McLaughlin-Levrone runs fastest 400m in 40 years to seize gold

American former hurdler rushes to women's flat title in an emphatic 47.78 sec

- Sean Ingle

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone ran the fastest women's 400 metres in 40 years to claim world championship gold in 47.78sec and complete her transition from the one-lap hurdles in emphatic style.

The American stormed through the Tokyo rain to add a first global gold in the flat 400m to the two Olympic and one world titles she won over the hurdles.

Not since the Iron Curtain cast a shadow over Europe, and sport was seen as war by other means across the Eastern bloc, has a woman run a 400m as fast as McLaughlin-Levrone did on this wet and wild Tokyo night.

The wind was rattling unevenly around the National Stadium. There were puddles on the track. And yet the American looked almost serene as she floated across the track to take a stunning gold medal. "I had faith in my training," she said. "I knew I had it in me to run that fast. It was just a matter of time."