On Friday night, after Sydney McLaughlin crossed the finish line in the women’s 400m hurdles at the World Championships, not a soul left the stadium.
Every fan remained at Hayward Field to cheer, applaud, celebrate and bask in what they witnessed, a sight never seen before.
The first sub-51 women’s 400m hurdles performance in event history.
Only one woman had previously gone sub-52. Now we’ve seen the first to go sub-51.
And that single woman is track prodigy, Sydney McLaughlin.
What McLaughlin did on Friday night in Oregon was not only thrilling but mindblowing.
Starting in lane 5, she made up the stagger by the second hurdle on the curve and by the fourth hurdle, the race was essentially over.
When she made the final turn and hit the last 100m, her lead was so great that it was akin to her running alone.
The crowd was in awe, screaming as she moved close and closer to the finish line.
And when she finally crossed it, the stadium and broadcast team exploded.
“Please watch the clock. the world record is 51.41,” screamed NBC broadcaster Leigh Diffey. “Sydney McLaughlin, the 22-year-old American. There is no stopping her! 50.6! It’s a world record! Sydney McLaughlin has just smashed her own record!”
It gave us chills and had us jumping up and down at the same time.
For those who don’t understand the significance of what McLaughlin accomplished, allow us to break it down.
A year ago at the Olympic Trials, McLaughlin ran 51.90, becoming the first woman ever to run sub-52 in the 400m hurdles.
A month later at the Tokyo Games, she did it again and set a new World Record of 51.46.
Last month at the U.S. Championships, she broke her record with a time of 51.41.
And then last night she smashed her own record, again, and made history, again, by running 50.68. That made her the first woman to run sub-51.
So in a span of a year, McLaughlin made history twice and set world records four times.
To make her new world record even more impressive, her time would put her in seventh place in the open 400m at the World Championships. That’s only 1.5 seconds behind Bahamian World Champion, Shaunae Miller-Uibo, who won the event in 49.11.
And Sydney is only 22!
If you still can’t appreciate these feats, try this.
Run five city blocks at top speed in under one minute.
Now add hurdles.
Admit it. You can’t do either.
Sydney McLaughlin’s new world record stunned everyone, including long-time track commentators Sanya Richards-Ross and Ato Boldin.
“This is absolutely the performance of a lifetime,” said Richards-Ross. “Have you seen anything better?”
“I have never witnessed anything like this before,” exclaimed Boldin who along with Richards-Ross, was still on a high from what they watched. “The old world record that she set here before, a couple of weeks ago in June, was one of the best performances in the sport. This 50.6 that she ran tonight, she’s getting up there now with 9.5 for Bolt, and 19.19 and some of the best performances ever.
“I think it’s the best performance I have EVER witnessed in all my years of watching the sport.”
Boldin is spot on.
After watching Team USA sweep both the men’s 100m and 200m, something that hasn’t been done since 1904, and seeing Team Jamaica continue their dominance in the women’s 100m and 200m, this rises above them both.
And that’s no slight to any of those competitors.
Think about this.
If McLaughlin drops another .7 seconds from her blistering world record-setting time, she would challenge the elite 400m runners like the aforementioned Olympic champion, Shaunae Miller-Uibo.
According to her coach, she has her sights on that challenge next.
After witnessing what Sydney did on Friday night, we think she’ll win that race too.
