“It’s unreal. All glory is to God and I’m really grateful that my team helped me get to this point,” said McLaughlin, just 22, ahead of Dutch Femke Bol (52.27) and her compatriot Dalilah Muhammad (53.13) prevailed. The whole family has never been together in a competition before, so it’s all so big for her. “After Tokyo, when nobody was there, it’s like a salvation.” It’s always about finding out which barriers can be broken, that’s the only way to make it faster.
McLaughlin has broken the 52-second mark five times. Five of the six fastest times ever run over the 400 m hurdles are hers, only Muhammad swindled with Olympic silver in 2021 (51.58) in between, she is also the only one besides McLaughlin to ever fall below the 52-second mark sprinted. “I have to ask my coach about the next goal, he’s in charge,” said the world record holder.
The Tokyo Olympic champion, who undercut the record by 0.73 seconds, has done a lot not only for her fame, but also for her account – there is a special bonus of 100,000 dollars for the world record, World Cup gold is worth 70,000 (total approx 167,000 euros). When asked why she rarely smiles, McLaughlin said. “I don’t smile until the job is done, until the last race is over. I stayed focused, stayed with myself. I’m always happy, always grateful to be here. But sometimes you have to put on your poker face. That’s all.”
A side note: With her world record time, McLaughlin would have landed flat in seventh place in the 400 m World Championship final a few minutes earlier. Double Olympic champion Miller-Uibo was behind in this discipline Marileidy Paulino from the Dominican Republic (49.60) and Sada Williams from Barbados (49.75). “Having this now makes me really happy,” said Miller-Uibo after her first World Championship gold. Austria’s Susanne Walli was eliminated in the semifinals and finished 23rd.
Norman won ahead of Kirani James of Grenada (44.48) and Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith (44.66). “I was very determined to win in front of the fans in the stadium. You are the best,” Norman addressed the home crowd via the stadium microphone.
The javelin throw went to Kelsey-Lee Barber from Australia with a world record of 66.91 m, silver was won by the US American Kara Winger (64.05) in the last attempt, and the Japanese Haruka Kitaguchi (63, 27). “I’m cementing my place as one of the world’s best javelin throwers and I want to continue building on that.” ÖSV javelin thrower Victoria Hudson (23rd) had already been the end of the line in qualifying.
The Peruvian Kimberly Garcia Leon won the 35 km walk in 2:39:16 hours in the morning and thus made the double. Like over 20 km, she prevailed in front of the Pole Katarzyna Zdzieblo (2:40:03) and the Chinese Qieyang Shijie (2:40:37). Garcia Leon is the first double world champion at the world title fights in Oregon.