McLaughlin runs 400 hurdles season best in Nashville win

American Sydney McLaughlin set this year’s world-best time Sunday by winning the 400-meter hurdles in 52.83 seconds at the Music City Track Carnival in Nashville, Tennessee. Her victory came in a tuneup meet for the US Olympic trials later this month at Eugene, Oregon, ahead of next month’s Tokyo Olympics.

McLaughlin will be among the favorites after a runner-up 400 hurdles showing at the 2019 world championships in Doha, her personal best of 52.23 leaving her behind the world-record effort of 52.16 behind winner Dalilah Muhammad, the reigning Olympic champion.

McLaughlin, 21, surpassed the old 2021 world best of 53.12 set Monday by American Shamier Little.

McLaughlin’s effort was inside the Olympic qualifying standard along with the runner-up time of 55.34 by Jamaica’s Leah Nugent and the 56.04 third-place performance of Canada’s Sage Watson.

Other top efforts at the meet included Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas winning the men’s 400 in 45.06, meeting the Olympic qualifying standard, and American Katie Nageotte winning the women’s pole vault by clearing 4.85m, 0.08 shy of her 2021 world best set last month.