The performance of generations

TRACK AND field analyst Leighton Levy has attributed American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s blistering time at the just-concluded World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, to a combination of her speed, the strength she gained from her training for the 400-metre hurdles, and her ability to get her system attuned to the oxygen efficiency she needed to complete the race.

In what could arguably be the performance of the championships, McLaughlin-Levrone ran a jaw-dropping 47.78 seconds, just shy of the world record 47.60 set by German Marita Koch in 1984, defeating Paris Olympic Champion Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic (47.98) and 2019 world champion Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser (48.19).

Levy told The Gleaner that the American’s race distribution was superior to her closest competition on the day.

“Sydney is blessed with talent across several events, and I think what we saw is a culmination of all those skill sets. She is a 22-point 200-metre sprinter, which means she does not expend all that much energy for the first 200, and that strength that she has from the 400-metre hurdles allows her to be able to close a lot more quickly than the traditional 400-metre runners. That said, you have to look at the fact that she is probably one of the most efficient runners in the world. She doesn’t seem like she is exerting a lot of effort, so she’s always running relaxed. Her stride pattern is pretty consistent, so is her cadence. When you look at how quickly she got to the first 200, she always knew that she was faster than Paulino and Salwa, so there wasn’t a worry about her keeping pace with them.”

Another track and field analyst, Bruce James, who is also president of the MVP Track Club, believes that the women’s 400-metre run delivered on what had been anticipated.

“Before the start of the 400 metres at the World Championships, it promised to be one of the best races of the championships with the third-, fourth-, seventh-, and ninth- fastest women in history taking to the start line in the final. What it delivered is even more than we could have anticipated, ending with the second-fastest and third-fastest time ever in the history of the sport. It was the first time in history that two women had gone sub-48 in one race, and it was the first time a woman was running sub-48 and not winning.”

James told The Gleaner that McLaughlin-Levrone checks all the boxes for the top performance of the Tokyo Championships.

“Her time of 47.78, from a technical perspective, is possibly the top female performance of the meet. Based on World Athletics’ ranking points, nobody scored anywhere near that, and it was certainly outstanding. So yes, a first time in history, a lot of firsts in there, and this for somebody who is already the world record holder in the 400-metre hurdles and has now delivered at the senior level in the flat 400. Incredible performance.”

Levy believes that McLaughlin-Levrone is stronger than the current crop of world-class 400-metre women.

“To be truthful, there have not been that many women who had Koch’s strength and speed endurance until McLaughlin-Levrone. I mean, Salwa got to 48.14 back in 2019 when she won the title, and Paulino ran 48.17 in Paris last year, and Sydney dragged Paulino to 47.98, which is the third-fastest time of all time, and Salwa ran 48.19, which is her fastest time since 2019. It just tells you how she pulls people out of their comfort zone, and I think had she not run two rounds, she probably would have challenged the world record a lot more closely than she did.”

Levy feels that there is more that McLaughlin-Levrone can do.

“It has always been mooted that if she stepped down to the 400, it was always going to be interesting how she took the event on because we have seen her run 48 before and you get the sense that once she becomes more comfortable with the event, it’s just a matter of time before she challenges the world record even more closely because she did challenge it. So what seemed impossible or unlikely for the last 40 years, McLaughlin-Levrone has suddenly made it seem very possible indeed.”