Grand Slam Track: Can Eid Naser beat Paulino for the first time in nine races?

Former World 400m champion, Salwa Eid Naser is the form girl going into this weekend’s Grand Slam Track opener in Kingston, Jamaican with the 26-year-old set to lay a marker ahead of September’s flagship event of World Athletics.

Eid Naser blazed to an incredible 48.94 personal season’s best late last month at the Felix Sanchez Classic in Bayaguana, Dominican Republic. She also raced to a 22.45 season’s best to win the 200m at the same event.

The Nigeria-born Bahrani looks in shape to finally race past her nemesis over the full lap race, Marieledy Paulino who has dominated the world 400m scene while Eid Naser was serving a ban for whereabouts failure.

The Dominican Republic star has refused to relinquish her hold on the event as she has won the World title and the Olympic crown in 2023 and 2024 respectively. She has also dominated the Diamond League 400m scene since 2022.

Last year, Eid Naser lost in six head-to-head races to Paulino, including the final of the 400m at the Paris 2024 Olympics while in 2023, the Bahrani lost twice, between the month of May and June.