EUGENE, Oregon — The first world record of the meet, a pair of gold medals, and a historic medal in the women's javelin capped off a glorious Friday night for Team USATF at the 18th World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field. With four medals on the night, the U.S. moved even further ahead on the medal table with 26, nine of them gold, and the team point standings demonstrated American dominance even more starkly. With 256 points, Team USATF had a 174-point lead over the next closest nation. The point total represents 52 U.S. athletes who finished in the top eight in their event.
A transcendent talent, the likes of whom is rarely seen in any sport, Sydney McLaughlin (Playa Vista, California/USATF Southern California) destroyed one of the best women's 400m hurdles fields ever assembled and raced into history with a world record* 50.68 that defies explanation. McLaughlin, who set world records in each of the past two finals she ran at Hayward Field, went above and beyond all but the wildest predictions to chop .73 seconds off her own world record that she set to win the USATF Championships in June, and her winning margin of 1.59 seconds was the biggest in meet history. Her record earned her a $100,000 bonus from World Athletics. Hitting the first 100m mark in 12.26 and already with a small lead over defending champion Dalilah Muhammad (Fort Worth, Texas/USATF Southern California), McLaughlin extended that gap significantly over the next three hurdles and passed 200m in 24.25. By the 300m mark in 37.02, the only question left unanswered was just how fast she would run. Losing nothing of her early speed on the run in, McLaughlin ended with a 13.66 final 100m and leaned at the line to get every hundredth of a second she could. Femke Bol of the Netherlands, who earned bronze at Tokyo behind McLauglin and Muhammad, finished strongly to upgrade to silver in 52.27, with Muhammad the bronze medalist in a season best 53.13. It was Muhammad's fourth World Championships medal in the event. The U.S. had half the women in the final, and Shamier Little (Louisville, Kentucky/USATF Arkansas) placed fourth in 53.76, while Britton Wilson (Henrico, Virginia/USATF Virginia) was fifth in 54.02. Of statistical interest, McLaughlin's time would have placed her seventh in the 400m final 35 minutes prior to her event. The one without 10, 30-inch barriers.
Fulfilling the promise he first showed as the 2016 World U20 200m champion, Michael Norman (Sherman Oaks, California/USATF Southern California) overcame an early deficit and overtook Olympic bronze medalist Kirani James of Grenada down the homestretch to win in 44.29. Norman was almost two-tenths behind James at the halfway mark and closed the gap over the final bend before a spirited push for victory. Using his trademark fast finish, Champion Allison (Houston, Texas/USATF Florida) took fourth in 44.77, just .11 off the podium.
Competing in her sixth World Championships and in search of her first global medal, Kara Winger (Colorado Springs, Colorado/USATF New York) summoned the greatest clutch performance of her lengthy career with a 64.05m/210-1 on her final throw to take silver and become the first American woman in World Championships history to win a medal. Winger came into the final round in fifth and after getting the fans behind her she launched a throw that hit just the right angle to sail into medal territory and bring the crowd to their feet. Not since Kate Schmidt's bronze at the 1976 Olympics had a U.S. woman earned a global medal of any color in the javelin, and the only American to better Winger's silver was Babe Didriksen, who took gold in 1932 at the Los Angeles Games.
Safe, smooth, and speedy baton passes paired with superior speed carried the U.S. quartet in heat two to the fastest time in the world this year at 41.56. USATF 100m champion Melissa Jefferson (Georgetown, South Carolina/USATF South Carolina) ran the leadoff leg and split 11.44, handing off to 100m sixth-place finisher Aleia Hobbs (Baton Rouge, Louisiana/USATF Southern). Hobbs blazed down the backstretch in 9.91 to open up a sizable lead as the only woman to dip under 10 seconds on her split. Her pass with Jenna Prandini (Pflugerville, Texas/USATF Central California) extended the zone a bit and Prandini then rocketed around the bend in 10.36, the fastest third leg overall. TeeTee Terry (Miami, Florida/USATF Florida) brought the stick home with a sizzling 9.85 anchor carry, capping off an impressive qualifying effort.
A giant sigh of relief was drowned out by the roar of the crowd as the American foursome came through with flying colors, winning the first heat by more than a half-second in a world-leading 37.87 that would end up as the fastest overall. Dominant on the opening leg, Christian Coleman (Lexington, Kentucky/USATF Kentucky) split 10.31 to establish a solid lead. Executing a good exchange with 200m champion Noah Lyles (Clermont, Florida/USATF Potomac Valley) kept the baton moving quickly and Lyles acquitted himself very well less than 24 hours after the biggest race of his life with a 9.26 split. Elijah Hall-Thompson (Houston, Texas/USATF Gulf) was lights out on the curve, his 9.26 split easily the fastest, and the final handoff to 100m silver medalist Marvin Bracy-Williams (Jacksonville, Florida/USATF Florida) was followed by a sterling 9.04 leg to seal the convincing victory.
Three semis and three Team USATF women through to the final, led by Athing Mu (Trenton, New Jersey/USATF New Jersey) as expected. Another very quick first lap saw Ethiopia's Diribe Welteji hit the bell in 57.10 in the final semi, with Olympic champion Mu in second at 57.32. Those two pulled away a bit down the final backstretch and came off the final turn together. Mu edged in front for the win in 1:58.12, looking very confident, and Welteji crossed the line in 1:58.16, the two fastest times overall. Ajee' Wilson (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania/USATF Mid-Atlantic) let Kenya's Mary Moraa go to the front in semifinal one and make the pace through the first 400m in 59.00, moving up on her shoulder with 200m to go. In the final stretch Moraa held off Wilson for the win in 1:59.65, but with the top two going through automatically to the final it was of little consequence and Wilson eased through in second in 1:59.97. The silver medalist at Doha in 2019, Raevyn Rogers (Houston, Texas/USATF Gulf) was in the second semi with Olympic silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson of Britain. Australia's Catriona Bissett led through a very quick first lap, passing 400m in 57.33, but was swallowed up by Hodgkinson, Jamaica's Natoya Goule and Rogers over the next half-lap. Hodgkinson showed the same form that carried her to the podium at Tokyo and won in 1:58.51, with Goule and Rogers fighting it out for the second automatic qualifying spot. Goule outleaned Rogers, placing second in 1:58.73, with Rogers third in 1:58.77 and able to advance as a time qualifier.
Olympic silver medalist and American indoor record holder Chris Nilsen (Vermillion, South Dakota/USATF Dakotas) went over his first three heights on first attempts, culminating in a 5.75m/18-10.25 that saw him through to the final. Nilsen was one of only three men to have no misses on the night, one of the others being Sweden's world record holder Mondo Duplantis. Luke Winder (Oak Park, Illinois/USATF Illinois) had a best of 5.65m/18-6.5 and missed out on the final. Andrew Irwin (Mount Ida, Arkansas/USATF Arkansas) missed three times at the opening height of 5.30m/17-4.5 and did not advance. Click here to find out how to watch. A full list of results and schedule of events can be found here. Join the conversation with USATF on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #JourneyToGold.