Sydney McLaughlin wins the 400m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 (© Getty Images)
The first World Athletics Championships on U.S soil were as successful as any of the previous 17 editions with three worlds records and 13 World Athletics Championships records set at the reimagined Hayward Field at the University of Oregon.
Seven women’s records were set, and six were set on the men’s side.
Sydney McLaughlin led the all-out assault on the record book when she won the women’s 400m hurdles in 50.68 seconds, the third straight time she’s set a world record at Hayward Field.
McLaughlin set her first world record when she ran 51.90 seconds at last year’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track and Field. She re-set the world record to 51.46 seconds at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and further lowered it to 51.41 seconds at U.S. Outdoor Championships in June, setting up her record run during WCH Oregon22.
“My coach (Bobby Kersee) thinks there’s a lot more to be done,” McLaughlin said after her 50.68-second world record. “If we want to try a different event, maybe at some point, we could do the 4(00), maybe the 100 hurdles, so I think just enjoying the 400 hurdles while we’re doing it and then if you want to expand, do something else, go from there and see. The sky’s the limit.”
The other two world records set at WCH Oregon22 came on the final day of competition as Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis cleared 6.21m to win the men’s pole vault, and Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan ran 12.12 seconds in the semifinals of the women’s 100 hurdles. Amusan also ran 12.06 seconds in the final, but it was wind aided (+2.5).
“The whole day I was so caught up and focused on trying to win and trying to claim my first world outdoor title,” Duplantis said. “Really everything after that was just an afterthought. It was really just way, way in the back of my mind. Everything happened the way it did for me to win my first outdoor title and to clear 6.21, it’s really hard to comprehend. I’m really grateful.”
Amusan’s world record was the most surprising, given that McLaughlin and Duplantis broke their own world records.
“Honestly, I believe in my abilities, but I was not expecting a world record at these championships,” Amusan said. “You know, the goal is always just to execute well and get the win. So, the world record is a bonus. I knew I had it in me, but I could not believe it when I saw it on the screen after the semis. But it was just a matter of time.”
Here’s a look at the World Athletics Championships records, event by event, that were set at WCH Oregon22:
WOMEN
100 meters ― Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Jamaica, 10.67. Fraser-Pryce repeated as the 100m champion, and won her fifth gold medal in this event, the most individual gold medals by a woman in one event in World Athletics Championships history. She also tied Poland men’s hammer thrower Pawel Fajdek for the most overall gold medals in one event. The old Championships record was 10.70 seconds, set by Marion Jones of the U.S. in 1999 in Seville, Spain.
200 meters ― Shericka Jackson, Jamaica, 21.45. Jackson ran the second-fastest time in history when she broke the Championships record of 21.63 set by Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands in 2015 in Beijing. Jackson became the first woman to win medals in the 100m, 200m, and 400m. She finished second to Fraser-Pryce at WCH Oregon22 in the 100m, and was the 2015 and 2019 World Athletics Championships bronze medalist in the 400m.
Marathon ― Gotytom Gebreslase, Ethiopia, 2:18.11. The top four finishers in the marathon broke the old record of 2:20.57 set by Great Britain's Paula Radcliffe in 2005.
100m hurdles ― Tobi Amusan, Nigeria, 12.12. In the semifinals, Amusan broke the world record of 12.20 seconds by Keni Harrison of the United States from 2016, and the World Athletics Championships record of 12.28 seconds set by Sally Pearson of Australia, in Daegu, South Korea.
400m hurdles ― Sydney McLaughlin, United States, 50.68. This was the fourth time McLaughlin set a world record in this event, and the fourth time a world record has been set in this event at the World Athletics Championships. Dalilah Muhammad of the United States set the previous World Athletics Championships record of 52.16 in 2019, at Doha, Qatar when Muhammad edged McLaughlin to win the world title and set a world record. Other world records set in this event at a World Athletics Championships came from Great Britain’s Sally Gunnell (52.74, 1993) and Kim Batten of the U.S. (52.61, 1995).
3000m steeplechase ― Nora Jeruto, Kazakhstan, 8:53.02. The top three finishers in this event broke the Championships record set by Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya when she ran 8:57.84 in 2019 in Doha. Jeruto set a U.S. all-comers record with this time while winning her first World Athletics Championships gold medal.
35km Race Walk ― Kimberly Garcia Leon, Peru, 2:39:16. Leon won her second gold medal of WCH Oregon22 when she added the 35km race walk victory to her 20km race walk victory earlier in the Championships. This event was contested for the first time at a World Athletics Championships.
MEN
Marathon ― Tamirat Tola, Ethiopia, 2:05:36. Tola led three men under the old Championships record of 2:06:54 set by Kenya’s Abel Kirui in 2009.
400m hurdles ― Alison dos Santos, Brazil, 46.29. Dos Santos smashed his old personal best of 46.70 seconds when he ran the third-fastest time in history. He crushed the Championships record of 47.18 set by Kevin Young of the United States in 1993 in Stuttgart, Germany.
35km Race Walk ― Massimo Stano, Italy, 2:23:14. Stano won a closely contested race walk by one second over the runner-up and by 30 seconds over the third-place finisher. This event was contested for the first time at a World Athletics Championships.
Pole vault ― Mondo Duplantis, Sweden, 6.21m. Duplantis broke his own outdoor world record of 6.16m, and his overall world record of 6.20m, set at the indoor World Athletics Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, in March. He also broke the Championships record of 6.05m set by Australia’s Dmitri Markov in 2001 in Edmonton.
Shot put ― Ryan Crouser, United States, 22.94m. Crouser won his first World Athletics Championships gold medal, indoors and outdoors, by beating teammate Joe Kovacs by 5 centimeters. Kovacs set the old record of 22.91m in 2019 when he edged Crouser and New Zealand’s Tom Walsh by 1 centimeter.
Discus ― Kristjan Ceh, Slovenia, 71.13m. Ceh won his first world title breaking the Championships record of 70.17m set by Lithuania’s Virgilijus Alekna in 2005. Alekna's son Mykolas was second to Ceh with a throw of 69.27m.
By Ashley Conklin
