Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: no barrier too high for the 400m queen | Owen Lewis
The American has rewritten the hurdles record book and now posted the fastest 400m flat in four decades.At 26, her ceiling seems limitlessAs Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Marileidy Paulino whisked around the final bend of the 400m final at the World Championships in Tokyo, did McLaughlin-Levrone think back to when Paulino handed her just one of two career losses in the event in Paris two years prior? Probably not, though she certainly had reason to.The New Jerseyan led most of that 2023 race, surging to an early advantage from the inside lane and maintaining it for three-quarters of the course.But she’d gone out too hard.The 400-meter is a cruel trial, just too long to sprint flat-out the entire way, just too short to save meaningful reserves.
McLaughlin-Levrone erred on the side of aggression and paid the price in that unforgiving final straightaway.Paulino flew past her and finished comfortably in front.On Thursday night, Paulino once again seemed to creep up on McLaughlin-Levrone in the middle of the final 100.This time, however, McLaughlin-Levrone maintained her advantage in the dying meters, form smooth and languid as Paulino’s grew ragged and bouncy.Paulino ran one of the best 400m flat races ever, clocking in at 47.
98 seconds, the third fastest time to date, and more than a full second faster than her winning time in Paris two years earlier.Without McLaughlin-Levrone in the race, she’d have been the talk of the day.With the American around, all headlines concerned her supernatural 47.78.It was the fastest time run in four decades; the one remaining time faster than McLaughlin-Levrone’s, run by Marita Coch, was thought by many to be unbreakable and bears suspicion that performance-enhancing drugs greased the track.
By the way: the 400m flat is not McLaughlin-Levrone’s best event.McLaughlin-Levrone is at her sharpest over the same distance, but with hurdles to jump over as well.Of the 10 fastest times in the history of the women’s 400m hurdles event, McLaughlin-Levrone owns six, including the top three.Since breaking the world record for the first time, with a 51.90 in 2021, she has shaved another second and a half off her time.
Her coach, the ambitious Bobby Kersee, told the AP she wants to break 50 seconds,Now that McLaughlin-Levrone has added the second-fastest 400 flat time to her resume, talk has already begun of a double gold medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics,Never mind that the schedule would have to change for this feat to be possible, with more space between the two events to enable sufficient rest in the interim; nobody doubts McLaughlin-Levrone’s ability to win both events,Told that World Athletics president and gold medalist Sebastian Coe wanted to see her in the 800m after the race, McLaughlin-Levrone at first widened her eyes in mock fear,“You’ve already conquered two events, could there be a third?” the reporter asked.
McLaughlin-Levrone grinned cheekily.“No comment,” she said.Why rule out anything when you’re on top of the world?At 26 years old, McLaughlin-Levrone has already compiled a significant legacy.Her dominance over the 400m hurdles event, even among the best ever over a given distance, is striking.Femke Bol, the Dutch hurdler, would have the top three times in the event if McLaughlin-Levrone didn’t exist: a sublime talent eclipsed by a generational one.
Now, shortly into her 400-meter flat career, McLaughlin-Levrone has already posted the second best time ever run.The prospect of dominance over two events brings to mind a name explosive on the track and sedentary in retirement: Usain Bolt.Then there’s McLaughlin-Levrone’s impact on how to run the 400 hurdles: McLaughlin-Levrone takes 14 strides, rather than the traditional 15 in the women’s race, between certain sets of hurdles.Given her trajectory so far, the best of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone may still be in the future.In that light, trying to classify her entire career is fairly absurd.
On the other hand, with her résumés, how could you not?McLaughlin-Levrone’s prowess on the track has made it easy to classify her as one of the best ever, even if comparing athletes in different events remains a sticky exercise.Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee (who once trained under Bobby Kersee and is now married to him) has the six best-ever scores in the heptathlon.They have remained unequaled for more than three decades.The retired sprinter Allyson Felix medaled in every Olympics from 2004 to 2020, in a variety of sprint disciplines.Outside the US, there’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s 100m supremacy and her famous longevity, Faith Kipyegon’s versatility to set records in vastly different distances, and so much more in so many different events.
McLaughlin-Levrone’s greatness, while difficult to compare to the greats before and now, is undeniable.Hear it from one of her fiercest rivals, to the extent an athlete as dominant as McLaughlin-Levrone can have rivals: “I think that very soon the women’s 400m world record will be broken,” said world bronze winner Salwa Eid Naser, who alongside Paulino owns the rare honor of once beating the American in this event.“I never thought of it before, but after tonight’s race I can see it is around the corner.” McLaughlin-Levrone’s performance was historically great, but for it to suddenly convince a top competitor that something previously thought out of reach is in fact imminently reachable? If Naser is saying that, it’s hard for anybody else to be over the top in their praise.If McLaughlin-Levrone gets the grace of a schedule change in 2028 and attains that double gold medal, she might well vault beyond anybody who came before.
