2017 Lausanne Athletissimo Diaries: Lea Sprunger on her move to the 400 meter hurdles and a fast 400 meters

Lea Sprunger has had a colorful career in athletics. Her formative years were spent as a heptathlete and as she moved into the sprints, and then, the 400 meter hurdles, the strength and speed from her early carear has made a huge impact.

Lea Sprunger, courtesy of Swiss Athletics

At La Chaux-de-Fonds, Lea Sprunger recently set the Swiss record for the 400 meters, an epic one, and took the new record to 51.09. Her indoor 400m best is 52.24, and her 400m hurdles best is 54.63.

With that fine 400 meters, and her hurdle technique, I asked when we will see her under 54 seconds. Lea noted, ” I believe I can run under 54 seconds, perhaps this year, perhaps next year. On Thursday night, Lea Sprunger will run in the 400m hurdles against Dalilah Muhammed, the US champion, and with her time of 52.64, the fastest 400m hurdler active today. We wish Lea much luck as she runs the toughest event on the track, the 400 meter hurdles.

Author

Larry Eder
Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys. Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."
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