No it isn't. Syd's WR from hurdles was 50.65. Bol ran 50.95 three weeks ago at Resisprint La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Yes it is. Bol ran that 50.95 at altitude. That mark, as any reasonable knowledgeable athlete agnostic person knows, is not an accurate judge of a an athlete's ability given the altitude. Similar performance to Thompson of South Africa who had never run sub 10 before, but suddenly ran 9.86 at that same event. Similar to Kambundji who had not broken 11 this year, but suddenly ran almost the Swiss NR of 10.90. All three returned to sea level and have performed at their true level. None coming close to the altitude marks they set at that event in the mountains.
Paris Olympics is here at sea level, and it is claimed the track is super fast. We will see in a few days what's what.
I know it's hard to understand for some Americans, but silver actually has value for the Dutch. When your country averages less than one T&F medal per Olympics, you don't really get to just diminish the value of a silver or a bronze.
If the Netherlands gets silver today, it will be a victory.
Americans on average are stupid. Any colour medal at a global competition is a great thing.
The track is within the limits of what is considered "altitude" and that time is equally as legit as the WR that Sydney ran on a bouncy track where wind is often an uncertain factor.
But 0.8s was always going to be an inaccurate number because even if you compensate for altitude (and by doing so, treating the 400mH as equal to the flat 400m, as there is no calculation available for the 400mH) the gap would be about 0.5s.