Dalilah Muhammad is a track and field Olympic champion specializing in the 400-meter hurdles. She is the second fastest woman of all time in the event with a personal best of 51.58 seconds.
On October 1, 2021, Dalilah received the keys to her home city of Queens, New York. The city dedicated that same day to Muhammad and another Queens-born Olympic star Tina Charles. These honors followed two months after the Tokyo Olympics, in which British-Somalian long-distance runner Sir Mo Farah also participated.
Dalilah Muhammad, track and field star
Muhammad entered the University of Southern California on a sports scholarship in 2008. She majored in business. The athlete set records in her first year with the USC Trojans, competing in the 400-meter hurdling and 4×400-meter relay events.
For her collegiate team, she was an All-American at four NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She left as the third fastest 400-meter hurdler in the school’s history.
“There’s a perfect angle you want to get to have a perfect start,” said Muhammad.
In 2008, she won the New York State international hurdle and Nike Outdoor Nationals titles. In 2009 she earned second place in the Pan American Junior Championships 400-meter hurdles. She is also a repeat Diamond League champion.
In 2013 Muhammad took home silver at the Moscow Olympics. Three years later, she won gold in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2016 Rio Olympics in pouring rain.
In 2019 Muhammad broke the 400-meter world record at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in July. She completed the course in 52.20 seconds, earning her the gold medal. She broke her own record a few months later in October. Muhammad completed the 400-meter hurdle in 52.16 seconds, winning gold at the World Championships in Qatar.
In the 2020 Tokyo summer Olympics, the athlete won gold with Team USA in the 4×400-meter relay. She also won silver in her signature 400-meter hurdle.
Dalilah Muhammad’s home in Queens
Muhammad was born in Queens, New York in 1990. Her mother Nadirah is in social work. Meanwhile, her father Askia worked as a correctional chaplain. Her sister is a teacher and her brother worked in the military.
Muhammad’s mother Nadirah said she was “running before she was walking.” As a child, Muhammad ran with a local club.
“I always thought the sky is the limit,” Muhammad told the New York Times. “Even when I was eight in my first race, I thought, ‘One day I’m going to be first.’”
While in Queens, Muhammad attended Benjamin N. Cardozo High School. She participated in track and field events including high jumps, sprinting, and hurdling.
In 2007 Muhammad won gold for the 400-meter hurdles at the world Youth Championships in Athletics. That same year she won New York Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year for high school students.
“It makes me proud to be representing Queens and be from Rochdale Village,” Muhammad told NBC New York. “It’s definitely the thing that pushes me forward to do my very best.”
When Muhammad won her first Olympic gold medal, her mother said, the entire neighborhood cheered. Rochdale Village in Queens threw a parade when Muhammad returned home.
“There’s an African proverb that says it takes a village to raise a child, and in our experience, that is the absolute truth,” Muhammad’s father told NBC New York.
Queens honors Dalilah Muhammad after Summer Olympics
Borough President Donovan Richards awarded Muhammad a key to her home city on Friday, October 1st. The city also established a day in her honor. Muhammad shares these honors with Queens-born basketball Olympian Tina Charles.
“[Muhammad and Charles] are role models and inspirations to the countless young people of our borough — kids who now know that with hard work and dedication, there is no limit to what a child of Queens can achieve,” said Richards, according to the Queens Eagle.
This honor came two months after the Tokyo Olympics. Muhammad came in second after her teammate Sydney McLaughlin in the 400-meter hurdle. Muhammad had recovered from a hamstring injury and the coronavirus earlier that spring.
“I definitely had a lot of setbacks … in hindsight, it made me work even harder than I could have,” Mohammad told Today.
“We talk so much about being at the pinnacle of your career. For me, it doesn’t feel like the top,” Muhammad told the New York Times. “For me, it just feels like it’s part of the journey, and the journey is not over yet.”
