Jamaica’s Nickisha Pryce took a massive step towards joining the all-time greats of women’s 400m running after she produced a jaw-dropping 48.57 seconds to win the event at the London Diamond League meeting inside London Stadium in England on Saturday.

She smashed a series of records in the process as she raced up the all-time rankings.

The performance, her second major showing in just over a month, has placed the 23-year-old Jamaican squarely in the bullseye at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.

Her time is the seventh best ever recorded, moving her up seven spots, and is a Jamaican national record, beating her 48.89 set in June when she broke the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) record.

It is a world-leading effort, taking her past American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s 48.75, and also a meet record, going under the 49.05 set by Sanya Richards-Ross in 2006.

The former Vere Technical and Iowa Western Community College standout joins a select group of women led by world record holder Marita Koch (47.60), Jarmila Kratochviloa (47.99), Salwa Eid Naser (48.14), Marie-Jose Perec (48.25), Olga Bryzgina (48.27), and Shaunae Miller-Uibo (48.36).

The two-time Jamaican champion was never challenged on Saturday, coming off the last turn ahead and dragged Natalia Kaczmarek to a Polish record 48.90 and Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands to a personal best 49.58.

This was Pryce’s first professional race since she ended her NCAA season as part of the all-conquering University of Arkansas Razorbacks. She is now unbeaten in nine-straight races.

There were also podium places for intermediate hurdlers Roshawn Clarke and Rushell Clayton, while many-time national champion Natoya Goule-Toppin ran a season’s best in the women’s 800m.

Clarke shook off a sub-par performance at Jamaica’s athletics championships in June to clock a season’s best 47.63 for second place in the men’s 400m hurdles.

Brazil’s Alison dos Santos won easily with 47.18, while Qatar’s Ismail Doudai Abakar ran a personal best 47.72 for third. Clarke, who took fourth place at last year’s World Athletics Championships in Hungary, was encouraged by his display.

“It was not the cleanest race, but I came out here with the goal to run a season best or a personal best. To finish with 47.6, I’m grateful, [and] compared to this time last year I am performing better. I’m going to keep working from here and try to improve going into the Olympics,” Clarke said.

Clayton, who is the third-ranked women’s 400m hurdler going into the Olympics, finished third in 53.24, while Andrenette Knight was fourth in a season’s best 53.69, and Shiann Salmon (54.50) seventh.

“I really wanted to just get my body going before Paris and focus on executing well,” Clayton said.

“I have been working hard in training and today was a great opportunity to see where I am at. I was working hard throughout the race, trying to focus. I´ll be heading home now to work on the final touches before Paris.”

Medal favourite Femke Bol of the Netherlands set a meet record 51.30 to win the women’s 400m hurdles, beating her own 51.45 set last year. American Shamier Little was second in a season’s best 52.78 seconds.

Goule-Toppin was fourth in a fast women’s 800m in which all 10 athletes got at least a season’s best. She ran 1:56.83, the fifth best in the world and her fourth-best time ever.

Three British athletes ran lifetime best times to finish ahead of Goule-Toppin.

Keely Hodgkinson set a British national record and world leading 1:54.61, the sixth best of all time, while Jemma Reekie was second with 1:55.61 and Georgia Bell third with 1:56.28.

Ackeem Blake was fifth in the men’s 100m in 9.97 (-0.3m/s) and Yohan Blake was eighth in 10.23.

World champion Noah Lyles ran a personal best 9.81 in his first race since the United States Olympic trial. He was followed by Akani Simbine of South Africa in a season’s best 9.86, while Letsile Tebogo equalled his Botswana record 9.88 seconds for third.