Bahraini Salwa Eid Naser stopped the clock on women's 400 meters at 48.14 seconds. With this, the athlete of Nigerian origin rekindled memories of an era three decades ago dominated by Communist eastern Europe by Marita Koch of what was then East Germany, who recorded 47.60sec in 1985, and the former Czechoslovakia's Jarmila Kratochvilova (47.99sec in 1983).
The engaging 21-year-old -- born Ebelechukwu Agbapuonwu in Nigeria to a Nigerian mother and Bahraini father -- pulled off a shock defeat of reigning Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo on Thursday, who had not lost a race since August 2017.
However, it was the time — the third fastest of all time — that took many people's breath away.
Koch and Kratochvilova's was an era when the Cold War was ongoing and the Berlin Wall separated East and West Berlin.
Naser, who switched to Bahrain aged 16, said, “You tell me,” when asked if she considered her time in Doha the fastest clean one in history.
But when asked if she believed Naser's time was the fastest untainted run ever, the Bahamian also refused to be drawn on the past.
"I would prefer not to comment," she replied.
Naser's victory may have shocked many but her championship record in the past two years suggested she was a genuine title contender.
“I cried all night,” she said. Miller-Uibo, who came in second with 48.37seconds, sat down on the track after crossing the line, looking absolutely stunned.
Naser's Asian Games success last year showed she has extraordinary resilience. Having run two relay finals at the end of that competition she flew for 14 hours from Jakarta to Brussels and the next day won the 400m Diamond League title.
Naser, who is now being coached by Jose Rubio, was previously coached by Bulgarian Yanko Bratanov, one of whose athletes Kemi Adekoya was banned for four years earlier this year.
The new one-lap sensation has been dogged by a fragile left ankle due to an accident she had aged six.
