No stopping Samba as he sets new Asian and Diamond League records

Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba’s record-breaking spree continued yesterday as he stormed to victory in the 400m hurdles at the Stockholm Diamond League meeting.It was his fourth straight win in the prestigious competition after he dazzled crowds in Doha, Rome and Oslo raising expectations of a gold medal for Qatar at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.He settled into his blocks wearing black socks emblazoned with flames, and moments later we found out why as the 22-year-old unleashed another scorching, stunning display to win the event in 47.41 secondsIt was an Asian record, a Diamond League record and the fifth sub-48-second clocking in a row by Samba, the first time that feat has been accomplished since Derrick Adkins managed it back in 1995.  As it was in both Rome and Oslo, world champion Karsten Warholm could do nothing to halt the Qatari’s dominance, even if the Norwegian produced the performance of his life in second with a national record of 47.81, carving 0.01 off his previous mark.“I was looking for something big and I got that today,” said Samba. “It was windy on the back straight so that made us push too hard but it was amazing to get the Diamond League record and a PB today. Now I’ll get back training then I might compete in Paris.”Warholm was far from disappointed in second.“The perfect race will come sometime, I am pushing the limits all the time,” he said. “Today I was pushing Samba. He was the better man, of course, but I felt like I did my job.”Turkey’s Yasmani Copello was third in 48.91 seconds. Brianna McNeal was highly impressive in the women’s 100m hurdles, the 2016 Olympic champion swift and precise over the barriers to come home in a world-leading 12.38 (+1.3m/s), with 2015 world champion Danielle Williams of Jamaica setting a PB in second (12.48) and Alina Talay of Belarus third in 12.55. It also netted McNeal a diamond for breaking Gail Devers’ meeting record of 12.42.  “I knew that once I put the race together then I would get a great time,” said McNeal, who will next compete in Budapest before returning to the IAAF Diamond League circuit in Rabat.