Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone smashes her world record in 400m hurdles, wins Olympic gold : NPR

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SAINT-DENIS, France — After crossing the end line, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone — the defending gold medalist within the 400-meter hurdles — dashed throughout the purple observe, wrapped herself within the American flag and donned a tiara, exhibiting the world that she nonetheless reigns.

McLaughlin-Levrone broke her personal world file within the occasion on her solution to gold on Thursday, ending a really comfy 1.5 seconds forward of the competitors.

She cleared the ten hurdles in 50.37 seconds, shaving an unimaginable 0.28 seconds off her world file time that she solely simply set in June on the nationwide Olympic observe trials. Alongside the best way, she demolished the Olympic file 51.46 (hers once more).

Fellow American Anna Cockrell earned silver with a private better of 51.87 seconds, trimming her finest time by practically a second. Dutch hurdler Femke Bol, who was McLaughlin-Levrone’s high challenger going into the race, completed with bronze — for the second Summer season Video games in a row.

The 25-year-old began her Olympics journey in Rio de Janeiro eight years in the past and in Tokyo earned a gold medal in 400-meter hurdles — when she additionally set the earlier Olympic file — and one other within the 4×400-meter relay.

The race on Thursday evening was her sixth time setting a world file within the occasion. Earlier than McLaughlin-Levrone got here on the scene, it took hurdlers years to take fractions of a second off data.

Again in June on the trials, she mentioned it was her purpose to dip beneath 50 seconds in some unspecified time in the future.

Of her efficiency on the Paris Olympics, she mentioned, “Total it was a fairly good race. There are some things that I really feel I might have cleaned up. However if you’re within the second you are probably not serious about all of that.”

“After I crossed that line I used to be grateful,” she mentioned after the race, however added: “I hoped it was a bit sooner.”