Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone strengthened her case once again to be considered the most dominate athlete in the world with an electrifying and jaw-dropping performance for the ages on Thursday at the Olympics at Stade de France in Paris.
McLaughlin-Levrone, who graduated from Union Catholic in 2017, simply blew apart the greatest field ever assembled in the women's 400-meter hurdles when she gradually pulled away over the final 100 meters and then powered her way down the final straight on the way to a breathtaking victory, freezing the numbers on the clock at a mind-bending 50.37 to successfully defend her title and smash her own world record!!!
The 50.37 broke the world record of 50.65 that McLaughlin-Levrone ran to finish first at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June, and is the sixth time sine 2021 that she's reset the world record!! McLaughlin-Levrone dominates her sport the same way Michael Jordan, Serena Williams, Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps, and Katie Ledecky did at their peak in their sports.
Name someone in their sport who is more dominant than McLaughlin-Levrone?
The numbers and stats don't lie!!
McLaughlin-Levrone, the undisputed queen of the track and field world, is the first woman to ever win the 400 hurdles at back-to-back Olympics, only the fifth American woman to repeat in any track and field event at the Olympics, is just the second New Jersey athlete to repeat as an Olympic gold medalist, and she's the first American to successfully defend their gold in an individual track event since Michael Johnson's back-to-back 400 meter golds in 1996 and 2000.
The other four U.S. women to go back-to-back are Wyomia Tyus in the 100 dash (1964,1968), Jackie Joyner-Kersee in the heptathlon (1988, 1992), Gail Devers in the 100 dash (1992, 1996), and Valarie Allman, who won her second straight discus championship last week.
The legendary Carl Lewis, who starred at Willingboro High, is the only other NJ athlete to strike gold in consecutive at Olympic Games. Lewis, one of the greatest athletes in the history of the world, racked up a staggering nine gold medals in his career. He won the long jump at 4 straight Olympic Games (1984, '88, '92, '96), captured the gold in the 100 dash in 1984 and '88, ran on the gold medal winning 4x100 squads in 1984 and '92, and won the 200 at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles when he captured four gold medals. Lewis also won a silver medal in the 200 in 1988.
The women's 400 hurdles was one of the most eagerly anticipated races of these Olympic Games as it featured the two fastest 400 hurdlers in the history of the world, McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol of the Netherlands, the second fastest woman ever with a 50.95.
But that showdown fizzled when McLaughlin-Levrone did what she always does, rising to the occasion when it mattered most by flexing her superior blend of speed and stamina when she threw down the hammer over the second half of the race to put an exclamation point on her masterpiece.
While McLaughlin was racing the clock over the final 100 meters, Bol began to fade a bit over the final two hurdles and Anna Cockrell of the U.S. rallied to win the silver in 51.87, No. 8 all-time. Bol finished third in 52.15, the same place she earned at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The times by Cockrell and Bol would have the gold at every Olympics except 2021 and 2024.
McLaughlin's splits between each hurdle were 5.91, 3.88, 4.02, 4.05, 4.16, 4.27, 4.43, 4.52, 4.65, and 4.82, and she 5.66 from the final hurdle to the finish line.
"It's amazing to see our sport continue to grow, for people to want to watch the 400 hurdles, it's amazing,'' said McLaughlin-Levrone, now 3-0 vs. Bol. "It's a lot of hard work put in this year. I knew it was going to be a tough race. An amazing competition all the way around."
McLaughlin-Levrone, who turned 25 yesterday, said her performance was the perfect way to celebrate.
"I'm grateful to be celebrating my 25th birthday like this,'' she said. It was just a super opportunity, you can't even imagine. My whole family is here. We're going to celebrate, we're going to enjoy this time and get ready for the relay too."
McLaughlin-Levrone, who hasn't lost a 400 hurdles race since placing second at the 2019 World Championships, is scheduled to run on the U.S. 4x400 this weekend as she seeks her fourth Olympic gold medal. She also struck gold as a member of the winning 4x400 in Tokyo three years ago.
These are the third Olympic Games for McLaughlin.
In 2016 when she was just a 16 year-old high school junior, McLaughlin became the youngest athlete to make the Olympic track and field team since Carol Lewis of Willingboro (long jump) and Denean Howard (400) made the 1980 U.S. team, but neither competed in the Olympic Games that year because of the U.S. boycott. When McLaughlin ran in Rio, she was the youngest U.S. track and field athlete to participate in the Olympic Games since 1972 when 15 year-old Cindy Gilbert competed in the high jump.
Five years later, McLaughlin-Levrone won the 400 hurdles at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 with a then world record time of 51.46, and also ran on the winning 4x400 relay. A year later, she dropped her world record down to 50.68 when she won the 400 hurdles at the 2022 World Championships at Hayward Field. Then at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June, she reset her world record by running 50.65.
McLaughlin-Levrone is a generational talent, who again made the once seemingly impossible possible!!!
She truly is the definition of G.O.A T, on and off the track!!!
MCLAUGHLIN-LEVRONE'S WORLD RECORD PROGRESSION
JUNE 27, 2021 - 51.90 to finish first at the U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward Field
AUGUST 4, 2021 - 51.46 to win the gold at the Olympics in Tokyo
JUNE 25 , 2022 - 51.41 to finish first at the U.S. Championships at Hayward Field
JULY 22, 2022 - 50.68 to win the gold at the World Championships at Hayward Field
JUNE 30, 2024 - 50.65 to finish first at the U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward Field
AUGUST 8, 2024 - 50.37 to win the gold at the Olympics in Paris
