At Tokyo 2025, Sydney the New second-fastest time of all time, McLaughlin-Levrone made 400 m gold in 47.78 seconds . The dominance with which she finishes to even in the rainy weather makes her close to the long-established world record of 47.60 by Marita Koch.
What happened
- In 2025, during the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone became the winner of the women 400 m (flat) race with the time of 47.78 seconds.
- That is now the second-fastest time in history in the women 400 m, and the only one, second only to Marita Koch with a record of 47.60 seconds in 1985.
- The record of the championship was also broken by the run of McLaughlin-Levrone.
- The race was conducted in wet conditions; she was pressed by Marileidy Paulino who timed 47.98 seconds to take silver another record (among the fastest ever) in the very tough conditions.
Significance & context
- It is her inaugural international champion in the flat 400 m. She is already a reign of terror at the 400 m hurdles where she has won several Olympic and world championships in the same event.
- Her time 47.78 s is the best time in the 400 m run by a woman in almost 40 years.
- It also makes her the American record-holder of the event.
Recent splits of 47.78 (2025 Tokyo Final) of McLaughlin-Levrone.
From USA Track & Field’s report:
- First 100 m: 11.71 s
- 200 m (halfway): 22.95 s
- 300 m: 34.87 s
And the 100 m (300 400 m) would be her final s, which would be about 12.91 s (34.87 -27.78 =12.91). That is a fairly good finishing piece of such a quick time, particularly when it is rained upon.
Comparison with 47.60 (1985) of Marita Koch splits & other historic runs.
Marita Koch has a less accurate official splits on her world record run, yet there are reports circulated/published historically, which provide approximate splits:
- 100 m: ~ 11.30 s
- 200 m: ~ 22.40 s
- 300 m: ~ 34.10 s (hand-timed)
Suppose that those splits are correct, they imply:
- Koch ran out very fast particularly at 100 m and 200 m compared to McLaughlin-Levrone. An illustration is that McLaughlin timed 11.71 in 100 m compared to Koch -11.30.
- Through 200 m: McLaughlin 22.95 vs Koch ~22.40. Slower by a factor of 0.55 at that point.
- Largely by 300 m: McLaughlin 34.87 vs Koch -34.10 -300 m -300 m -300 m -300 m -300 m -300 m -300 m -300 m -300 m -300 m -300 m -300 m -300 m -300 m -300 m -300 m -300 m -300 m -300 m -300
That would be McLaughlin-Levrone regaining a portion of the difference in the last 100m: the last 100m of Koch would be; Koch = (47.60 34.10)/10) = 13.50s (approximately) whereas McLaughlin = last 100 (~12.91s) is even faster. So McLaughlin is very impressive in his endurance / closing speed.
What the pacing indicates of her strategy/strengths.
Putting together her splits:
- She did not go out as explosively as Koch did, in first 100-200 m, but nevertheless very fast.
- Her 200 m (22.95) split is one of the quickest ever in women 400s in the modern times and has positioned her well such that she is not too far behind heading to the final 100 m.
- Her 100 m (approximately 12.91) last result is good in difficult track and weather conditions implying that she has excellent speed endurance. It is not uncommon to runners to become tired in the last lap particularly when they run close to a world record speed.
Other comparisons, context
- Prior to this, the semifinal in which McLaughlin-Levrone ran 48.29 s at that time was already an American record.
- Even the final was fast with Marileidy Paulino who was second in the race breaking 48 s (47.98) in the race.
- There are just 4 women in the entire history who have ever broken 48 seconds in the outdoor 400 m women race: Marita Koch, McLaughlin-Levrone, Paulino and Jarmila Kratochvikova.
Conclusion
The win of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in the 400 m women race at the 2025 World Athletics Championships was not only a win but it also became a historical declaration. She set the second-fastest record ever of 47.78 seconds, just under the world record of 47.60 set by Marita Koch in 1985.
In contrast to the race that Koch had, basing on a blistering early speed, McLaughlin-Levrone proved to be more balanced, with a very powerful closing stretch of 100 m that made her endurance and calmness under stress obvious.
The fact that she did so in rainy weather, and beating off the silver-medal 47.98 of Marileidy Paulino, served to emphasize the mere quality of the performance. This last will be remembered as one of the best 400 m showdowns in the contemporary history. Not only the gold, but now McLaughlin-Levrone has shown that she is not just dominant in the 400 m hurdles, but also that she is one of the all-time greats with her now just a step away from making history.
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