TOKYO — (AP) — Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone became the first woman in nearly 40 years to crack 48 seconds in the 400 meters Thursday, running 47.78 in an historically fast one-lap race at the world championships.
Pushed by second-place finisher Marileidy Paulino, who clocked a 47.98 of he own on the rain-slickened track in Tokyo, McLaughlin-Levrone captured her first global title in the 400 flat after dominating the hurdles for the last four years.
The second and third-fastest times in history in this race trail only the 47.60 by East Germany's Marita Koch, set Oct. 6, 1985 — one of the last remaining vestiges in track from an Eastern Bloc doping system that was exposed years after it ended.
Third-place finisher Salwa Eid Nasar clocked 48.19, a time that would have won the last two world championships. Nobody had come within a half-second of Koch's mark until this race.
“You don't run something like that without amazing women pushing you to it,” McLaughlin-Levrone said.
When she crossed the line, McLaughlin-Levrone looked over to the clock then put her hands on her head in apparent shock.
In the lead-up to the worlds, she insisted the women needed to think about breaking 48 before they go after what was once thought to be an unapproachable world record.
Now, that record is on shaky footing. A lot will depend on what America's most accomplished one-lap sprinter decides to do over the next few years. She has broken the 400 hurdles world record six times, most recently at last year's Olympics where she lowered it to 50.37 seconds.
This record came on the same track where McLaughlin-Levrone set her second hurdles world record at the 2021 Olympics. It was a much different scene this time — with fans in the stands, screaming as she rounded the oval, then headed into the home stretch in a tight battle with Paulino that wasn't in the bag until the last 30 meters.
It was McLaughlin-Levrone's 19th straight victory in a one-lap race — hurdles and flat — dating to June 2023.
“I knew it was going to be a battle down the home stretch and it was just really about focusing on my lane and kind of trying to stay as relaxed as possible,” she said.
Paulino, the reigning Olympic champion, said she felt like anything but a loser.
“I’m thankful for having the opportunity to break 48," she said. "I still feel like a winner. I’ve spent five years every day training for this.”
The enormity of what happened on Day 6 at these worlds wasn't lost on any of the eight women in the final.
“It's just amazing what the 400 has become the last couple years," said Britain's Amber Anning, who finished fifth in 49.36. "I love it, it makes me want to step up my game. To see it done, it gives hope to us that anything's possible in the 4.”
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