1-2 U.S. finish

American Sydney McLaughlin (below) shattered her own world record to win the gold medal in the women’s 400-meter hurdles today in a time of 51.46 seconds. Dalilah Muhammad, also of the United States, took the silver in 51.58, which was also quicker than the previous world record.

TOKYO — Sydney McLaughlin broke the world record. Dalilah Muhammad broke it, too.

Only one of of the world’s best hurdlers could win the Olympic gold medal, though, and McLaughlin came out ahead in the latest installment of a great rivalry in track.

The 21-year-old from New Jersey won the 400-meter hurdles title earlier today, finishing in 51.46 seconds.

McLaughlin came from behind after the last hurdle to top the defending Olympic champion. Muhammad’s time of 51.58 also beat McLaughlin’s old record of 51.9, set at the Olympic trials in June. But Muhammad got the silver and is the second-fastest hurdler in the world.

“I think that’s really iron sharpening iron,” McLaughlin said. “Every time we step on the track, it’s always something fast.”

Femke Bol of the Netherlands finished third.

For McLaughlin, it was a muted celebration. She sat on the ground, gave a serious look toward the scoreboard, got up, sanitized her hands, then accepted a congratulatory hug from Muhammad.

McLaughlin and Muhammad, a New York City native who went to Southern Cal, have been trading the record, and the wins, for two years. Muhammad first broke the mark at U.S. Nationals in 2019, then lowered it again to 52.16 at the world championships in Doha.

McLaughlin broke that record earlier this summer at Olympic trials, running her 51.90 to become the first woman to crack 52 seconds.

It felt inevitable that the mark would go down again on a fast track in perfect, hot-and-humid running conditions in Tokyo.

The day before, Karsten Warholm crushed his old world record, finishing the men’s race in 45.94, and runner-up Rai Benjamin’s 46.17 also beat the old mark.

It was a lot to live up to for the women. They exceeded expectations.

Starting from Lane 7, Muhammad burst out of the blocks and made up the lag quickly as they cruised down the backstretch.

Slowly, steadily, McLaughlin drew even, and they were at nearly a draw when they reached the final 100 meters. McLaughlin scaled the last hurdle, then started inching away.

“The perfectionist in me looks back and says, ‘I could have done this, I could done that,’ ” Muhammad said. “But I can’t do that too much.”

The 0.12-second margin was close — but not as close as in Doha, when McLaughlin lost by 0.07 in a race that changed her thinking.

She had burst onto the scene in 2016, a 16-year-old out of East Orange, N.J., who loved to tell the story about how she could juggle, and ride a unicycle, and do both at the same time. She could hurdle, too. To prove it, she earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic team in one of the most stacked events on the program,

Muhammad, already in her prime, won a gold medal in Rio de Janeiro. McLaughlin was out in the semifinal round.

The 2019 races in Des Moines, then Doha, showed how good McLaughlin really was, but left her with an undisputable reality — Muhammad was better.

McLaughlin changed coaches, moving over to work with the famed Bobby Kersee, whose expertise has helped produce what could be its own wing of a track and field Hall of Fame: Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Florence Griffith Joyner and Allyson Felix.

“This is his 11th Olympics he’s coaching. You know he’s been around the block a few times,” McLaughlin said of Kersee. “And he knew exactly what it was going to take to get me to this point.”

On Tuesday night, Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica blew away a decorated field in the 200 meters to complete her second straight Olympic sprint sweep in 21.53 seconds, the second-fastest time in history.

It marked the second time in four nights that Thompson-Herah has won a sprint and recorded a time that fell short of only Griffith Joyner’s hallowed, 33-year-old world records in the 100 and 200. The 200 record is 21.34.

Four nights ago in the 100, Thompson-Herah started pointing at the clock a few steps before the finish line and finished in 10.61, which was good for the Olympic record but not Flo Jo’s overall mark of 10.49.

In the 200, Thompson-Herah ran hard all the way through and stuck her tongue out as she pushed her chest forward at the line.

She topped surprise second-place finisher Christine Mboma of Namibia by 0.48, while American Gabby Thomas took bronze.

The women’s long jump title went to Malaika Mihambo, who jumped 22.97 feet on her last try to surpass America’s Brittney Reese.

That meant the U.S. had to wait for its second gold medal of the meet, and it was captured by Athing Mu in the women’s 800.