Paris 2024: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone cruises to hurdles gold

American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone obliterated her own 400m hurdles world record with a time of 50.37 seconds to retain her Olympic title.

Anna Cockrell of the US took silver and Dutchwoman Femke Bol claimed bronze.

McLaughlin-Levrone lowered her previous mark of 50.65 set at the US trials in June.

It was the sixth time she had broken the record and the crowd at the Stade de France went into a frenzy when it became clear a new all-time best was within her reach.

It is the hurdler's third Olympic gold medal after she also won gold in the women's 4x400m relay in the pandemic-delayed Tokyo games three years ago.

The first woman to break the 52 and 51-second barriers in the event, McLaughlin-Levrone has been on a mission to rewrite the history books whenever she competes.

She walked to her blocks like a prize fighter stepping into the ring, expressionless despite the chorus of cheers that greeted her, and wrested the lead from the moment the gun went off.

Bol, the only other woman to have cracked 51 seconds, was widely seen as McLaughlin-Levrone's closet challenger and had a large Dutch cohort in the stands firmly on her side, but she never got a leg up on the Americans.

The 2022 world champion McLaughlin-Levrone was miles ahead of the field down the final straight as Cockrell held on to produce a personal best in second.