Anna Cockrell Wins First Diamond League Title, Talks Hardware, Titles, and Focus | 2026 Brussels Diamond League Post-Race Interview

Anna Cockrell secures her first Diamond League title, winning the women's 400m hurdles with a time of 53.01. Despite the cold and rainy track conditions, Cockrell discusses why she prioritizes winning hardware over chasing personal records. She also opens up about overcoming a four-and-a-half-year performance plateau, building confidence in tough race environments, and remaining deeply grateful to live out her dream on the world stage.

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Video Transcript

You've been like, you've been running well all season.

For sure.

Whether- you ran your fastest time in two years- Yeah and then as you mentioned, you come up here in not the best conditions- Yes, Betty man was hurting us tonight you bring it out and get your first ever diamond.

How does that feel?

Yeah.

I mean, it's exciting.

Like- Right now the first question in my first interview was, "Are you disappointed with the time?"

And I'm like, "I'm never disappointed with a win."

the, the times are great, and running fast is amazing.

That's obviously the goal, but I don't live and die by the clock.

I, I wanna win.

I want hardware.

I want titles.

So, I'm really, really proud of how we went out here, and we competed.

It's cold.

It's been raining, and, that's no excuse because everyone's in the cold, and everyone's a little damp.

So I'm really, really excited about continuing to be aggressive and getting the races done and in, in the sticky moments, being able to pull it out and staying confident and composed.

Have you always been like this where- Yes, it also leads to my- it'll be all about winning, or has there been a moment where you've kind of been like obsessed with times too?

There's definitely been moments where I'm, I was obsessed with times, but I think, you know, I ran fifty-five twenty in high school, and then I didn't crack fifty-five I didn't go sub fifty-five until my fifth year of college.

So I was kind of in a bit of a plateau there, for like four and a half years.

So I think that's when I had to start to see value in races outside of PRs.

The faster you go, the harder it is to get a PR.

So, if you're only ever satisfied when it's a PR, when you start running really elite times, you'll never be satisfied.

So obviously, I run and run-- I wanna run faster.

I have aspirations of running sub fifty-one, and really challenging and being one of the best of all time in this event.

And I think part of being really great is winning and showing up and being consistent.

So I, I want the time on the clock to drop and drop, and that fifty-two one was a big badge of confidence, and now getting a win in, in tough conditions is another big check mark for me.

So, I'm crossing off some, some track and field bucket lists that I've had.

Some items on that list that have been there for a while, so it's really satisfying.

What does this do for you going into world championships?

I mean, it gives me confidence.

I think that, Zurich was probably, like, ideal conditions.

The temperature was great.

Crowd was great.

Got it done there.

Now we still got it done here.

It's a little cold and a little rainy.

So, I think I'm just proving to myself I show up when it matters, and I know I'm gonna continue to do that, and I'm proud of that.

And what does it say about where you're at mentally?

When the conditions are less than ideal, here it's cold, it's w-rainy, it's windy.

Mm-hmm.

So where are you mentally right now?

I'm in a good spot.

I think that, this is my dream, and I, I get to fly across the ocean and, and run big stadiums and do this thing that I've loved for a long time and get paid to do it.

So, how could I be ungrateful?

And it's Virgo season.

Beyonce just dropped the twentieth anniversary edition of B Day, so I'm gonna get in the car and listen to Creole.

I can't believe it's finally on s- US streaming.

So I'm feeling good.

Thank you so much, Anna.

Yeah, thank you

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