When Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol eyeball one another in the bowels of the Stade de France before the Olympic 400m hurdles final – and, barring injury or illness, there is zero doubt both will be there – it will be the first time since 2022 that two of the sport’s greatest talents have clashed.
Caused in equal parts by injury, differing priorities and vastly contrasting race schedules, the rareness of their encounters has only served to heighten anticipation for one of the showdowns of the Olympics. Two 24-year-old (at least, until McLaughlin-Levrone’s birthday on the eve of the Olympic final) generational talents from either side of the Atlantic bestowed on the same era.
The hierarchy has thus far been irrefutable, McLaughlin-Levrone never losing a race to the Dutchwoman who promises to be her only real gold medal rival in Paris.
The American is the undisputed greatest in her event: the reigning Olympic champion and first woman in history to run below 51 seconds when winning the 2022 world title where Bol finished a distant second. That staggering performance was a phenomenal feat, making the second and third-fastest 400m hurdlers in history look like club runners trailing behind her by clocking a time that would have won the British 400m flat title.
Yet it is what has happened subsequently that makes matters so intriguing. After choosing to target the 400m last season, injury ruled McLaughlin-Levrone out of defending her world title and she has raced sparingly this year.
In her absence, Bol has steadily progressed to new heights, breaking the longstanding 400m indoor world record twice in successive seasons and warming up for these Olympics by following her American rival as only the second woman ever to break 51 seconds. Where McLaughlin-Levrone is rarely seen in competition, instead saving herself for the biggest stages, a Bol victory on the athletics circuit has fast become one of the sport’s most familiar sights.
But, just when doubts might have begun surfacing over whether McLaughlin-Levrone could cope with any rustiness caused by her racing rarity, she delivered yet another world record – her fifth in the 400m hurdles – to win the US trials in 50.65sec at the end of June.
“What will be interesting is Femke has become used to people not being ahead of her,” says Britain’s Olympic and world 400m hurdles finalist Eilidh Doyle. “It’s probably the most exciting head-to-head there has been, but my favourite would be Sydney. I feel with Sydney there’s a bit more in there and Femke needs to push her stride pattern a bit to challenge.”
Whatever happens, the dual aesthetic will be unmatched in Paris. Karsten Warholm, the fastest male 400m hurdler in history, visibly powers out of the blocks before muscling his way through a race, grappling with every stride as he approaches the finish line like a man desperately attempting to catch a closing train door. It is not pretty.
Conversely, rarely – if ever – has the sport possessed two such peerless exponents of their craft who routinely make it look so easy as McLaughlin-Levrone and Bol; world-beaters who seem to glide from start to finish.
“They just look like they are out jogging,” says Doyle. “They both just flow, and are so smooth and rangy. I don’t know if the new spikes help to keep the cadence and stride going, but they are blessed with that natural, elegant running style. It’s ridiculous really, I’ve never seen a 400m hurdles look so comfortable when running so fast.”
Doyle suggests their similar tactics add another layer of intrigue: “Although they are both usually miles ahead in races, they both build things up until putting in the damage with 150-200m to go.
“So it won’t be a case of one being a long way ahead and the other pulling them in; they are going to be fairly neck and neck. If you can sense someone jumping the hurdle at the same time as you, that’s when you might make slight errors. So it will be a case of who can keep their head while that’s happening.”
Despite Bol’s improvement and dominance on the circuit, McLaughlin-Levrone remains faster on paper; faster than ever. It would take something truly historic for Bol to beat her for the first time on the grandest stage of all.
