By: Sunnie Gao

Last Friday night, Sydney McLaughlin, the reigning world champion, broke her own record for the fourth time in two years, running a 50.68 to win her first world championship. Femke Bol of the Netherlands was second with a time of 52.27 seconds, and Muhammad finished third in 53.13 seconds.

McLaughlin has proven herself to be at a different level than the rest of the athletes, none of whom are pushovers. She has repeatedly smashed the world record as she pushes the boundaries of what seems possible in the sport.

It is unbelievable that McLaughlin managed to trim 0.73 seconds from her previous world record, which she had set 27 days earlier at the U.S. championships. This just shows how good she is. And the best part is, McLaughlin still sees 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. She added, “I still think that wasn’t even a super clean race.”

McLaughlin has been undefeated in the 400-meter hurdles since 2019 and has become one of track and field’s most dominant athletes.

Muhammad, who used to own the world record until McLaughlin came along, is also an Olympic and world champion. And while injuries have hurt her performance, she is still a fearsome athlete.

“I was kind of nervous, honestly, going into this meet, not knowing where my fitness level would be. So to get a medal shows my resilience as an athlete,” Muhammad said.

McLaughlin, who grew up in central New Jersey, is considered by most to be the fastest 400-meter hurdle runner in history. After breaking Muhammad’s world record in 2021 at the U.S. In the Olympic trials, McLaughlin broke it again when she won gold in the Tokyo Olympics.

And McLaughlin is not done yet. After discussing her future with her coach, Bobby Kersee, she said, “My coach thinks there’s a lot more to be done.”