By: Emily Chu
In Eugene, Oregon, on July 22, some of the world’s best hurdlers lined up to compete in the women’s 400m final on Day 8 of the World Athletics Championships. The race was over after only 50 seconds, as Sydney McLaughlin won gold and broke her own world record by 0.73 seconds. She had set it only 27 days earlier, at the U.S. Championships. McLaughlin ran the race in just 50.68 seconds.
Femke Bol finished second, in 52.27 seconds, and Dalilah Muhammad finished third with a time of 53.13 seconds. McLaughlin has dominated the 400m hurdles since 2019, and is one of the most celebrated athletes in track and field. However, she still believes there is more work to be done.
“I think we’re all figuring out that, yes, there are 10 barriers, but we can run them a lot faster than people think,” McLaughlin said. “I still think that wasn’t even a super clean race.”
Bol and Muhammad have long competed with McLaughlin. Dalilah Muhammad is a powerful hurdler as well, and is an Olympic and world champion. She won the event at the 2016 Rio Olympics and took silver in the Tokyo Olympics. At 32 years of age and after suffering many injuries, she is still a track and field star.
“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.”
“After breaking Muhammad’s world record in 2021 at the U.S. Olympic trials, McLaughlin broke it again a few weeks later when she won gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Muhammad finished second in both races,” according to the New York Times. At the U.S. championships, she broke her old record again, setting a time of 51.41 seconds. And five days ago, on July 22, she ran another world record of 50.68.
“My coach thinks there’s a lot more to be done,” McLaughlin said.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/22/sports/sydney-mclaughlin-400-hurdles.html