The 22-year-old McLaughlin beat second-place finisher Femke Bol of the Netherlands by 1.59 seconds
The 22-year-old McLaughlin beat second-place finisher Femke Bol of the Netherlands by 1.59 seconds
In the hurdles world earlier than Sydney McLaughlin, it took years to shave fractions of seconds off information, and successful races did not all the time imply rewriting historical past.
This once-in-a-lifetime athlete is obliterating that mindset as shortly as she’s destroying the information she units many times.
For the fourth time in 13 months, the 22-year-old McLaughlin set the world report. On Friday, she ran the 400-meter hurdles at world championships in 50.68 seconds. She shattered her previous mark by 0.73 seconds, a ridiculous quantity for a race of this distance and an period of time that, on the planet earlier than McLaughlin, it had taken 33 years to trim.
She beat second-place finisher Femke Bol of the Netherlands by 1.59 seconds. McLaughlin’s fundamental rival, Dalilah Muhammad, completed third in 53.13 seconds, a time that might’ve gained the world title with ease a mere seven years in the past.
And but, as McLaughlin summed up her takeaways from the night — a night by which she delivered in a race she has was considered one of monitor’s must-see occasions — she was removed from able to declare she had run the proper race.
“I haven’t had a chance to watch it, so I’ll have to do that and go back and talk to my coach,” McLaughlin mentioned. “But I think there’s always things to improve on. I think we’re pushing the boundaries of the sport, especially in our event.”
After McLaughlin obtained her gold medal and listened to “The Star-Spangled Banner,” World Athletics President Sebastian Coe handed her a $100,000 verify — the prize for breaking the report at worlds. This marked the fourth straight main race by which she’s bettered the mark.
On a transparent, excellent, 72-degree evening at Hayward Stadium, McLaughlin left Bol and Muhammad behind by the 150-meter mark. By the time the American reached the ultimate curve, it was clear this could strictly be a race in opposition to the clock.
“It was crazy,” Bol mentioned. “She was so far in front at the end, I was almost doubting if I really had a good race. Then, I saw the time and I thought, ‘Wow, that explains a lot.’”
When McLaughlin completed, she bent to the bottom, regarded on the scoreboard and mentioned, “That’s great, that’s great.” She clutched her knees and smiled. A minute later, the mascot, Legend the Bigfoot, photograph bombed her whereas holding an indication saying: “World records are my favorite food.”
The 400-hurdles report of 52.34, held by Yuliya Pechonkina of Russia, had sat on the books for 16 years when Muhammad, not McLaughlin, lowered it to 52.20 at U.S. championships in Iowa in 2019.
Back then, Muhammad’s coach, Boogie Johnson, mentioned there had lengthy been the thought that the Russian’s report appeared “slightly comfortable” and ripe for a takeover. Muhammad broke it again, at 52.16, at world championships in 2019.
That was a race McLaughlin lost by a mere 0.07, and one that set her about making changes.
Since connecting with coach Bobby Kersee, she has broken the record at last year’s Olympic trials (51.90), the Olympics (51.46) and nationals last month. (51.41). Now, this — a 1.4% improvement on a four-week-old record and a maiden voyage into times in the 50s.
“I definitely thought it was possible,” Muhammad said. “And after that race, I think 49 is possible.”
McLaughlin has set three of her four records on this very track at Hayward Stadium. She has turned what used to be the best one-on-one showdown in track — her vs. Muhammad — into a one-woman show for the time being.
The big question: how?
Some answers lie in the mix of improved track surfaces, new technology in the spikes that hurdling great Edwin Moses compared to “having trampolines on your shoes,” and a new coaching regimen employed by Kersee, who has worked with virtually all of America’s greats, in the run-up to last year’s Olympics.
But mostly, pure talent.
“It’s 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,” McLaughlin said.
Another way to look at McLaughlin’s dominance: Traversing the track while leaping 10 hurdles took her only 1.57 seconds longer than Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas needed to win the 400-flat, held about a half-hour before the main event.
In the men’s race, American Michael Norman won the world title in 44.29 seconds, pulling away from 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James over the final 80 meters.
Norman received massive applause from the nearly full stands, thought the emotional center of the evening came a few minutes earlier. Javelin thrower Kara Winger, a 36-year-old coming off her second ACL surgery, threw 64.05 meters (210 feet, 1 inch) on her sixth and final attempt to finish second behind Australia’s Kelsey-Lee Barber.
It was the first medal in any major competition for the eight-time national champion, who rigged up a cable-and-pulley system in her backyard to keep up with her training during the pandemic.
And then came McLaughlin. She and Muhammad upped the U.S. medals total to 26 through eight days. The Americans need five more to surpass their championships record. The weekend is heavy with relays, which will include the surprise return of Allyson Felix in the 4×400.
It would be no surprise to see McLaughlin (and Muhammad) on America’s 4×400 relay team, too, just as they were last summer in Tokyo where they helped the U.S. win gold.
Speaking of that 400 flat, McLaughlin teased the idea that she might have a future there, as well.
“My coach thinks there’s a lot more to be done,” she said. “At some level, we may do perhaps the 4, or perhaps the 100 hurdles. He says to only actually benefit from the 400 hurdles whereas I’m doing it, after which, if you wish to develop, go from there. So, the sky’s the restrict for positive.”
Source: www.thehindu.com