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Tokyo 2020: Rojas, Warholm and McLaughlin are redefining sport in their own way

First, Yulimar Rojas made history on Sunday (August 1) in the women's triple jump final, sailing out to a world record of 15.67M to land Venezuela's first Olympic gold medal in athletics.

Sydney McLaughlin

Bengaluru, August 5: The Tokyo 2020 Games has been some riveting action, especially on the track and field where three world records have been created, two of them separated by just 24 hours.

First, Yulimar Rojas made history on Sunday (August 1) in the women's triple jump final, sailing out to a world record of 15.67M to land Venezuela's first Olympic gold medal in athletics.

Then on Tuesday (August 3), the men's 400M hurdles final went down in history as one of the greatest races as Karsten Warlholm broke the world record with 45.94M to win one of the most highly anticipated showdowns of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Barely 24 hours later, the women's 400M hurdles final on Wednesday (August 4) at Tokyo 2020 too resulted in a almost similarly outcome as Sydney McLaughlin broke her own world record to take gold in 51.46sec.

The trio have surely blazed a groundbreaking trail in their respective events as they have literally redefined the sport in every sense.

Rojas starts it

Rojas starts it

An Olympic record of 15.41M in the first round was a clear marker of Rojas's intent. She went beyond 15M again in the fourth round, leaping 15.25M, and took to the runway one last time in the final round, her victory by that point guaranteed.

With the pressure off and the gold medal secured, Rojas achieved the jump of her life, breaking the sand at 15.67M smashing the world record, adding 17 centimetres to the previous record set at the 1995 World Championships by Ukraine's Inessa Kravets.

Talk of Tokyo 2020

Talk of Tokyo 2020

For decades to come, the aficionados will talk of Tokyo 2020 400M hurdles finals as the event that changed everything we thought we knew about the limits of human performance.

First there was the men's race and that magnificent, mind-altering moment when Warholm crossed the finish line and the digits on the clock, somehow, read 45.95sec.

Warholm's giant-leap

Warholm's giant-leap

The Norwegian's time was 0.76sec faster than anyone had ever run, and 0.84sec faster than anyone not named Warholm.

Not so much one small step for man as one giant leap towards a new era in the event they call the man-killer.

McLaughlin masterclass

McLaughlin masterclass

The adrenaline had barely stopped flowing for athletics fans when, the very next morning, along came a trio of generational talents for the women's 400M hurdles final.

The 21-year-old American led them home in 51.46, 0.44sec quicker than the world record, and 0.70sec quicker than anyone not named McLaughlin had ever run.

Story first published: Thursday, August 5, 2021, 10:50 [IST]
Other articles published on Aug 5, 2021