Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone breaks her own world record, wins Olympic gold again in 400-meter hurdles

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, of the United States, wins the women’s 400-meters hurdles final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, of the United States, wins the women’s 400-meters hurdles final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, of the United States competes in the women’s 400 meters hurdles final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, of the United States, celebrates wining the gold medal in the women’s 400-meters hurdles final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, right, of the United States, is embraced by compatriot Anna Cockrell, after winning the women’s 400-meters hurdles final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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Gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, of the United States, and bronze medalist Femke Bol, of the Netherlands, left, embrace after finishing the women’s 400 meters hurdles final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, top, and Tara Davis-Woodhall celebrate after each won their event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

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Gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, of the United States, and bronze medalist Femke Bol, of the Netherlands, left, react after finishing the women’s 400 meters hurdles final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

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CORRECTS TO 400-METER HURDLES NOT 200-METER Women’s long jump gold medalist, Tara Davis-Woodhall, right, and women’s 400-meter hurdle gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, of the United States, pose for a photo at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, of the United States, celebrates winning the women’s 400-meters hurdles final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, of the United States celebrates after winning the women’s 400-meter hurdles final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, of the United States, celebrates after winning the women’s 400-meter hurdles final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

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Women’s long jump gold medalist Tara Davis-Woodhall, right, of the United States, celebrates with compatriot and women’s 400-meters hurdles winner Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France.(AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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CORRECTS TO 400-METER HURDLES NOT 200-METER Women’s long jump gold medalist, Tara Davis-Woodhall, right, and women’s 400-meter hurdles gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, of the United States, pose at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

By PAT GRAHAM

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone insists and insists that her biggest competition in any race are those 10 hurdles that circle the track.

These days, those are no problem. The real thing she’s running against is the clock.

McLaughlin-Levrone once again broke her own world record, powering over the 400-meter hurdles in 50.37 seconds on Thursday night to defend her Olympic title.

The 25-year-old American has now lowered the world record six times. She was in the lead around the corner and breezed down the home stretch to beat teammate Anna Cockrell by 1.50 seconds.

“Obviously, there are people next to you and they’re going to push you but it doesn’t matter if you don’t focus on the barriers in front of you,” McLaughlin-Levrone explaiend. “That was my focus, trying to be as efficient as I could over my 10 hurdles and trying to lower that time every time.”

McLaughlin-Levrone had set the old record, 50.65 seconds, on June 30 at the U.S. Olympic trials.

This was billed as one of the must-see races at the Stade de France, given the rivalry between McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol of the Netherlands. Cockrell crashed the party, with Bol finishing third. She walked down the track, shaking her head.

McLaughlin-Levrone will make competitors do that.

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“I screwed it up,” Bol said. “I’m not sure where I made the mistake. I just got so much lactic acid with 300 meters to go. I’m not sure why, I really have no explanation. This is just a bad race.”

Once she crossed the finish line, McLaughlin-Levrone looked up at the scoreboard and gave a quick smile. She makes breaking records look almost like a stroll in the park.

And while she knows there are things she can clean up, it was inching closer to a perfect race — and to breaking into 49-second territory.

“It’s just building up that capacity in your legs to handle going that fast,” said McLaughlin-Levrone, who married Andre Levrone Jr., a former NFL football player, in 2022.

McLaughlin-Levrone moved to 3-0 in races against Bol. She beat Bol, the standout from the Netherlands, at the Tokyo Games in 2021 (Bol finished third) and again a year later at world championships in Oregon. McLaughlin-Levrone was hurt last season and didn’t race when the world championships were in Budapest. It opened the the door for Bol to win her first world crown.

After this race, McLaughlin-Levrone gave Bol a consoling hug and some encouraging words.

“I was like, ‘You are amazing,’” she said. “She just started the hurdles not too long ago, so I think she’s doing great.”

Cockrell, too, who lowered her personal-best time by 0.77 seconds.

“I’ve always called myself a showtime girl,” Cockrell said. “When the lights come on, I come out to play.”

Coached by Bobby Kersee, McLaughlin-Levrone has been steadily building toward this moment for two years. Mostly out of the spotlight, too. She’s been racing in sprints at 200 and 400 meters and also in the short hurdles — 100 meters, and 60 meters indoors — to gain experience, speed and technique.

It all paid off Thursday with another record-breaking performance in front of a packed house.

“I knew this was possible,” said McLaughlin-Levrone, who celebrated her birthday Wednesday. “I knew it was probably going to take a world record to win this race.”

Afterward, she paraded around the track wearing a tiara her sister-in-law brought for her to wear.

“I just was hoping it would be a race worthy of holding (the tiara) up,” McLaughlin-Levrone cracked.

She burst on the scene as a teenager, the runner with the unique ability to juggle while riding a unicycle. She competed in the 2016 Olympics at age 17.

The sprinter from New Jersey who went to the University of Kentucky and now lives in Los Angeles also has a gold medal from Tokyo as part of the women’s 4x400 relay.

She’s raising her hand to be on the 4x400 relay team in Paris.

“I’m always here,” McLaughlin-Levrone said, “if they need me.”

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Olympic Hightlights

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FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

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FILE - Ilona Maher of USA is tackled by Sharni Williams of Australia in a semifinal of the Rugby World Cup 7’s championship held in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The main task for Maher, the breakout social media star on TikTok at the Tokyo Olympics, is winning a medal in Paris. (AP Photo/Halden Krog, File)

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FILE - Jacques Freitag of South Africa waves his national flag after he won the Men’s high jump event at the World Athletics Championships, at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

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Sammy Sullivan of USA in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, on May 4, 2024. The anthem played as Army officer Sammy Sullivan stood to attention and saluted beside her U.S. rugby teammates before a gold-medal game in Hong Kong against Olympic champion New Zealand. No prizes for guessing where her mind may have drifted to: Paris in July. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)

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USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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FILE - Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands competes during the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Vienna 2022 men’s semifinal game against Austria at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Van de Velde, convicted and imprisoned eight years ago for raping an underage girl in England has qualified for the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter, File)