That sounds like a bit of copium. That record has stood since the 80s, people have tried to break it on all sorts of tracks and Bol has actually done it. Not saying she is going to beat SML but there's no need to try and suggest this is some sort of soft record that someone was inevitably going to take down on the right track. This is a big deal - it's one of the obviously doped records off the books.
Now for the outdoor 400 and 800
The outdoor 400 47.60 record is light years more difficult to break than the 49.59 indoor record.
And that 47.60 is the poster child for drug aided records.
T&F needs more athletes with Bol's mind set. She runs full seasons with many races and seems to face anyone they put against her. And at the end of the outdoor season she is still running her best times and winning medals, I am an American and I am more of a fan or her than I am of SML
This is a great accomplishment for her. She has been obviously chasing it (the record) this indoor season. I do think she could win an individual gold in the 400 at an outdoor championship. I do not think that there will be that significant a drop if converting to an outdoor time. Klaver ran 50.34, her personal best is from the World Championships at Eugene, 50.18, and that was Klaver at her very best, peaked.
I'm bewildered by some of the immature comments on this thread. "Oh the track was banked" (WTF?!) "Oh she won't beat Syd" "oh she needs to run this against the big women" .
Like, really? Can't you just praise what was a great performance, one that took down an old, tough, WR? I mean, if you want to play games, we can point out that Felix ran the same time OUTdoors! This is worth sub 49 outdoors right now. Give it the respect it deserves.
Great run! Outdoors will be exciting this year.
But we cannot pretend that banked tracks do not affect performance. In the indoor 400 on a banked track, the runner in the outer lane starts on a hill and runs net downhill. They have to run back up the hill and down again at the next corner. The runner starting in the inside runs closer to a flat 400 with all tight turns. It's not even.
Here is another vid of a great 400, Kendall Ellis in 2018.
USC's Kendall Ellis set a 400m collegiate record in the indoor 400m with a 50.34 at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Ellis is a 14-time NC...
I have always said that suggesting that Femke is in Sydney's class was a step too far. But not after this ... she might well give Syd a real run for her money in an open 400. I sure would love to see the two of the duel in that event at Worlds, although I like will be disappointed. (Even better yet would be if Athing were to join the party, but yeah I know, that ain't happening.)
Let’s wait and see . Many indoor track have high banks that really help in the first two turns of the race .
Syd the kid runs the same speed with or without hurdles at 400 , beating her will be tough for sure at 400 IH . But open who knows
Banked tracks are built to offset the speed you would lose running on a short, tight turn and having short straights. You're also starting uphill against the bank and also going into the second turn. Looking at the viddy that track doesn't seem exceptionally banked. If it were some kind of advantage we'd be seeing times close to the outdoor times, but only a handful have ever gone under 50. Even Kratochvílová couldn't get low 49.
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This is a great accomplishment for her. She has been obviously chasing it (the record) this indoor season. I do think she could win an individual gold in the 400 at an outdoor championship. I do not think that there will be that significant a drop if converting to an outdoor time. Klaver ran 50.34, her personal best is from the World Championships at Eugene, 50.18, and that was Klaver at her very best, peaked.
People do improve and both Bol (22) and Klaver (24) have improved every season so far. There is a significant drop from indoor to outdoor, how many ever under 50 indoor compared to outdoor?
I'm bewildered by some of the immature comments on this thread. "Oh the track was banked" (WTF?!) "Oh she won't beat Syd" "oh she needs to run this against the big women" .
Like, really? Can't you just praise what was a great performance, one that took down an old, tough, WR? I mean, if you want to play games, we can point out that Felix ran the same time OUTdoors! This is worth sub 49 outdoors right now. Give it the respect it deserves.
It's great to see both Bol and Klaver take a big step up in performance. However it was disappointing to see no other woman under 53 which means in the 4x400 it will be Bol and Klaver chasing. I heard that Kazcmarek is now training with the Dutch too.
T&F needs more athletes with Bol's mind set. She runs full seasons with many races and seems to face anyone they put against her. And at the end of the outdoor season she is still running her best times and winning medals, I am an American and I am more of a fan or her than I am of SML
Me too but only because of her (SML) change of coach.
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IAAF scoring tables say that a 49.26 indoor 400 meters = 48.45 outdoors. For what it's worth.
Those scoring tables aren't all that accurate.
A top woman will run about .4 seconds faster outdoors than indoors.
Most top women don't take indoor seriously so that .4 difference isn't reflected in most women's indoor and outdoor PR's.
Bol is young and she still has room for improvement. So maybe she will eventually get down to 48.45 one day, but she's not capable of running 48.45 outdoors today.
In any case, if Bol runs the flat 400 at this year's world championships she should be the favorite since Shanae Miller-Uobo is pregnant and I don't think Sydney will double.
And I bet Bol will double because that's just the type of person that she is.
Sydney’s “secret weapon” is her 14 step pattern the first half of the race. I found it interesting that Bol recently said she has been working on that stride pattern, as well.
Maybe Bol doesn’t perfect it this year…but 2024?
Sydney actually now does 14 steps for the first 7 hurdles.
Plus Sydney can hurdle with both legs.
Plus Sydney has better hurdling technique than Bol.
Even if for the sake of argument you think that Bol is now as fast in the flat 400 as Sydney, Bol still has A LOT of work to do to get down to the 50.6 level.
Sydney McLaughlin has redefined the bounds of possibility in the women's 400m hurdles, as has Karsten Warholm in the men's. That has brought out the best in her competitors already and they have run times they might not have otherwise. The far tighter turns and limited straightaways indoors are a significant difficulty in the sprints, even with a banked track. But I don't think this is worth 48.45. That's too generous and based on the lack of peaked top athletes competing indoors. However, it is worth more like 48.7s. With McLaughlin splitting sub-48 and Athing Mu capable of the same (then add .6-.7 for an open time), you'd have a real barnburner of a world championship 400m if the three of them doubled.
Sydney’s “secret weapon” is her 14 step pattern the first half of the race. I found it interesting that Bol recently said she has been working on that stride pattern, as well.
Maybe Bol doesn’t perfect it this year…but 2024?
Sydney actually now does 14 steps for the first 7 hurdles.
Plus Sydney can hurdle with both legs.
Plus Sydney has better hurdling technique than Bol.
Even if for the sake of argument you think that Bol is now as fast in the flat 400 as Sydney, Bol still has A LOT of work to do to get down to the 50.6 level.
However there's the possibility SML never runs that fast again either.
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