Having just watched the women's 400 m hurdles final I could not resist the temptation to write a short post. I believe that both 400 m hurdles have been the highest level races I have ever watched.
Just think about this. The winner breaks the world record. The second athlete runs also under the previous world record. And the third runs under what was the world record at the beginning of the year. (To say nothing of a slew of personal bests).
Two years ago I wrote an article on "The three musketeers of the 400 m hurdles", the three being A. Samba (who had just dipped under 47 seconds), K. McMaster and K. Warholm. And as tradition has it, there was a fourth musketeer, the young antiguan R. Benjamin, who had just clocked an astonishing 47.02. Two years later the four are still there. Samba has been plagued by injuries and has still to return to top shape. Benjamin acquired the US citizenship (something I have trouble understanding, since he is now obliged to pass the risky test of the US Trials in order to be selected to the national team). And, along the road to Tokyo, a fifth musketeer made its appearance, brazilian A. Dos Santos. All five of them were present in the Tokyo final. And what a final.
Warholm added the olympic crown to his world titles, with a world record of 45.94 s. Benjamin was second with 46.17 s (the world record of Warholm coming to Tokyo was 46.70 s). As he said after the race "if somebody would have told me that I would run 46.17 and still be second, I would think he was joking". Dos Santos was third with 46.72 s (inside what was the world record at the beginning of the year, 46.78 s by K. Young). McMaster was fourth with 47.08 s, a personal best, while Samba finished fifth with 47.12 s, slightly behind his best performances but still an excellent time. There has never been such a density in the 400 m hurdles.
And then came the women's race. D. Muhammad has been racing at the highest level for quite a few years, winning silver in the 2013 and 2017 World's. In 2016 she reached the summit of her discipline winning gold in the Rio Olympics. The world record came three years later, first in the US Trials with 52.20 s and then in the 2019, Doha, championships with 52.16 s, where she was pushed all the way by S. McLaughlin. Muhammad added the world title to her olympic one, but it was clear that McLaughlin was the rising star. McLaughlin had surprised everybody making the US team for the Rio Olympics at just 16 years of age (she ran up to semi-final). She was second behind Muhammad in the 2019, Doha, World's with 52.23 s. (It is interesting to note that both Muhammad and McLaughlin were members of the US 4x400 m team, winning gold in Doha). The one-year delay of the Olympics was most profitable to McLaughlin who spent the winter improving her basic speed (she has now a 12.65 s personal best over the 100 m hurdles). In the US Trials she surprised everybody by breaking the world record with 51.90, while she did not have to run so hard in order to secure her qualification to the team. And then a young athlete burst upon the international hurdles scene, F. Bol from Holland. She had participated in the 2019 World's, at just 19 years of age, making it to the semis with 55.32 s. In 2020 she improved her time with 53.79 s and it was clear that she had to be reckoned with in the future. That did not take long and in 2021, after an indoor season where she focused on the "flat" 400 m, winning all her races, she returned to the hurdles and barely missed the European record, with 52.37 s registering the fourth best time ever.
The final was of those races that one watches without even daring to take a breath. Muhammad took off at a pace that would have been suicidal for any other athlete. McLaughlin and Bol were just behind her till the last hurdle but McLaughlin prevailed in the final sprint. The verdict: Mc. Laughlin 51.46 and Muhammad 51.58 s, both under the previous world record by a good half-second. And while Bol could not match the first two, she exploded the European record with 52.03 (under Muhammad's world record of 52.16 s at the beginning of the year).
And for the fans of trivial pursuit: McLaughlin's was the 1000th gold medal awarded in Athletics, since the beginning of the Games.
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