Alison dos Santos achieves Olympic and world qualifying time

After undergoing surgery ten months prior, Brazilian athlete Alison dos Santos made a triumphant comeback by securing the bronze medal in the 400m hurdles event at the Poland leg of the Diamond League on Sunday (Jul. 16). After a lengthy recovery from a severe right knee injury, this marked his return to the track.

Clocking in at 44.73 seconds, dos Santos not only achieved a qualifying time for the upcoming World Championships in Budapest (Hungary) from August 19 to 27 but also secured an Olympic qualifying time. The race's victory was claimed by the reigning world record holder, Wayde Van Niekerk from South Africa, who completed the event in a swift 44.08 seconds. Bayapo Ndori from Botswana secured second place with a time of 44.61 seconds.

Looking ahead, dos Santos, the 2022 world champion and bronze medalist in the 400 meters with hurdles at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics (his specialty), is set to compete in the Monaco stage of the Diamond League on Friday (21).

"Alison is in good health and ran well in a challenging race that featured potential medalists for both the World Championships and Olympics, including the presence of the 400m world record holder. It couldn't have gone better! Despite fatigue, which is to be expected after a long journey, he is in great shape and free from any post-race muscle discomfort. A weight has been lifted off our shoulders. We are back in the game," expressed coach Felipe de Siqueira to the Brazilian Confederation of Athletics.