The Greatest Race Ever 2.0
Mclaughlin lowers own world mark to win 400m hurdles gold ahead of Dalilah and Dutch Femke Bol
NEW DELHI: Track & Field loves to flaunt its blue riband events on the Olympic stage. At these Games, the women and men 100m finals over the weekend were jazzed up under the Tokyo skyline, with projection lights flashing the names of each athlete on the track as they stood on the starting line. The 200m finals, too, were given showstopper slots.
These sprints races have held premium slots in people’s hearts over the years—races that have created legends and defined legacies, featuring athletes such as Usain Bolt, Carl Lewis, Flo Jo, Elaine Thompson-herah, and Allyson Felix.
The 400m hurdles, held in the sunshine at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium, isn’t really an event that normally fits into that category. The athletes, too, are aware of that. “It’s not one of the hot events that people usually want to watch a whole lot,” said Sydney Mclaughlin, the women’s 400m hurdles world record holder heading into the Tokyo Games. “But we’ve definitely made it something very interesting.”
Quite an understatement. Twenty-four hours after Karsten Warholm and Rai Benjamin went head to head in what is being described as the Greatest Race Ever, the 400m hurdles dished out the Greatest Race Ever 2.0.
The women produced similar quality, the same drama, and an identical finish, resulting in another spellbinding, recordshattering race on Wednesday.
Mclaughlin, the 21-year-old American, shaved 0.44 seconds from her world record set on June 27 to win in 51.46s. Before Mclaughlin’s June effort, the world record time of 52.16 belonged to Dalilah Muhammad, the 2016 Olympic and 2019 world champion. Muhammad finished second at Tokyo in 51.58, which would have been a world record had Mclaughlin not been in the same race. Dutchwoman Femke Bol, who won bronze, clocked 52.03, which, too, would have been a world record before June 27.
Deja vu? It was exactly what Karsten Warholm (bettered his own world record), Rai Benjamin (an area record that would’ve beaten Karsten’s earlier mark) and Alison dos Santos (an area record that would’ve beaten the 29-year-old record that stood until last month) did in the men’s final on Tuesday.
Like those three the day before, Mclaughlin, Muhammad and Bol ran a race they’d never run before. Collectively, the podium finishers delivered three of the four fastest times ever in the event. Two other runners—jamaica’s Janieve Russell (4th, 53.08) and Ukraine’s Viktoriya Tkachuk (6th, 53.79)—also clocked personal bests.
“All three of our times would have won any Olympics any other year,” said Muhammad, the 31-year-old American.
“I’m so proud to be part of that history.”
The women history-makers said they took inspiration from the men’s race. “It definitely sparked a little bit of energy and adrenaline,” said Mclaughlin. On Wednesday, it was Muhammad who began the final with a rush of adrenaline. Known for being quick off the blocks, she opened up a sizeable lead and kept it for most of the race. Mclaughlin, in Lane 4, first came neck and neck with Bol, and then around the 350m mark with Muhammad.
“After the ninth hurdle, I thought, ‘I’m about to win this’,” said Muhammad. Oh no, you’re not. Mclaughlin cleared the 10th and final hurdle with her typically long strides and took the lead with her trademark late surge. Just like Warholm. While Warholm tore his jersey and went on an emotional overdrive after crossing the finish line, Mclaughlin merely sat on her toes, shaking her head in apparent disbelief. “I saw Dalilah ahead of me with one to go. I just thought ‘run your race’,” Mclaughlin said.
Like Warholm vs Benjamin, Mclaughlin vs Muhammad has been a riveting rivalry.
Mclaughlin was only 17 and failed to qualify for the final when Muhammad won gold at the Rio Games. Three years later, it became apparent that the prodigy was out to dethrone the queen when, at the 2019 Doha World Championships, where Muhammad won in record time of 52.16, Mclaughlin won silver in 52.23. Two years later, she erased Muhammad’s world mark at the US trials in June. “I just say iron sharpens iron,” Mclaughlin said of their rivalry.
“It’s two people pushing each other to be their best. You need that. I don’t think it’s a rivalry, there is no bad blood. It’s just two athletes wanting to be their best and knowing there is another great girl who is going to get you there.”