Steven Gardiner returned to wins but still is far from his best

After a series of poor performances and races where he didn’t finish, Steven Gardiner seemed to be back on track, winning the 400m in Landover, Maryland, over the weekend. The Olympic and world champion in the event clocked a modest 45.68 sec to comfortably win the race.

American Jarrett Gentles was second in 46.33 sec, and fellow compatriot Malcolm Brown finished third overall in 49.40 sec.

The 29-year-old Steven Gardiner is still well out of his top form and results, consistently running under 44 sec, but he still has about two months until the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. He hasn’t yet qualified for the World Championships, but he has the national championships to do it.

Steven Gardiner is a sprinter from the Bahamas who specializes in the 400m and 200m events. He achieved the title of Olympic champion in 2020 and world champion in 2019 for the 400m, in addition to securing a silver medal at the 2017 World Championships in the same event. His remarkable time of 43.48 sec, recorded during the 2019 World Championships, stands as the Bahamian national record and positions him as the eighth-fastest man in the history of the 400m. Furthermore, Steven Gardiner holds the Bahamian records for the outdoor 300m and 200m, with impressive times of 31.83 sec and 19.75 sec respectively, as well as the world best for the 300m indoor at 31.56 sec.