Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone made headlines at the World Championships in Tokyo, where she claimed her first world title in the flat 400m, clocking an impressive 47.78 seconds.
This time is the second-fastest in history, trailing only German athlete Marita Koch’s world record of 47.60 seconds, set in 1985.
“I think barriers are broken when the time is right,” McLaughlin-Levrone commented when asked about the prospect of breaking the world record.
She added, “I think records come when they’re supposed to. It’s really just about executing and trusting the process.”
In the same race, silver medalist Marileidy Paulino from the Dominican Republic finished strong with a time of 47.98 seconds, marking the third-fastest time ever recorded in the event.
Paulino’s performance comes just one year after she clinched the Olympic gold medal in the 400m.
McLaughlin-Levrone, who has established herself as a formidable force in track and field, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and has broken world records six times in the 400m hurdles.
Her victory was particularly remarkable as it was her first time competing in the flat 400m at a global championship.
Initially, she had considered racing in both the flat 400m and the 400m hurdles but had to withdraw from the 2023 World Championships due to injury.
This season, McLaughlin-Levrone opted to participate in the flat 400m to seek new challenges after maintaining an undefeated streak in the hurdles since her silver medal finish at the 2019 World Championships.
Entering the Championships seeded third, McLaughlin-Levrone had a personal best of 48.90 seconds, behind Paulino and Olympic silver medalist Salwa Eid Naser, who had times of 48.67 and 48.81 respectively.
“My coach (Bobby Kersee) loves boxing terms,” she stated.
“He said, ‘You’ve got to go take the belt. It’s not yours. You’ve got to go earn it.’ That’s what we wanted to do today.
There was a lot of doubt from a lot of people, I think, for me coming into this event.”
Prior to this race, no female athlete had come within half a second of Koch’s record since it was set.
Koch, a key figure in East German athletics during the 1970s and ‘80s, raises questions regarding the scrutiny around her past performances, although she has denied ever using performance-enhancing drugs.
Reflecting on the longevity of Koch’s record, McLaughlin-Levrone expressed her interest in testing herself against it in 2022, stating, “That (flat 400m) world record has stood for so long, and no one’s come even close to it.
So we definitely want to be able to try that and see what we can do there as well.”
Her journey to the World Championships was marked by resilience.
Coming into the event, she had already achieved a personal best of 48.74 seconds in the 400m.
In the semifinals, McLaughlin-Levrone broke a 19-year-old American record previously held by Sanya Richards-Ross, finishing in 48.29 seconds.
She later improved her time by another half-second in the finals.
While she has yet to announce her plans for the future leading up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, McLaughlin-Levrone has indicated that competing in both the flat 400m and the 400m hurdles is still a possibility.
“When asked about possibly doing it at LA 2028, she smiled, saying, “We’re going to have to talk about the schedule on that one.
I’m going to need some days off in there if that was the case because it’s tough fields in both events.
You have to respect them.
So, in order to put the best performances together, you have to make sure your body’s ready to do that.”
In other results from the championships on Thursday, Collen Kebinatshipi won the men’s 400m with a time of 43.53 seconds, making history as the first Botswana athlete to win a world track and field title.
Noah Lyles also made his mark, leading the qualifiers into the men’s 200m final with a time of 19.51 seconds, his best showing in two years.
Lyles is aiming for his fourth consecutive world title in the event, a feat previously accomplished by sprint legend Usain Bolt.
In the women’s 200m, defending champion Shericka Jackson and new 100m world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden also progressed to the finals, with Jackson looking to match Allyson Felix’s record of three world titles in the event.
Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago captured his second senior global title in javelin throw, 13 years after winning gold at the London Olympics.
Curtis Thompson also made headlines by earning bronze, thereby becoming only the third U.S. male athlete to reach the podium in that event.
image source from：nbcsports
