(Reuters) – Sydney McLaughlin of the United States broke her own 400 metres hurdles world record on Wednesday to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Compatriot Dalilah Muhammad won silver and Femke Bol of the Netherlands took bronze.
WHAT THEY SAID
McLaughlin:
ON THE RACE
“I saw Dalilah ahead of me with one to go. I just thought ‘Run your race’.
“The race doesn’t really start till hurdle seven. I just wanted to go out there and give it everything I had.
“It’s just about trusting your training, trusting your coach, and that will get your all the way round the track.”
ON BREAKING HER OWN WORLD RECORD
“I can’t really (get) it straight in my head yet. I’m sure I’ll process it and celebrate later.”
Dalilah Muhammad
ON WINNING SILVER
“Every question is going to be, ‘Am I happy or am I unhappy with silver?’. But that’s not how I feel at all. I’ve had an amazing year and to finish with 51.5(8), shattering my personal best, is absolutely amazing.”
ON THE WORLD RECORD
“Just like the men’s race, all three of our times would have won any Olympics, any other year. I’m so proud to be part of that history and even more proud of my team mate Sydney.”
ON THE RACE
“After the ninth hurdle, I thought, ‘I’m about to win this.’ That was not the case, but I knew I had to take it out.
“I was in lane seven, so I thought, why not? Maybe I’ll be able to pull off a Karsten (Warholm) and lead from start to finish.”
Femke Boll:
ON WINNING BRONZE AND BREAKING EUROPEAN RECORD
“I knew it was close and if I wanted to break it, it would be today. The race was perfect, the weather was great and I’m in great shape, so I’m so happy.”
ON THE RACE
“It’s great when you have people in the last straight because it pushes you to keep going. I didn’t quite get my rhythm but in my head I could keep pushing because I had people I could chase. It was amazing.”
ON THE NEW WORLD RECORD
“I saw Warholm yesterday and he said, ‘ok, go out first’, and that was my plan. What he does is amazing and it’s great to see 400m hurdles at such a high level. That I can be part of it makes it even better.”
(Reporting by Omar Mohammed; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
