Sydney McLaughlin’s Transcendent Performance Adds To An Already Legendary Meet

We knew we were in for something special, the semi final of the 400m hurdles set up perfectly for a final full of narratives. Dalilah Muhammad won heat 1 in a season’s best 53.26, proving that she was rounding into form at exactly the right time. Heat 2 saw a new challenger step up as The Netherland’s Femke Bol comfortably ran away from her competitors. The final heat saw current World Record Holder Sydney McLaughlin comfortably see herself through to the final.

You could feel the tension building, Muhammad and McLaughlin had been battling back and forth; with the 22 year old McLaughlin finally having to break Muhammad’s World Record just to best her. Since then, Syd has reached another level, including breaking her own World Record twice heading into this year’s final.

“Are we being greedy expecting another World Record”, they asked on the NBC broadcast.

Greedy is a good word for it, but none of these athletes have ever shied away from the pressure, in fact, they thrive under it.

So what are the odds that this race would blow away our already soaring expectations?

In a race of world class 400m hurdlers, none of them were in the Stratosphere of Sydney McLaughlin. You could tell she had a fantastic start, but…