Women’s 400mH: McLaughlin-Levrone and Bol might just give us the race for the ages

Women’s 400mH: McLaughlin-Levrone and Bol might just give us the race for the ages

The women’s 400m Hurdles event at the Olympics isn’t one to whet the appetite of the average fan of Track and Field, far from it. Historically, the men’s 100m final is usually the most sold-out event of the Games with fans even putting tickets on the black market.

No doubt, the blue riband event remains the 100m heading into the Paris Olympics as all 77,083 seats have been sold out ahead of the men’s final on August 4^th. However, if there is one event that could potentially rival the star power of the event that will crown the fastest man on earth, then it has to be the women’s 400mH.

For the last eight years, we have seen an evolution of the event in terms of quality and the times churned out by athletes over the years. Leading that charge was Dalilah Muhammad, who won the title in Rio 2016 and went on to break the world record eventually. Her winning time then was 53.13s. It seemed a big deal at that time and even the American would have laughed off suggestions that an athlete would need to run a sub-51s if they were to stand a chance of winning the title in Paris eight years down the line.

But here we are. Two runners have spoiled us with some incredible times in the last four years that we now are expecting a world record performance any time they grace the track. All thanks to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol.

This year, McLaughlin-Levrone has once again shown us why she’s a fan favorite. Hailing from New Jersey, she’s been a standout talent since her earliest days on the track. Her dominance over her competitors is remarkable, often making it seem like she’s in a league of her own. She has excelled in the 200m (22.07) and 400m (48.75) races, in addition to breaking her world record in the 400m hurdles with an astonishing time of 50.65 seconds. Even she finds it hard to believe how she keeps running faster.

To think that she ran a 12.71s over the 100m Hurdles this year is rather astonishing. Her range is something that stands out and she will most certainly be on the front foot heading into the Paris Olympics. McLaughlin-Levrone will go into the French capital with the knowledge that she is the reigning Olympic Champion and the…