U.S. Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin runs absurd 50.68 in 400H win at Worlds

Sydney McLaughlin continues to one-up herself.

The U.S. Olympic gold medalist and Dunellen native ran a winning 50.68 in Friday’s 400 hurdles final at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon – a new world record and the fourth time she has set one in the last 13 months. She’s the first woman in the world to crack the 51-second-mark.

Her first of four world records came at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June of 2021, where she hit a 51.9 to become the first woman to break 52 seconds in the event. Then came her gold medal 51.46 in Tokyo a little more than a month later followed by last June’s U.S. Track and Field Championships time of 51.41.

She made it look easy in the days leading up to Friday’s PR 50.68. The Union Catholic alumna clocked a 53.95 in Tuesday’s first round to win her heat by almost a full second before turning in a 52.17 in Wednesday’s semifinal.

The 52.17 narrowly missed Dalilah Muhammad’s World Championships record of 52.16, which she set in October of 2019.

Muhammad finished third to McLaughlin in Friday’s final.

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Ryan Patti may be reached at rpatti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Ryan Patti on Twitter.

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