Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad react to intense 400-meter hurdles finish
After setting an Olympic world record in the 400-meter hurdle finals en route to a gold medal, Team USA's Sydney McLaughlin reflected on the incredible race alongside teammate Dalilah Muhammad, who took silver. McLaughlin also weighed-in on the impact of switching to coaching legend Bobby Kersee before Tokyo 2020.
Video Transcript
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SYDNEY MCLAUGHLIN: I think, you know, I'd seen Bobby so many times out at the track training. And I think just during COVID, you know, there was a lot of uncertainty happening and him and I just had a lot of conversations just as two people. And I realized, you know, that Bobby was a really great person before he was a really great coach. And I felt that he saw things in me and in my career that I didn't even see in myself. And you know, this being his 11th Olympics, his knowledge is just through the roof. I knew he was a man of numbers and I knew he was going to be able to help get me to where I wanted to go.
And in terms of what's possible, I mean, I don't think there's such a thing as a true perfect race. I think there's always more to improve upon. And every time we step on the track, I think that's our goal.
You know, it was a very interesting stride pattern today. I think I alternated 14 all the way through six. So I was a little uncertain of what was going to come up, but it was kind of just having to take whatever came. So I did have to make a little bit of a chop. But I knew just going into 10 I had to push all the way through and run through the line.
DALILAH MUHAMMAD: You know, you can't always fill the race, especially when you have so many lanes in between you. But just knowing the competitor that she is, I expected her to be there. I knew she'd be there. I still haven't actually watched the race though. I don't even know where I was in the race. So I'm looking forward to kind of watching that and seeing it. But you know, it's all about just keep going forward and just what I needed to-- doing what I need to do over the 10th hurdle.
We both, I think-- well, I definitely look at Sidney as, you know, she's definitely a strong competitor, but we're teammates first. So I think it's just one w those moments that when you're just being your true self and just wanting your competition and your teammate to do well. And that's just what you saw there.
SYDNEY MCLAUGHLIN: I agree. I think, you know, people can post whatever they want about us, but we're just two great athletes pushing each other to be our best. And at the end of the day, we both represent the same country and, you know, when we get on the line, we're going to do what we have to do. But other than that, you know, we can still support each other.
