The crowd at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, is getting used to seeing Sydney McLaughlin set world records. After all, she did it in June 2021 at the Olympic Trials, when she ran 51.90, the first woman under 52 seconds.
She did it at Hayward Field last month, at the U.S. championships, when she ran 51.41, improving by 0.04 seconds on the record she set in Tokyo last year.
And then there was tonight.
McLaughlin ran 50.68 seconds, obliterating the mark she set three weeks ago, leaving her competition far behind. Femke Bol of the Netherlands was second in 52.27. American Dalilah Muhammad, who has struggled with injuries this year, was third in 53.13, a season’s best.
Running in Lane 5, McLaughlin ran the backstretch in 11.99 seconds. She made up the stagger half way through the race. Although the strain of the hot pace showed on her face at the end, she fought to the line.
“The last 100 definitely hurt,” she said.
At a press conference after the race, Bol and Muhammad were asked if they had ever considered a time in the 50s to be possible for the women’s 400 hurdles.
Muhammad had a compliment for McLaughlin:
“I definitely thought 50 was possible,” Muhammad said. “After that race, I think 49 is possible.”
McLauglin said she got into a “flow state” during the race.
“Just 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,” she said. “You’re not overthinking it, you’re just releasing the gifts and talents that God’s given you. And I think those are the best races that I’ve ever run, the ones where I’m just free, releasing the gift that I’ve been given.”
She is only 22. Which begs the question: Where else can she turn her attention? Her coach, Bobby Kersee, has thoughts. Doubling at meets. Seeing how fast she could be in the open 400. Maybe the 100-meter hurdles.
She’ll almost certainly run the 4x400-meter relay on Sunday evening. After that, who knows? It seems tonight that more is possible than anyone dared to believe.
“I think there’s still more to go,” McLaughlin said. “We’re all figuring out that yes, there’s 10 barriers, but we can run them a lot faster than people think.”
The numbers behind McLaughlin’s record
Some statistics help put McLaughlin’s record in perspective:
0.73 seconds: She bested her own world record from three weeks ago by nearly three-quarters of a second, a huge improvement.
1.59 seconds: McLaughlin’s margin of victory over silver medalist Femke Bol of the Netherlands.
Seventh: What McLaughlin would have placed in the open 400 meters that took place 35 minutes earlier in the evening.
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Six: Number of times McLaughlin’s name appears in the all-time top-10 times list. She has the three fastest times ever. Dalilah Muhammad, who ran 51.58 in Tokyo last year and is fourth on the list, is almost a full second slower.
200 meters: The point at the race in which McLaughlin made up the stagger on Muhammad, who usually gets out quickly in her races.
$100,000: U.S. Wins the Medal Count at World Championships.
The men’s 4 x 100-meter relay looked good—but good enough for the final?
The U.S. 4 x 100-meter relay team looked strong in the preliminary heat, finishing first in their section with a world-leading time of 37.87. The prelim’s foursome of Christian Coleman, Noah Lyles, Elijah Hall, and Marvin Bracy are a talented bunch—with six individual medals at global outdoor championships under their collective belt—but can they overcome the U.S.’s troubled history in the event?
Last year at the Olympics—despite an all-star lineup that included Fred Kerley, Trayvon Bromell, and Ronnie Baker—the American team didn’t make the final after fumbling a handoff and finishing sixth in their preliminary heat. In 2017, with Justin Gatlin and Coleman leading the charge, the U.S. took second to Great Britain’s team made up of four sprinters who had never individually earned global medals. In the 2016 Olympics, the U.S. was disqualified after the first exchange took place outside the exchange zone.
The 2019 World Championships in Doha were a bright spot—Gatlin, Coleman, Lyles, and Mike Rodgers took the gold. But going one for four over the last six years of global championships is a bad look for a country that produced five of the top 10 100-meter runners in history.
While the preliminary lineup could change before Saturday’s final, American spectators are hoping for a bigger change—good hand-offs, a fast time, and a championship title.
One more race for Allyson Felix after all
We haven’t seen the last of American sprint legend Allyson Felix just yet. The multi-time world and Olympic champion will be on Team USA's 4 x 400-meter relay team in the preliminary round, which is scheduled to go off Saturday at 5:10 p.m. PDT/8:10 p.m. EDT.
“The coaches asked if I was available and there was no way I’d turn the team down,” she told the Associated Press.
Felix was the second leg on Team USA in the mixed 4 x 400-meter relay, which took the bronze medal to open up the meet last Friday. It was supposed to be her final race. Instead, the Hayward Field crowd will get one last encore.
Winger uncorks a big toss on her final attempt
American Kara Winger went from fifth to second on her final attempt in the women’s javelin, bringing home the first-ever medal at the World Championships for the U.S. in the event.
The medal count
The U.S. continues to dominate the medal count with 26: 9 gold, 7 silver, and 10 bronze. Ethiopia is second with 8, and Jamaica is third with 6.
Tonight...
Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia is in the 5,000 meters, attempting to win her second gold medal of the meet. Three Americans—Elise Cranny, Karissa Schweizer, and Emily Infeld—are in the field, too. Here’s how to watch.
—What to Know About Sydney McLaughlin
What to Know About Sydney McLaughlin is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World McLaughlins margin of victory over silver medalist Femke Bol of the Netherlands, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
