Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone became the second fastest woman to run the 400 meters on Thursday.
McLaughlin-Levrone was the first woman to run sub-48 seconds since 1985, according to ESPN, crossing the finish line of the World Athletics Championship final at 47.78 second.
Second-place finisher Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic also finished sub-48 with a time of 47.98.
“It’s amazing. It’s an honor. All glory to God,” McLaughlin-Levrone told NBC after the race.
When McLaughlin-Levrone saw her time, her first thought was “Praise God.”
“I knew it was there. It’s just a matter of really trusting and believing and putting it all together. I knew this field was going to be amazing. So it’s really just like thanking the Lord for making it all happen,” she said.
McLaughlin-Levrone said she read the doubts people shared online about her ability to successfully make the switch from the 400 hurdles to the 400 flat. But she put her faith in God.
“Ultimately, it was trusting the Lord and having faith in our training. The verse of the year was in Proverbs. It says, ‘The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord,’ and I think that showed tonight,” she said.
When she met with reporters after, McLaughlin-Levrone emphasized the role her faith played in her preparation and race, per a video shared by LetsRun.com.
“A lot of hard work, a lot of prayer and lot of trust in the process. I know there was a lot of doubt from a lot of people for me making the switch,” she said.
McLaughlin-Levrone believes her performance Thursday “shows that anything really is possible.”
“It really was just a matter of putting the pieces together and running my race. I think it kind of just shows that anything really is possible, you just got to work for it and work really hard and just trust the Lord. I don’t have many more words for you guys right now. I’m still just trying to process all of it. But like I said, the word is just really grateful,” she said.
Will Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone run the 400 meters at the Olympics?
McLaughlin-Levrone has already shattered the 400 hurdles record six times, according to ESPN.
On Tuesday in the semifinals, McLaughlin-Levrone broke the American record with a time of 48.29, breaking the record Sanya Richards-Ross set 19 years ago, per NBC Sports. She is now the first person to win world titles in both the 400 hurdles and 400 flat.
NBC’s Lewis Johnson asked McLaughlin-Levrone if she would run the 400 meters at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“We’re going to have to talk about the schedule on that one. I’m going to need some days off in there if that was the case because it’s tough fields in both events. You have to respect them. In order to put the best performances together, you have to make sure your body is ready to do that,” she said.