Tokyo (AFP) – Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone smashed the long-standing United States women’s 400 metre record to surge into the final at the World Athletics Championships on Tuesday. The 26-year-old American, who is the world record holder at the 400m hurdles but has chosen to run the flat race in Tokyo, blazed through her semi-final in 48.29 sec. That was almost half a second faster than Sanya Richards-Ross’s previous US record of 48.70, which had stood since 2006.
McLaughlin-Levrone will be the red-hot favourite to capture her first 400m world title in Thursday’s final and said she was “honoured” to better Richards-Ross’s national mark. “Definitely wasn’t expecting that time but it just shows the fitness is there,” she said. “Excited for the finals and grateful to have taken down a record by an amazing woman.”
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McLaughlin-Levrone was one of the stars when Tokyo hosted the Covid-delayed Olympic Games in 2021. She set a world record of 51.46 sec when winning 400m hurdles gold in one of the stand-out performances of those Games. She was also part of the US 4x400m relay squad that took gold.
She said she still had gas left in the tank after her semi-final performance and was taken aback when she looked at her time on the scoreboard. “I wasn’t expecting that but it’s not surprising because I know the work’s been put in,” she said. “It’s really just about executing and I’m grateful that it showed me that it’s there.”
McLaughlin-Levrone was joined in the semi-finals by Paris Olympics champion Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, who went through in a time of 49.82. Paris Games silver medallist Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain also qualified along with Poland’s Natalia Bukowiecka and Jamaica’s Nickisha Pryce. Britain’s Amber Anning, who qualified with a second-quickest time of 49.38, said McLaughlin-Levrone would be the woman to beat in the final. “I think she wanted to put herself into a good position going into that final,” said Anning. “I just tried to stay with her as much as possible but still execute my race.”
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