Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone lowered her world record once again, running the 400-meter hurdles in 50.65 seconds Sunday to win the U.S. Olympic trials. In only her fourth long hurdles race of the season, the 24-year-old defending Olympic champion cleared all 10 barriers with ease, then went on a dead sprint to the line to break the record for the fifth time. Four of those marks have now come on track at University of Oregon's Hayward Field.
In an event that used to be decided by steps or slivers, McLaughlin-Levrone’s victory was by 1.99 seconds over Anna Cockrell and 2.12 over Jasmine Jones. It doesn’t so much reset the storyline for the Olympics — McLaughlin-Levrone would’ve been the big-time favorite either way — as much as makes track rethink what’s possible. From 2003-19, the world record in this event stayed stuck at 52.34.