Overview
- Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won the 400m in 47.78 for a championship, U.S. and world-leading record, finishing 0.18 off Marita Koch’s 1985 mark as Marileidy Paulino ran 47.98 for silver and Salwa Eid Naser took bronze in 48.19.
- Noah Lyles captured a fourth consecutive 200m world title in 19.52 seconds, with Kenneth Bednarek second in 19.58 and Jamaica’s Bryan Levell third in 19.64, while Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo finished fourth.
- Rai Benjamin prevailed in the 400m hurdles in 46.52 after an initial disqualification under TR 22.6.3 was overturned on protest; Alison dos Santos claimed silver in 46.84 and Abderrahman Samba bronze in 47.06 as Karsten Warholm placed fifth in 47.58.
- Femke Bol defended her 400m hurdles crown in a world-leading 51.54, ahead of Jasmine Jones (52.08) and Emma Zapletalová, who set a Slovak record with 53.00, while McLaughlin-Levrone skipped the event to focus on the flat 400m.
- Anti-doping expert Fritz Sörgel noted that extraordinary 400m performances naturally invite skepticism despite negative tests, a debate intensified by the sport’s history and the era in which Koch’s record was set.