THE ORANGE STOOD out in the crowd. They weren’t just dotted around, they were gathered together, bright spots in the purple haze of Stade de France. They were here for one person, one race, one tantalising head-to-head.
Femke Bol, the Dutch darling, was going to get a rare chance to line up against world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in their preferred event, the 400m hurdles. McLaughlin-Levrone was the favourite. McLaughlin-Levrone is always the favourite such is her supremacy on the track, her times across hurdles good enough to worry 400m flat runners.
But the Netherlands, after Bol’s act of supremacy of her own in the 4x400m mixed relay, her changed stride pattern, her recent sub 51 time, were willing the 24-year-old to make theirs an actual rivalry. Their names – McLaughlin and Bol – are synonymous with the event but because the American’s coach keeps her safely hidden from minor, or even middling, events, they have only shared the track twice. 2-0 Sydney.
Having clocked an important 50.95 in Switzerland last month, Bol had joined the rare club. There were now two of them.
The Dutch could deign to say her name in the same breath as McLaughlin. Just outside the world record time set in June, the American won’t be able to make a mistake, we all thought. As Olympic champion Tara Davis-Woodhall was clapped through her final round in the long jump and the hurdles were being set on the purple rubber, the anticipation rose across the 75,000 spectators for the 8.
25pm start. On being announced Bol and McLaughlin-Levrone shared the crowd’s affections with the French hurdler, Louise Maraval. But tonight, McLaughlin-Levrone had no interest in sharing anything with anyone – not even the track so far was the distance between her and second placed Anna Cockrell when she crossed the line in a world record time of 50.
37. Bol was left dumbfounded in third. Shaking her head in disbelief, she made a beeline for her parents, in need of comfort and consolation.
Mouth open, she retreated from them and smacked a hand to her head. Her Olympics started with a golden moment but her individual campaign ended with a horrible, sinking realisation that she is not living in an era-defining rivalry. She is living in McLaughlin-Levrone’s world.
There was to be no clipped hurdle, chopped stride or lack of competition in her legs. Whatever McLaughlin-Levrone wants to do in this sport – break 50 seconds, move to the flat, compete only in US nationals, world championships and Olympic Games for the rest of her career – Bol will just have to watch on with the rest of us. The 25-year-old (her birthday was yesterday) got out of the blocks quickly today and was clearing the first hurdle ahead of the other seven athletes.
Bol and Cockrell stayed with her bravely through 200m but then McLaughlin-Levrone’s gliding, beautiful strides stretched the gap between her and the more ordinary of the extraordinary talents. When others start chopping strides, or doubt their patterns, or simply tie up, she was trusting in her abilities and her form. To see others run against her is like picking out the celebrities in a group number on Strictly Come Dancing.
There was the tiniest hint of a grimace after she cleared the last obstacle and there was just 40 metres of track to navigate. The Olympic gold medal, her second, was secured. The only question remained was the world record.
Could she clock a new one, her sixth, on the greatest stage? 50.37. Crown on her head, the star-spangled banner around her shoulders, she rang the stadium bell.
Tonight, the track was not to be shared. The spotlight was not to be split. The 400m hurdles is her event.
There is no room for rivalry in Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s life..
