Sydney McLaughlin broke the 400-meter hurdles world record on Friday for the fourth time in two years with a time of 50.68 seconds to win her first world championship. Femke Bol of the Netherlands was second with 52.27 seconds, and fellow American Dalilah Muhammad finished third with a time of 53.13.
Last year, McLaughlin defeated Muhammad at the Tokyo Olympics to win the gold medal in the event. Despite so many recent achievements, she sees more room for improvement. “I think we’re all figuring out that, yes, there are 10 barriers, but we can run them a lot faster than people think,” she said, adding, “I still think that wasn’t even a super clean race.”
Since 2019, when she finished second to Muhammad at the world championships held in Doha, Qatar, McLaughlin has been undefeated in the 400-meter hurdles and has emerged as one of track and field’s most dominant athletes at the age of 22.
Bol, who placed second at this year’s world championships, also won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics behind Mclaughlin and Muhammad. She owns the seventh-fastest time in history and is considered a potential threat to McLaughlin at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Muhammad, who came in third at the championships, used to hold the world record for the event and is also an Olympic and world champion. “I was kind of nervous, honestly, going into this meet, not knowing where my fitness level would be,” Muhammad said, “So to get a medal shows my resilience as an athlete.”
McLaughlin grew up in New Jersey and was a teenage prodigy at Union Catholic High School. After breaking Muhammad’s world record at the 2021 U.S. Olympic trials, she broke it again a few weeks later when she won gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Muhammad finished second in both races.
“I would definitely say it’s a flow state,” McLaughlin said, “where you’re putting everything that you’ve done in practice into the race to the point where you’re just letting your body do what it does.”
Link to article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/22/sports/sydney-mclaughlin-400-hurdles.html
Last year, McLaughlin defeated Muhammad at the Tokyo Olympics to win the gold medal in the event. Despite so many recent achievements, she sees more room for improvement. “I think we’re all figuring out that, yes, there are 10 barriers, but we can run them a lot faster than people think,” she said, adding, “I still think that wasn’t even a super clean race.”
Since 2019, when she finished second to Muhammad at the world championships held in Doha, Qatar, McLaughlin has been undefeated in the 400-meter hurdles and has emerged as one of track and field’s most dominant athletes at the age of 22.
Bol, who placed second at this year’s world championships, also won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics behind Mclaughlin and Muhammad. She owns the seventh-fastest time in history and is considered a potential threat to McLaughlin at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Muhammad, who came in third at the championships, used to hold the world record for the event and is also an Olympic and world champion. “I was kind of nervous, honestly, going into this meet, not knowing where my fitness level would be,” Muhammad said, “So to get a medal shows my resilience as an athlete.”
McLaughlin grew up in New Jersey and was a teenage prodigy at Union Catholic High School. After breaking Muhammad’s world record at the 2021 U.S. Olympic trials, she broke it again a few weeks later when she won gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Muhammad finished second in both races.
“I would definitely say it’s a flow state,” McLaughlin said, “where you’re putting everything that you’ve done in practice into the race to the point where you’re just letting your body do what it does.”
Link to article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/22/sports/sydney-mclaughlin-400-hurdles.html
