T&T's Jereem Richards wilted into the fifth place out of eight runners to brake the 45-second barrier in the men's 400 metres sprint run at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, USA on Saturday.

In his first outdoor race for the season, Richards looked good for most of the race, as he maintained a top-three spot heading into the final 100 metres, but didn't have enough sprinting power to take him to the finish line.

He crossed the finish line in a personal best time of 44.79 seconds.

American Michael Norman set a new Diamond League record in the men's 400m, his 43.60 seconds, breaking the meet record and the world leading time fso far for 2022 and in the process was just off a career best of 43.45. Olympic silver medallist Kirani James of Grenada was second in a time of 44.02 seconds.

Great Britain's Matthew Hudson Smith claimed the third-place position in 44.35 and Vernon Norwood, who cruised past Richards in the final ten metres of the race finished fourth in 44.66 seconds.