SAINT-DENIS, France — Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone rounded the final turn on the Stade de France track as the crowd roared. This was supposed to be the night that someone had challenged her stranglehold on the 400-meter hurdles, that finally, a worthy competitor turned this much-anticipated Paris Olympics race into anything but a coronation. But as the Dunellen native hit the seventh hurdle, it was obvious that Dutch star Femke Bol would be just another runner trying for a distant second.
As she cleared the 10th hurdle and strained toward the finish line, the only obstacle in her path was, as usual, track history. McLaughlin-Levrone crossed the finish line in 50.37 seconds, obliterating the record in the event for a sixth time.
She became the first woman to repeat as Olympic champion in the 400 hurdles, winning her third gold medal. She grabbed an American flag from someone in the crowd, stepped back onto the track and stood with it draped over her shoulders. She stood alone.
In a mild surprise, it was fellow American Anna Cockrell who won the silver medal in 51.87, with Bol taking bronze in 52.15.
Cockrell was the first runner to greet McLaughlin-Levrone, sitting on the track with a hug as the world record flashed on the screen. For McLaughlin-Levrone, it was also like winning a college-football road game. She stepped into the stadium to see orange — the distinctive Dutch national colors — in every direction.
They came out to support Bol, who five days earlier had led her.