Sydney McLaughlin smashed her own 400m hurdles record at the World Athletics Championships to win the gold medal.
In one of the greatest track performances of all time, the Olympic champion reached home in just 50.68 seconds and slashed a massive 0.73 off her previous mark of 51.41 she set last month to become the first woman to run under 51 seconds in the event.
McLaughlin finished clear of the Netherlands’ Femke Bol (52.27) and U.S. compatriot Dalilah Muhammad (53.13).
It was the sixth time in three years that the world record has been broken after Russian Yulia Pechonkina’s mark had stood for 16 years. But the way she is progressing, it will not be far-fetched to imagine Sydney McLaughlin breaking her own world record sooner rather than later.
The American charged out of the blocks and by the 100 meters already built a substantial lead over Muhammad, who had held the world record as recently as June 2021. McLaughlin built a comfortable gap before the back turn and finished several meters clear of her nearest rivals.
Meanwhile, at the 400m sprint event, Bahamian double Olympic gold medallist, Shaunae Miller-Uibo managed to win her first 400m title with a time of 49.11, ahead of Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino (49.60) and Sada Williams (49.75) of Barbados.
The men’s 400m sprint went to American Michael Norman who continued the USA’s domination of the track events this year. Norman, coming into the race as the fastest in the world this year, held his form in a charge to the line to triumph with a time of 44.29 seconds.
Kirani James of Grenada took silver with 44.48 while Matthew Hudson-Smith collected bronze after running a 44.66 for Britain.
In the women’s javelin final Australian Kelsey-Lee Barber retained the women’s world javelin title as her world-leading third-round throw of 66.91 meters gave her an emphatic victory.
American Kara won the silver with her sixth throw of 64.05m while Haruka Kitaguchi also pulled out a final effort of 63.27m to win bronze becoming the first Japanese woman to win a javelin medal in a World Championships or Olympics.
In the 4x100m semifinals, Jamaica and USA’s shadow squads managed to hold off others to qualify for the finals and resume their rivalry for track supremacy.
The U.S. squad of Melissa Jefferson, Aleia Hobbs, Jenna Prandini, and Twanisha Terry clocked in 41.56 seconds to reach home safely and have some quicker individuals to bring in for Saturday’s final. Jamaica meanwhile finished second in Heat 1 behind Britain to finish with 42.37.
Jamaica’s “big three” of Shericka Jackson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Elaine Thompson-Herah – who swept the 100m podium and raced the 200m final, were all rested for the bigger stage.
