OLYMPICS
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone ran away with the women ’ s 400m hurdles gold medal and World Record
1 , 2 , 3 World Records
The Paris 2024 Olympics produced many records across the spectrum of athletics , but there were three standout performances that saw new World Record added to the annals of the sport . – BY WORLD ATHLETICS CORRESPONDENTS
World Record # 1 : Mixed 4x400m
Little more than an hour into the first stadium evening session of athletics , the first track and field World Record was broken in the mixed 4x400m relay . The US quartet of Vernon Norwood , Shamier Little , Bryce Deadmon and Kaylyn Brown clocked 3:07.41 to smash the previous mark – set when the USA won the World Title in Budapest last year – by more than a second .
Norwood put the US team into an early lead , then Little extended it on the second leg . Deadmon opened up a significant gap on the chasing pack on leg three , and then Brown anchored them to a clear victory , crossing the line more than three seconds ahead of France , who set a National Record of 3:10.60 . Belgium was third in 3:10.74 , also a National Record .
Shamier Little and Kaylyn Brown of Team USA
World Record # 2 : Men ’ s Pole Vault
Swedish star Mondo Duplantis soared 6.25m to set the ninth World Record of his career and cap a gold medal-winning performance in Paris . The 24-yearold has won every global men ’ s pole vault title since claiming his first Olympic crown in Tokyo three years ago , and with this latest victory , he becomes only the second man to secure two pole vault golds at the Olympics , following the double achieved by the USA ’ s Bob Richards in 1952 and 1956 .
On a night of great vaulting , 11 men cleared 5.70m , eight men cleared 5.80m and four men cleared 5.90m – in all cases , this was just the second time in Olympic history that such depth has been achieved in the event . Duplantis had the competition won at 6.00m , with silver going to the USA ’ s Sam Kendricks ( 5.95m ), while Emmanouil Karalis of Greece took bronze with 5.90m . But as he has done at the last two World
Mondo Duplantis
Champs meets , the Swede then continued jumping , going in search of a new World Record .
First he had the bar raised to 6.10m – a height that added 7cm to the Olympic record – which he cleared easily on his first try . Then the bar went up to 6.25m – one centimetre higher than the World Record he set in Xiamen in April . After failing with his first two attempts , he asked for a minor adjustment of the depth of the bar and flew over on his third and final try , to make history yet again . Duplantis has now cleared six metres or higher a total of 86 times !
World Record # 3 : Women ’ s 400m Hurdles
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone smashed her own World Record to retain her 400m hurdles title . The US runner went into the lead from the outset and moved on to the shoulder of Dutch World Champion Femke Bol , drawn in the lane outside her , on the final bend . McLaughlin-Levrone then pulled away down the home straight as Bol started to fade . The American crossed the line in 50.37 seconds , taking 0.28 off the world mark she set at the US Trials earlier this year . Her US teammate Anna Cockrell passed a fading Bol in the closing stages to take silver in a big PB of 51.87 , while Bol held on for bronze in 52.15 , just ahead of USA ’ s Jasmine Jones ( 52.29 ).
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
These records are still subject to the normal ratification process , and are thus not yet officially ‘ on the books ,’ but we can still celebrate them in the meantime !
Images : Mattia Ozbot , Christel Saneh , Dan Vernon – All for World Athletics
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