Share your views on the fallout between Corbyn and Sultana over their new party’s membership portal
Disagreement surrounding a membership portal of the new leftwing party formed by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana has resulted in a split between the two.The former Labour leader said the site had been set up without approval, describing it as a “false membership system” that collected money and data without authorisation. He confirmed the party had referred the matter to the ICO and urged supporters to ignore an earlier email requesting funds and cancel any payments.Responding to claims from Sultana that she had been frozen out by a “sexist boys’ club” inside the party, Corbyn said late on Thursday that she had not been “excluded from any discussions”.Sultana rejected those claims, saying she acted because she was sidelined and frozen out of official accounts
Reform UK receives £100,000 donation from design firm that faced winding-up petition
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has received a £100,000 donation from a design and architecture firm that faced a winding-up petition from the tax authorities earlier this year.The party, which is leading in the polls, has been raising money from a wider range of private sources in recent months, with its treasurer, Nick Candy, talking of targeting high net worth individuals both in the UK and in low-tax jurisdictions.Farage has also been challenged over his own tax affairs after it emerged his Clacton constituency home was bought by his partner, Laure Ferrari, in a move that meant a higher rate of stamp duty was not paid. Farage has said his partner bought the house with her own money for security reasons.It can now be revealed that the £100,000 donation was made in three tranches in June this year from a company called Interior Architecture Landscape, which was originally set up in 2013 by a British Virgin Islands-based company of the same name
Corbyn clashes with Sultana over membership portal as split emerges in new party
An extraordinary split has opened between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana in the formation of their new leftwing party, with the former Labour leader confirming a referral to the Information Commissioner’s Office over an unauthorised membership portal promoted by his co-leader.Corbyn said the site had been set up without approval, describing it as a “false membership system” that collected money and data without authorisation. He confirmed the party had referred the matter to the ICO and urged supporters to ignore an earlier email requesting funds and cancel any payments.Responding to claims from Sultana that she had been frozen out by a “sexist boys’ club” inside the party, Corbyn said late on Thursday that she had not been “excluded from any discussions” and remained part of a process “rooted in inclusivity and mutual respect”.Sultana rejected those claims, saying she acted because she was sidelined and frozen out of official accounts
The Sunbed King stifles a yawn at Chequers while Keir twitches at the press | John Crace
It takes all sorts. Standing around under gun-metal skies watching soldiers isn’t many people’s idea of fun but world leaders are a different breed. No bit of pageantry and flattery goes unnoticed. So why not give Donald Trump the full Disney treatment he craves? After all, it wasn’t as if he was going to be allowed to stray outside the Windsor Castle compound and it was better than making the king sit indoors and watch Fox News.But if Wednesday was the softening up – “You’re great, you’re the best, the world would stop without you
John Windle obituary
My friend John Windle, who has died aged 75, three years after a diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, was a committed socialist for all his adult life and supported the successful campaign to elect Tony Benn as MP for Chesterfield, Derbyshire, in the fiercely contested byelection of 1984. John devoted much of his earlier life to supporting his local Labour party in Chesterfield and various community associations in Sheffield.Born in Chesterfield to Kathleen (nee Ashmore), a school cook, and Roy Windle, a steelworker, John attended the local grammar school and left aged 16 to work in administration at Chesterfield Tube Works, which produced weldless steel cylinders, tubes and forgings. He continued his education part-time, gaining an HNC in business studies at Chesterfield College, then a diploma in the same subject at Sheffield Polytechnic in the early 1980s, followed later by a master’s degree from the University of Hull in 1997.In 1980, John joined the management of the University of Sheffield students’ union (SUSU); in 1982 he was appointed its general manager, where he worked with six students (“sabbaticals”), who were given a year off their studies to take up paid roles within the union
UK politics: Trump suggests Starmer use army to tackle migration and says Putin ‘really let me down’ over Ukraine – as it happened
Q: [From Jack Elsom from the Sun] To Trump, have you any advice for Starmer on immigration?Trump says he has got illegal immigration into the US down to zero.This was one of the issues that made him run for president.He says he told Starmer to stop it. They could use the military, he suggests. But it does not matter how – you have to stop it
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