It’s already common knowledge that Sydney McLaughlin-Leverone is good at what she does. But not many could imagine she’s this good. The Kentucky Wildcats star stormed through the finishing line in the women’s 400mH race to not only bag gold but also set a new world record in the event. However, after leading her nation to gold medal success earlier, McLaughlin-Leverone’s arch-rival Femke Bol’s rare fumble in the 400mH was what caught many fans off-guard.

The Dutch track star finished third in the event at the French capital, clocking 52.15 seconds. While her performance did get her a bronze, it wasn’t anywhere close to her personal best time of 50.95s, and far behind her rival McLaughlin-Leverone’s time of 50.37s. The 24-year-old was distraught after the result couldn’t hold back on her heartbreak in a post-race interview with Dutch TV

“I’m extremely disappointed,” Femke was heard saying. “ I feel in such great shape, but I collapsed after 250 meter,” frowned the athlete, noting how her bid to win gold hit an early setback that set the tone for the rest of the race.

The Dutch star went on to underscore that she could hardly come to terms with her performance and explained why. “Not because I didn’t win, but because I did one of my worst races when I needed one of my bests,” grunted the 400m hurdles specialist.

In an interview after the race, she mentioned the reason behind her sluggish finish and why she felt tired. She mentioned, “This was a really, really bad race. I really got a lot of lactic and I really don’t know why. But this is just really, I could not move. I could not get my strides right in the end and it was slow, slow and slower.” During intense exercises, which require more oxygen, lactic acid builds up in muscles and can cause stiffness.

The third-place finish for Bol will sting. She had arrived in Paris in impervious form. Bol had won both the 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay gold at the World Athletic Championships in 2023. In the Olympic year, she shattered the indoor 400-meter world record twice in a matter of two weeks.

She recorded a time of 49.17 seconds during the World Athletic Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland in March, surpassing her own record of 49.24, which she had set earlier at the Dutch national championships. She followed it up with the European record at the Resisprint meet in Switzerland, clocking 50.95s.

Even in Paris, she appeared as the woman to beat. On Saturday, August 3, Bol entered the final turn of the 4x400m mixed relay, in the fourth spot. But she put up a stunning show to run the anchor lap in 47.93 seconds, to help the Netherlands win gold. Turning her focus to the 400m hurdles, she recorded a time of 53.38 in heat three. This was the fastest-ever heat recorded in the history of the Olympic Games.

However, going for glory one more time, Femke fell short and ended up third behind Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and silver medalist Anna Cockrell on August 8.

She also said that seeing McLaughlin-Leverone breezing through the obstacles wasn’t any help to her plight, and when the other American sprinter Cockrell also edged past, she admitted she made “a stupid mistake at the last hurdle.”

However, not everything was drab and mundane in the City of Love for the reigning 400mH world champion. “I’m glad I at least won bronze,” confessed Femke with a bittersweet smile, evidently looking to bounce back from the setback as soon as possible.

During the post-race press conference, Femke confessed that she “went a little too crazy and had to pay the receipt and the end.” Considering the anticipation of her showdown against McLaughlin-Leverone Paris and the subsequent one-sided affair it became at the end, the Dutch athlete will take this as a lesson to remember.

Sydney- McLaughlin-Leverone wasn’t going to give Femke Bol an easy ride

Bol and McLaughlin-Leverone are easily two of the best female hurdle racers in the world. While the American was the defending Olympic gold medalist in the women’s 400m hurdle race, Bol went into the 33rd Games as the reigning world champion. Naturally, their clash was vetted as one of the most anticipated races at the quadrennial tournament.

Moreover, the fact that Bol didn’t lose a single race in the event before tonight only added to the hype of seeing them go toe-to-toe. However, the day belonged to  Sydney-McLaughlin-Leverone who was bouncing back from her own disappointment.

Just weeks before the Olympics, McLaughlin-Leverone narrowly missed out on toppling the American records at the New York Grand Prix and voiced her disappointment at not being able to do so. She went knees-deep into training and then went on to dominate the US Olympic Team Trials despite losing two toenails.

Thus on the day, preordained that she would leave Bol trailing and add another coveted medal to her cupboard.