American track and field star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone American Anna Cockrell set a new world record and won the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles final on Thursday, repeating her victory in Tokyo. American Anna Cockrell took silver, beating world champion Femke Bol of the Netherlands, who finished third for bronze.
McLaughlin-Levrone faced Bol at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games The final is only the third meeting between the two best hurdlers of this generation. McLaughlin-Levrone, the reigning Summer Olympic champion, has broken the world record time and time again. Bol is the reigning world champion (the American is out injured) and already won a gold medal in Paris thanks to a superb final leg for the Dutch in the mixed 4×400-meter relay on Saturday.
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Through Thursday’s final, McLaughlin-Levrone was 2-0 against Bol, having beaten her at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago and again at the 2022 world championships.
“Iron sharpens iron,” McLaughlin-Levrone said Tuesday night at the Stade de France after each woman won her semifinal heat to advance to the medal race. “It’s always fun to compete against the best, and I know we’re going to push each other.”
