World records set by Rojas, Warholm, and McLaughlin at Tokyo ratified by World Athletics
Sep 29, 2021
Monte-Carlo [Monaco], September 29 : The world records set by Yulimar Rojas, Karsten Warholm and Sydney McLaughlin to win their Olympic gold medals in Tokyo have been ratified, the World Athletics announced on Wednesday.
History was made in the women's triple jump, men's 400m hurdles and women's 400m hurdles over the course of four days in Japan's capital city as Venezuela's Rojas, Norway's Warholm and the USA's McLaughlin each took their events to another level.
The records which were ratified are as following: Women's world triple jump record - 15.67m Yulimar Rojas (VEN) Tokyo August 1, 2021; Men's world 400m hurdles record - 45.94 Karsten Warholm (NOR) Tokyo August 3, 2021, and Women's world 400m hurdles record - 51.46 Sydney McLaughlin (USA) Tokyo August 4, 2021.
First came Rojas' record leap on August 1. Soaring out to an incredible 15.67m, the 25-year-old secured Venezuela's first Olympic title in athletics.
The two-time world champion had opened her campaign with an Olympic triple jump record of 15.41m and by the time she lined up for her final effort, Rojas' victory was guaranteed. With her last attempt, she sailed even further to add 17 centimetres to the previous world record that had been set by Ukraine's Inessa Kravets on August 10, 1995 at the World Championships in Gothenburg.
Two days later it was Warholm's turn as he smashed the 400m hurdles world record in 45.94 to win one of the most highly anticipated showdowns of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Leading the highest quality men's 400m hurdles race in history, the 25-year-old took gold ahead of the USA's Rai Benjamin, whose 46.17 for silver also beat the previous world record of 46.70 which had been set by Warholm in Oslo on July 1. Brazil's Alison dos Santos took bronze in 46.72, a time inside the world record that had belonged to Kevin Young from 1992 until that day in Norway at the start of July.
The following day McLaughlin also improved her own world 400m hurdles record, storming to gold in 51.46 as her US teammate Dalilah Muhammad finished second in 51.58, also well inside McLaughlin's previous world record of 51.90 set at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene on June 27. Femke Bol of the Netherlands was third in 52.03, a mark faster than the world record Muhammad had held until McLaughlin broke it earlier in the season.
McLaughlin's 51.46 to lead the deepest women's 400m hurdles race in global championships history is a time which, up until 1970, would have bettered the world record in the 400m flat.
