The favourite for Gold in the women’s 400m hurdles at the fast approaching Tokyo Olympics, has been cemented firmly in the hands of Sydney McLaughlin.
In a highly-anticipated race at the U.S. Olympic trials, McLaughlin set a new world record and out-kicked reigning world champ Dalilah Muhammad, to win in new world record time of 51.90. Muhammad clocked 52.42 for second, while Anna Cockrell came in third.
Muhammad had the edge going into the home straight, but McLaughlin fought hard and flew home over the final 60m.
At 21-years-of-age, McLaughlin will be heading to her second Olympics, this time, as a world record-holder, and favourite.
McLaughlin was a teenage phenom, and many have been predicting great things from her for years. In 2016, at the age of 16, she became the youngest track and field athlete to make the U.S. Olympic team since 1980. Her stardom reached new heights when she ran a national high school record 49.85 second 400m relay split. She then went on to finish second at the 2019 world champs, aged just 19.
How fast is the 51.90 for 400m hurdles that Sydney McLaughlin just ran?
Beyond a world record, running 51.9 for the flat 400 was good enough to qualify for the Olympic trials in that event….
— Steve Magness (@stevemagness) June 28, 2021
