McLaughlin breaks world record to win 400 hurdles, Muhammad gets Silver

Gold medallist USA's Sydney Mclaughlin (C), Silver medalist USA’s Dalilah Muhammad (L) and Bronze medalist Netherlands’ Femke Bol (R) pose on the podium after the women's 400m hurdles event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo on 4 August 2021 – AFP 

TOKYO (Reuters): Sydney McLaughlin shattered her own 400 metres hurdles world record to win Gold in 51.46 seconds on Wednesday, getting the better of fellow American Dalilah Muhammad in a thrilling Tokyo Olympics final that lived up to all expectations.

The 21-year-old stuttered on the penultimate barrier and trailed Muhammad coming off the last hurdle but carried the momentum into the sprint to the line to cross first and beat her previous record of 51.90 set at the US trials in June. Muhammad, the 2016 Olympic champion, ran the race of her life to take Silver, coming home in a personal best 51.58, while Femke Bol of the Netherlands took Bronze in a European record 52.03.

The showdown between McLaughlin and Muhammad, 31, was among the most highly anticipated of the athletics program at the Tokyo Games and came a day after Norway’s Karsten Warholm destroyed his own world record in the men’s event.