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SAINT-DENIS, France — After crossing the finish line, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone — the defending gold medalist in the 400-meter hurdles — ran down the purple track, wrapped herself in the American flag and donned a tiara to show the world she still reigns supreme.
On her way to gold on Thursday, McLaughlin-Levrone broke her own world record in the event, crossing the finish line a comfortable 1.5 seconds ahead of the competition.
She cleared the 10 hurdles in 50.37 seconds, beating her world record time, which she had set in June at the national Olympic track trials, by an incredible 0.28 seconds. She also broke the Olympic record of 51.46 (which she had re-established).
Her American colleague Anna Cockrell won silver with a personal best of 51.87 seconds, improving her previous best by almost a second. Dutch hurdler Femke Bol, who had been McLaughlin-Levrone’s biggest challenger before the race, took bronze – at the second Summer Games in a row.
The 25-year-old began her Olympic career eight years ago in Rio de Janeiro and won a gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles in Tokyo – where she also set the previous Olympic record – and another in the 4×400-meter relay.
Thursday night’s race was her sixth world record in the event. Before McLaughlin-Levrone came on the scene, hurdlers took years to break fraction-of-a-second records.
At the trials in June, she said her goal was to eventually get under 50 seconds.
She said of her performance at the Paris Olympics: “Overall, it was a pretty good race. There are a few things I think I could have improved. But when you’re in the moment, you don’t really think about all that.”
“When I crossed the finish line, I was grateful,” she said after the race, but added, “I was hoping it would be a little faster.”
Jewel Samad / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
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