 52.20 seconds on a drizzly Sunday night at the U.S. track and field championships.

With puddles on the track, the reigning Olympic champion eclipsed the mark of 52.34 set by Yuliya Pechonkina of Russia on Aug. 8, 2003.

Muhammad’s previous best time was 52.64 in 2017.

Teenager Sydney McLaughlin was second and Ashley Spencer wound up third to also earn spots in the world championships this fall in Qatar. Kori Carter didn’t compete in the event, but has an automatic bye into worlds as the defending champion.

It was a day of near-misses for Mainers hoping to qualify for the world championships.

Rachel Schneider of Sanford placed fourth in the women’s 5,000, missing a qualifying position by .45 seconds. Schneider (15:17.91) moved into the lead late in the race but was overtaken on the final lap by Shelby Houlihan (15:15.50), Karissa Schweizer (15:17.03) and University of New Hampshire graduate Elinor Purrier (15:17.46).

Lewiston’s Isaiah Harris, bidding for his second straight trip to the world championships, finished fourth in the men’s 800 behind Donovan Brazier (1:45.62), Clayton Murphy (1:46.01) and Bryce Hoppel (1:46.31), though Harris’ time of 1:46.45 also fell short of the qualifying standard for worlds.

Riley Masters of Bangor (13:31.39) and Ben True of North Yarmouth (13:33.13) were sixth and seventh in the men’s 5,000, and Steven Smith of South Portland (47:11.86) placed fifth in the 10K racewalk.

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