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In the steeplechase world before Sydney McLaughlin, it took years to knock fractions of a second off records, and winning races didn’t always mean rewriting history.
This once-in-a-lifetime athlete obliterates that mindset as quickly as she destroys the records she sets time and time again.
Sydney McLaughlin of the United States receives her gold medal after the women’s 400-meter hurdles final at the World Athletics Championships, Friday, July 22, 2022, in Eugene, Oregon. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
For the fourth time in 13 months, 22-year-old McLaughlin set the world record. On Friday, she ran the 400-meter hurdles at the world championships in 50.68 seconds. She smashed her old mark by 0.73 seconds, an absurd number for a race at this distance and a time that in the pre-McLaughlin world took 33 years to break.
She beat runner-up Femke Ball of the Netherlands by 1.59 seconds. McLaughlin’s main rival, Dalila Muhammad, finished third in 53.13 seconds, a time that would have easily won the world title just seven years ago.
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And yet, as McLaughlin summed up her takeaways from the evening – a night in which she delivered a race that turned into one of the track’s must-see events – she was far from ready to claim she had driven the perfect race .
“I haven’t had a chance to watch it, so I’ll have to do it and go back and talk to my coach,” McLaughlin said. “But I think there are always things to improve on. I think we’re pushing the boundaries of the sport, especially in our event.”
After McLaughlin received her gold medal and listened to “The Star-Spangled Banner,” World Athletics President Sebastian Coe presented her with a check for $100,000, the award for improving the world record. This marked the fourth consecutive major event in which she improved the score.
Gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin of the United States poses for a sign after winning the women’s 400 meters hurdles final at the World Athletics Championships, Friday, July 22, 2022, in Eugene, Oregon. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
On a clear, perfect, 72-degree night at Hayward Stadium, McLaughlin left Ball and Muhammad behind at the 150-yard mark. By the time the American reached the final curve, it was clear that this was going to be a tight race against the clock.
“It was crazy,” Ball said. “She was so far ahead at the end that I almost doubted if I really had a good race. Then I saw the weather and thought, ‘Wow, that explains a lot.'”
When McLaughlin finished, she bent down, looked at the scoreboard and said, “That’s great, that’s great.” She hugged her knees and smiled. A minute later, the Legend Bigfoot mascot bombarded her while holding a sign that read, “World Records are my favorite food.”
The 400 hurdles record of 52.34 held by Yulia Pechonkina of Russia had been in the books for 16 years when Muhammad, not McLaughlin, lowered it to 52.20 at the 2019 US Championships in Iowa.
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At the time, Muhammad’s trainer, Boogie Johnson, said there had long been a perception that the Russian’s record looked “a bit soft” and ripe for the taking. Muhammad broke it again, at 52.16, at the 2019 world championships.
It was a race McLaughlin lost by just 0.07, and it prompted her to make changes.
Since hooking up with coach Bobby Kersey, she has broken the record at last year’s Olympic trials (51.90), the Olympics (51.46) and last month’s nationals. (51,41). Now, that’s a 1.4% improvement from a four-week high and a first trip to times in the 50s.
“I definitely thought it was possible,” Muhammad said. “And after this race I think 49 is possible.”
McLaughlin set three of his four records on this very track at Hayward Stadium. She turned what was the best one-on-one matchup in the track — her vs. Muhammad — into a one-woman show for the time being.
The big question: how?
Some answers lie in a combination of improved track surfaces, new technology in spikes that keep the great Edwin Moses from having trampolines in your shoes, and a new coaching regime employed by Kersey, who has worked with nearly all the greats. American players, on the eve of last year’s Olympics.
But mostly pure talent.
“It’s just putting everything you’ve been doing in practice into the race to the point where you just let your body do what it does,” McLaughlin said.
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Another way to look at McLaughlin’s dominance: Crossing the track while jumping the 10 hurdles took her just 1.57 seconds longer than it took Shona Miller-Whibeau of the Bahamas to win the 400, held about half an hour earlier the main event.
Gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin of the United States is hugged after winning the women’s 400-meter hurdles final at the World Athletics Championships, Friday, July 22, 2022, in Eugene, Oregon. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
In the men’s race, American Michael Norman won the world title in 44.29 seconds, pulling away from 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James in the final 80 meters.
Norman received a huge ovation from the near-full stands, although the emotional center of the evening came a few minutes earlier. Javelin thrower Cara Winger, 36, back from her second ACL surgery, threw 64.05 meters (210 ft, 1 in) in her sixth and final attempt to finish second behind Australia’s Kelsey-Lee Barber.
It was the first medal in a major event for the eight-time national champion, who installed a cable and pulley system in her backyard to support her training during the pandemic.
And then came McLaughlin. She and Muhammad increased the U.S. medal total to 26 in eight days. The Americans need five more to surpass their championship record. The weekend is heavy with relays that will include the surprise return of Allison Felix in the 4×400.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see McLaughlin (and Muhammad) also on the US 4×400 relay team, just as they were last summer in Tokyo, where they helped the US win gold.
Speaking about that 400 suite, McLaughlin teased the idea that she might have a future there, too.
“My coach thinks there’s a lot more to do,” she said. “At some point we could do maybe the 4 hurdles or maybe the 100 hurdles. He says just really enjoy the 400 obstacles while I’m doing it, and then if you want to expand, go from there. the sky’s the limit for sure.”
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