US track star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone ran the second fastest time ever to win a stunning gold in the women’s 400 metres at the World Athletics Championships on Thursday. 

The 26-year-old clocked 47.78sec on a rain-slicked track to smash the previous championship record of 47.99sec set by Jarmila Kratochvilova of Czechoslovakia in 1983. Defending champion and Olympic gold medallist Marileidy Paulino took silver (47.98sec) while Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser claimed bronze (48.19sec).
 
“It was really about trying to stay as relaxed as possible.  At the end of the day, this wasn’t my title to hold on to, it was mine to gain,” McLaughlin-Levrone said.