Sidney McLaughlin (left) and Dalilla Muhammad (right) won gold and silver medals respectively in the women’s 400m hurdles held at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan on the 4th, representing the United States. photo = Getty Images
Sidney McLaughlin (22, USA) laughed at the women’s 400m hurdles in athletics, which drew attention as a ‘normal showdown’.
In the women’s 400m hurdles final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games held at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium on the 4th, McCloplin set a new world record of 51.46 seconds and won the gold medal.
The match drew attention as a match between McCloplin and Dalilla Muhammad (31, USA), the gold medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The two have already gathered topics as rivals of the century before the Olympics. In the final of the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Muhammad won with a world record of 52.16, while McCloplin finished second with 52.23. Then in June of the same year, McCloplin broke the world record at 51.90 and won the U.S. national team preliminary round held in June of the same year, beating Muhammad with a time of 52.42. With the two breaking world records, expectations for the Tokyo Olympics have also risen.
There was enough to eat at the famous feast. The two players set the world record 1st and 2nd side by side, demonstrating the skills of a top-notch player. The winner McCloaflin set the world record, and second place Muhammad also broke the previous world record with a time of 51.58 seconds, but was defeated by McCloaflin, who arrived 0.12 seconds earlier. Muhammad was quick until the ninth hurdle of the game, but the colors of the medals were different in the last spurt. McCloplin overtook Muhammad on the tenth hurdle and then reversed with a last minute spurt to take the top spot.
It is the world’s top position after showing rapid growth day by day. McCloplin set a world junior record at 54.16 in 2016 when he was 17 years old, becoming the youngest athlete on the U.S. track and field team at the Rio Olympics. From the very beginning, he was not Muhammad’s rival. Unlike Muhammad, who won the championship in 53.13 at the time, McCloaflin finished 16th and did not even advance to the finals, but after the 2019 World Championships, he became Mohammed’s rival and took the top spot in Tokyo.
Victory and defeat were divided, but McCloplin and Muhammad shared their congratulations and recognition for each other. Although he lost to the finals following the Olympic qualifying round, his senior Muhammad celebrated McCloaflin’s new record with a hug. According to the Associated Press, in an interview after the match, Muhammad said, “If you play with a player like McCloplin, you can’t make a single mistake. He is a stimulus that makes me a better player.” “Many fans are looking forward to the world record. But McCloplin and I had a good record. Congratulations on his win.”
McCloplin also said, “Muhammad and I are not just in a competitive relationship. We have shown that two people who do their best to achieve these results.” “It is iron that sharpens iron. It is amazing when you get inspired by someone and do your best. It happens. Muhammad and I are that kind of relationship.”
Intern reporter Cha Seung-yoon
