Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Femke Bol headed for showdown in Olympic 400m hurdles final
It will be one of the must-watch events of the entire Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Reigning Olympic champion and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will go head-to-head with the reigning world champion Femke Bol in the final of the women's 400m hurdles, after both women posted sub-53 times in Tuesday's (6 August) semi-final round.
But both McLaughlin-Levrone and Bol have gone under 51 seconds in recent weeks, with McLaughlin-Levrone lowering her own world record at the U.S. Olympic Trials in late June with a 50.65 and Bol running a 50.95 on 14 July in Switzerland.
Neither star athlete was pushed too hard in her respective heat, the American going 52.13 in the second semi, while Bol claimed the third and final semi in 52.67.
McLaughlin-Levrone's teammate Anna Cockrell was the only other semi-finallist to break the 53-second mark, going 52.90 to give Bol a push down the straightaway.
France's Louise Maraval got the loudest cheer of the night, the home hope surging after the final hurdle to book a place in her first Olympic final, her 53.83 still well back of McLaughlin-Levrone.
It's set to be the first match-up of McLaughlin-Levrone and Bol since the World Championships in 2022, when Sydney lowered the world record for a fourth time in her career.
The quartet of McLaughlin-Levrone, Bol, Cockrell and Maraval are set to be joined by Rushell Clayton and Shiann Salmon of Jamaica, USA's Jasmine Jones, and Canadian Savannah Sutherland.