McLaughlin-Levrone Breaks Her Own World Record to Earn Gold.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has now won two Olympic gold medals in the 400-meter hurdles and set world records in both Olympic finals. Olivia Miller is writing a story each night on an event that she or I find interesting. This is Olivia’s second assignment with RunBlogRun. A journalism student at Emerson College, Olivia also wrote for RunBlogRun and the 2024 US Olympic Trials. 

McLaughlin-Levrone Breaks Her Own World Record to Earn Gold, by Olivia Miller 

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was gliding over hurdles like they weren’t even obstacles. Somewhere between hurdles seven and eight, she took off. It was her against the clock.

McLaughlin-Levrone finished with a decisive lead over her competition. She beat her previous record set at the U.S. Olympic trials by almost three-hundredths of a second, crossing the finish line at 50.37. This is the sixth time she’s beaten her own world record.

She ran to the stands to celebrate with her family. She was adorned in a tiara; the look was complete with an American flag. After all, she is the queen of the 400m hurdles.

“I wasn’t looking at the clock. When I crossed that line, I was grateful,” she said. “I was hoping it was a little faster.”

Her closest competitor, teammate Anna Cockrell, was over a second behind her. She ran a personal best of 51.87. Cockrell overtook Femke Bol of the Netherlands in a surprising finish.

She explained her thoughts during the last 100m:

“I got to hurdle seven; I cleared it and thought to myself, it’s go time. Some of you know I was a 100m hurdles athlete. I just tapped into that, tapped into that technique, and went for it. I knew that if I could execute clearly, I could get myself to that line.”

After the race, she reflected on what the moment meant for her and the women’s 400m hurdles itself:

“This is a real renaissance moment for 400m hurdles. We have so many people running so fast – from Sydney to myself, to Femke, it’s a great time for this event. I’m excited that people are paying attention to it; I’m proud to be in this moment.”

For Femke Bol, it was a repeat of Tokyo, where she finished third. She looked good coming out of the blocks, but down the backstretch, she began to fade, crossing the finish line at 52.15.

Despite winning a bronze, she was upset:

“All you want to do in an Olympic final is to put up your best race. I screwed it up. I’m not sure where I made the mistake. I just got so much lactic acid with 300m to go.”

McLaughlin-Levrone is now 3-0 against Bol, whom she defeated both in Tokyo and at the 2022 World Championships. Bol was the only woman other than McLaughlin-Levrone to run a sub-51.

No one had ever won two gold medals in the 400m hurdles at the Olympics until now. The 25-year-old sits in a league of her own.