TOKYO (AP) — Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone became the first woman in nearly 40 years to crack 48 seconds in the 400 meters Thursday, achieving 47.78 in an historically fast one-lap race at the world championships.
McLaughlin-Levrone had company. Second-place finisher Marileidy Paulino clocked 47.98 on the rain-slickened track in Tokyo.
The second and third-fastest times in history trailed only the 47.60 by East Germany's Marita Koch in 1985 — one of the last remaining vestiges of an Eastern Bloc doping
system that was exposed years after it ended.
When she crossed the line, McLaughlin-Levrone, who moved over from the hurdles to see what she could do in the 400 flat race, looked over to the clock then put her hands on her head in apparent shock.
In the lead-up to worlds, McLaughlin-Levrone insisted the women needed to think about breaking 48 before they could 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.
Paulino, the reigning Olympic champion, is also in this mix, and 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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