The conversation about what track sensation Sydney McLaughlin will do next involves more than the clock.
She brought the record in her 400m hurdles race down by nearly three-quarters of a second at the world championships, to a once-unthinkable mark of 50.68 seconds, but it was her run in the women’s 4x400m relay that might really get people wondering.
The Paris Olympics start two years and two days from Sunday’s close of the world championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Photo: AFP
McLaughlin is 22, with plenty of work yet to do in the hurdles, she said.
However, she also hinted that the 400m-flat, or even the 100m hurdles, could be in her future.
How far in her future will be one of the most intriguing storylines between now and Paris. What feels certain is that she can be a top contender in any discipline she chooses.
Photo: AFP
McLaughlin ran her anchor lap in Sunday’s gold-medal 4x400m in 47.91 seconds — more than a second faster than any other runner in the race.
“Take the hurdles away, it’s a little bit easier,” she said.
Her 50.68 seconds in the hurdles would have been good for seventh in the regular 400m, where they did not have to traverse the 10 barriers.
There are others to watch in track and field between now and the meet at the Stade de France in 2024:
LYLES VS KNIGHTON
The quiet and humble Erriyon Knighton versus the charismatic and confident Noah Lyles. This is shaping up to be a 200m rivalry that could last for quite some time.
In one lane, there is Knighton, the 18-year-old from Florida who could have been a standout football player, but chose track. He prefers to do his talking with his spikes.
In another, there is two-time world 200m champion Noah Lyles, the 25-year-old from Virginia by way of Florida who has dealt with mental health issues in a public way and just broke the US record.
He is not afraid to stir the pot, like when he pointed at Knighton after beating him at the US nationals.
Both have the speed to be the next big thing in track.
“Noah Lyles told me I will be one of the greatest in the sport,” said Knighton, who finished third in the 200m. “It feels good coming from him.”
However, Lyles will not go down quietly. He ran 19.31 seconds in the 200m final, topping one of the most hallowed records on the books: Michael Johnson’s US mark of 19.32 seconds that had stood since the 1996 Olympics.
“There’s no pressure,” Lyles said. “There’s pure fun out here.”
JAMAICAN SPRINT SUPREMACY
The order might change on the podium, but the destination of the medals does not. Jamaican women continue to own the sprints.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce led the island country’s sweep of the 100m. Led by Shericka Jackson and her second-fastest time ever, the first nation of speed also took gold and silver in the 200m.
“I came out and put on the show,” Jackson said.
The Jamaicans have a knack for that. When Usain Bolt hung up his shoes after the 2017 worlds, the focus on the island shifted back to the women, who had dominated in the pre-Bolt era, too, with the likes of Merlene Ottey and Veronica Campbell-Brown.
“We’re finally getting the recognition that we deserve,” Fraser-Pryce said. “I’m glad we’re able to do that and to show the world, as women, we’re strong.”
The latest women’s sweep came on the heels of a 1-2-3 finish in the 100m at the Tokyo Games.
And all of it came with Elaine Thompson-Herah, the two-time Olympic champion in the 100m and 200m, having a subpar meet. She finished third in the 100m and seventh in the 200m.
Thompson-Herah will try for a pair of three-peats in Paris. The world will wait to see if the 35-year-old Fraser-Pryce will hang on for two more years, as well. She certainly seemed to be having fun in Oregon.
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