Olympics-Athletics-American McLaughlin breaks world record to win women's 400 hurdles

Aug 4, 2021; Tokyo, Japan; Sydney McLaughlin (USA) celebrates winning the gold medal in the women's 400m hurdles final in a world record time during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games at Olympic Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

TOKYO (Reuters) -Sydney McLaughlin shattered her own 400 metres hurdles world record to win gold in 51.46 seconds on Wednesday, getting the better of fellow American Dalilah Muhammad in a thrilling Tokyo Olympics final that lived up to all expectations.

The 21-year-old stuttered on the penultimate barrier and trailed Muhammad coming off the last hurdle but carried the momentum into the sprint to the line to cross first and beat her previous record of 51.90 set at the U.S. trials in June.