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Maybe there will come a time when Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone reaches the edge of human possibility in the women's 400-meter hurdles and stops rewriting the laws of physics. But that time is not yet here. In front of a rapturous Stade de France crowd in Paris, she made an astounding contribution to the defence of her Olympic crown, breaking yet another world record.
The race was billed as a showdown between McLaughlin-Levrone and her Dutch rival Femke Boll, the only women in history to break the 51-second barrier, but the American was in another league, winning the gold medal in 50.37 seconds and leaving the others far behind.
That shaved nearly 0.3 seconds off the time she set at the U.S. Trials in June. Few athletes have been as consistent as McLaughlin-Levrone, who has run the fastest time ever in each of the past six major championship finals.
Further back, Boll took bronze in 52.15 seconds after losing in the home straight to Anna Cockrell of the United States, who took silver in 51.87 seconds.
Some stats about McLaughlin-Levrone's run are startling. Consider the comparison with the women's 400 meters, a flat race with no hurdles that culminates in Friday night's Olympic final. There were 24 semifinalists, and if McLaughlin-Levrone had run the world record alongside them over the 10 hurdles, she would have finished with the ninth-fastest time, just missing out on a spot in the finals.
She was actually scheduled to compete in the 200 and 400 meters at the U.S. Trials in June, but withdrew from both events when she realized her schedule in Paris would be too packed. Instead, she chose to focus on the 400 hurdles, “my first love,” and defending the Olympic title she won in Tokyo. And she did so in an entirely new time zone.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone crosses the finish line to win the gold medal (AP)
“I thank God for this opportunity and I'm grateful to be able to celebrate my birthday like this,” said McLaughlin-Levrone, who turned 25 on Wednesday.
“Every race is a race against 10 hurdles. There are people pushing you, but if you don't focus on the barrier in front of you, it's all for nothing. That was my focus – getting through the 10 hurdles as efficiently as possible and trying to improve that time every time.”
How does she keep finding new ways to run faster?
“There are different ways to run and different ways to improve. I'm always trying to improve my stride pattern, landing time, flat speed and all that stuff. There's no such thing as a perfect race, but I'm getting closer and closer to 49 seconds so I feel like I'm getting closer.”
“I need to go and watch the race again. It'll help me train my legs to be able to run that fast for that long.”
Despite her achievements, there remained an element of mystery surrounding the race: McLaughlin-Levrone had only raced with Boll twice before and hadn't raced in over two years.
She ran a world record of 50.65 seconds in her heat to qualify for the Paris Games, but Femke Boll responded in 50.95 seconds at a pre-tournament meeting in Switzerland, sowing the seeds of a rivalry.
The Dutch fans certainly believed, as the Stade de France was packed with people in orange, who greeted Bol's arrival with cheers that let the fans know they were here.
Boll got off to a good start and there wasn't much between the favourites heading down the back straight, but McLaughlin-Levrone found her rhythm and showed perfect balance, clearing each hurdle as if it were a minor obstacle rather than a 76cm high wall.
Boll was exhausted and expressed frustration afterwards at falling more than a second short of his sub-51-second time from last month.
“All I want in an Olympic final is to run my best race,” she said. “I messed up. I don't know where I made a mistake. I had too much lactic acid with 300 meters to go. I don't know why, I can't explain it at all. It was just a bad race. I'll look at the positives, talk to my coach and enjoy the bronze medal.”
McLaughlin-Levrone celebrates with bronze medalist Cockrell (AP)
Cockrell benefited from Boll's lackluster campaign, but he gave Beyoncé most of the credit.
“I'm just overwhelmed and ecstatic,” said the 26-year-old California native. “When I beat my personal best and won the medal, I can't put it into words. It all came together in the best way. My coach just told me to have fun, be myself and compete like Beyoncé.”
“I was singing 'Love On Top' in the call room, so I'm going to give a shout-out to Beyonce. I'm so happy. I look ugly crying, but I'm so happy.”
By the time she crossed the line, McLaughlin-Levrone was already celebrating. How much further can she go? The 400m flat is a goal, and it's not hard to imagine her competing in both events in Los Angeles four years from now.
Perhaps the replay of her victory hinted at her next move: She sank five meters too early and was already up by the time she crossed the line. McLaughlin-Levrone wasted time, which meant the 50-second barrier was not safe.
“I wasn't looking at the clock,” she said, “but I was just so grateful when I crossed the line. I wish I'd been a little faster.”
