McLaughlin leads speedy group to 1st track worlds on US soil

AP Sports Writers

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Most runners, throwers and jumpers at the upcoming world championships only need look to their left, or right, to see where the biggest challenges lie.

For a select few, the main competition will be the clock.

A year after records fell fast and furious at the Olympics, track and field returns to the world stage at one of the sport's most hallowed stomping grounds: Eugene, Oregon.

The city called “TrackTown USA” was put on the map by a great middle distance runner, Steve Prefontaine, then kept there by a colossus called Nike. It now has an upgraded $270 million stadium — the iconic Hayward Field — that features a very fast track for this, the first world championships to be held on U.S. soil.

Eugene had been slated to host in 2021, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the Olympics by a year, which pushed track and field's calendar back one year, as well.

“There’s always a chance that records will fall during championships, but at the same time you can never order them,” said Norwegian standout Karsten Warholm, who broke the longstanding 400-meter hurdles world record twice last summer, including leaving where it is today, 45.94 seconds, when he won gold at the Tokyo Games. “For me when I go to championships, it’s all about running for the medals, firstly. If it takes a world record, then hopefully it will be me that takes it."

Almost certain to be a headliner over the 10-day meet, which begins Friday with medals being awarded in race walk and the 4x400 meter mixed relay, is 22-year-old hurdler Sydney McLaughlin. It is not hyperbole to say she's a threat not only to win, but to smash a world record every time she sets foot on the red track at Hayward that features a force-reduction surface.

On June 25 at U.S. championships, also in Eugene, McLaughlin lowered her record in the 400 meters to 51.41 seconds. Last year on the same track at Olympic trials, she set a world record (51.90) — one she would lower nearly six weeks later on a similarly fast track in Tokyo (51.46).

Ryan Crouser won Olympic gold in Tokyo last year, but his world record in the shot put — 23.37 meters — was set at Hayward, leading many to believe there's more to “Hayward Magic" than merely the new-fangled composites in the track.