Michael Norman staked a claim for Olympic 400m favorite status, beating a field that included an Olympic gold medalist, the reigning U.S. champion and the the world silver medalist on Friday.
Norman, the fastest man in this Olympic cycle (43.45 seconds) who eased up in the 2019 Worlds semifinals injured, clocked 44.27 at a Diamond League meet in Doha.
Norman pulled away in the world’s fastest time this year, prevailing by three tenths over world silver medalist Anthony Zambrano of Colombia. Zambrano was followed by U.S. champion Fred Kerley (44.60) and 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James of Grenada (44.