Olympics, McLaughlin gold and world record in the 400 hurdles

From our correspondent Valerio Piccioni

August 4
– Tokyo

Another 400 obstacles to scream, still a world record overwhelmed rather than beaten. Sydney McLaughlin beats defending champion Dalilah Muhammad in 51 ”46, removing 44 cents from the previous limit she had set this season. The match is a very heated USA derby in which Muhammad tries to scare her partner with a full start. But McLaughlin keeps afloat and in the final he overtakes his companion who also falls well below the world record, stopping at 51 ”58. The Dutch Femke Bol is also very strong, third with 52 ”03 of the new European record, yielding only in the final to the frenzied final of McLaughlin. Not only the world record, it is the fastest women’s 400 hurdles ever even as a podium complex as it happened among men just 24 hours ago. This is the third world record obtained at the New National Stadium in Tokyo after those of the Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas in the triple (15.67) and the Norwegian Karsten Warholm on the 400 hurdles (45 ”94).

Dal Molin

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Paolo Dal Molin didn’t make it. His fourth place in 13 ”40 was not enough for the repechage of the blue in the 110 obstacles. In his own semifinal, the Japanese Taio Kanai falls, one of the idols of the house, who in any case gets up and concludes the test to fully honor his participation in the Games. Here the best time is of Grant Holloway, the favorite for the gold medal. In the decathlon the Canadian Damian Warner got off to a great start, first pulling out a 100 in 10 ”12, then setting the Olympic record for the long jump of the multiple event with 8.24. In the heptathlon, the best of the 100 obstacles was the American Kendell Williams with 12 ”97. Overall, there is an attempt to recover the United States which had started badly on the track too: in the overall medal table, however, China continues to have an important advantage with seven golds more (32 compared to 25).