At just 22 years old, the legend of Sydney McLaughlin continues to grow. The two-time Olympic champion broke her own record in the 400m hurdles for the fourth time in 13 months with a time of 50.68 at the World Championships, reports ESPN.
She demolished her previous record by 0.73 seconds, a remarkable feat that was 33 years in the making.
"It's unreal,'' McLaughlin said in an interview after her historic race.
"I haven't had a chance to watch it, so I'll have to do that and go back and talk to my coach,'' said McLaughlin. "But I think there's always things to improve on. I think we're pushing the boundaries of the sport, especially in our event.''
By the 150-meter mark, it was clear that McLaughlin was on a mission and she left her competition trailing meters behind her.
Femke Bol of the Netherlands, who finished in second place, trailed McLaughlin by 1.59 seconds. American hurdler Dalilah Muhammad came third in 53.13 seconds, a time that would've won the world title easily just a few years ago.
"It was crazy,'' Bol said. "She was so far in front at the end, I was almost doubting if I really had a good race. Then, I saw the time and I thought, 'Wow, that explains a lot.'''
After her record-breaking performance, McLaughlin looked at the scoreboard and said, "That's great, that's great.'' Then the mascot, Legend the Bigfoot, photobombed her with a sign that read: "World records are my favorite food.''
Along with a gold medal, McLaughlin received a $100,000 check, the prize for breaking records at the games, from World Athletics president Sebastian Coe.
McLaughlin explained that her practice routine prepared her for this extraordinary moment.
"It's just putting everything that you've done in practice into the race to the point where you're just letting your body do what it does,'' she said.
With all that McLaughlin has accomplished, there is more on the horizon for the young phenom.
"My coach thinks there's a lot more to be done,'' she added. "At some point, we could do maybe the 100 hurdles. He says to just really enjoy the 400 hurdles while I'm doing it, and then, if you want to expand, go from there. So, the sky's the limit for sure.''
