Sydney McLaughlin beat the rest of the field and herself as she smashed her own world record to take gold in the women’s 400m hurdles on Wednesday, edging out fellow American Dalilah Muhammad, who took silver.
What’s more, the winning American pair praised God and voiced their pride in representing their country while doing it.
The blistering pace of the race was evident from the start.
McLaughlin clocked in at the winning and record-setting time of 51.46 seconds.
“McLaughlin set the previous world record of 51.90 seconds in June. Muhammad, who set the world record twice in 2019 and won the world championship gold medal that year, finished in 51.58, the Associated Press reports.
Both McLaughlin and Muhammad were quick to thank God and tell of their pride in representing the United States in their post-race interview. The two spoke with reporters as Muhammad stood draped in the American flag.
When asked about her approach to this year’s Olympics, McLaughlin said it was about “trusting the process” and “giving the glory to God.” The world record holder then went on to say how “grateful” she was to “represent” her country.
The fearless display of pride in their country and faith in their God comes in stark contrast to the behavior of many Team USA members, specifically hammer thrower Gwen Berry and virtually all of the U.S. Women’s National Team, who have either protested or promised to protest during the Olympic Games.
However, the pride showed by McLaughlin and Muhammad was duplicated earlier in the day by gold medal-winning US wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock who gushed with pride in America and praise for God after clinching gold.
“It’s by the grace of God that I’m able to even move my feet,” Mensah-Stock said Tuesday. “I just leave it in his hands, and I pray that all the practice, all the hell my freaking coaches put me through, pays off, and every single time it does. And I get better and better. And it’s so weird that there is no cap to the limit that I can do. And I’m excited to see what I have next.”
She continued, “It feels amazing. I love representing the U.S. I freaking love living there, I love it, and I’m so happy I get to represent U-S-A.”
McLaughlin’s gold medal comes five years after her debut as a 16-year-old at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.