In the debate about who the greatest female track and field athlete in the history of the world is, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone may have just put that argument to rest in electrifying and historic fashion with yet another race for the ages at the World Championships at Japan National Stadium in Tokyo on Thursday.
The 26-year-old McLaughlin-Levrone, the world record holder in the 400 hurdles and a 4-time Olympic gold medalist, nearly added the world record in the flat 400 to her collection when she edged 2024 Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic in the greatest one-lap dual ever as both runners blew up the track with sub 48 times in a breathtaking race!!
The legendary McLaughlin-Levrone, a 2017 graduate of Union Catholic High and a native of Dunellen, dug down deep over the final 25 meters to hold off Paulino and stop the clock at a mind-boggling 47.78, the second fastest time ever run. Paulino was second in 47.98, No. 3 on the all-time list.
The 47.78 by McLaughlin-Levrone smashes the American record of 48.29 that she ran in the semfinal round on Tuesday, and is just behind the world record of 47.60 that was run by Marita Koch of East Germany at the 1985 World Cup meet in Canberra, Australia.
Koch's accomplishments, along with the performances of other East German female athletes, have long been under suspicion that they were achieved with the aid of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. These drugs were not detectable at the time.
With her victory on Thursday, McLaughlin-Levrone, who opted to focus on just the flat 400 instead of running the 400 hurdles in Tokyo, became the first person to ever win World Championship titles in the flat 400 and the 400 hurdles! She won the 400 hurdles at the 2022 World Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
This was the first time McLaughlin-Levrone competed in the 400 on the global stage. Before this year, she concentrated on her signature event, the 400 hurdles, breaking the world record six times in that race over the last three years.