McLaughlin-Levrone cracks 48 seconds in historically fast 400 at the worlds

TOKYO (AP) — Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone became the first woman in nearly 40 years to crack 48 seconds in the 400 meters Thursday, running 47.78 in an historically fast one-lap race at the world championships.

McLaughlin-Levrone had company. Second-place finisher Marileidy Paulino clocked 47.98 on the rain-slickened track in Tokyo.

The second and third-fastest times in history trailed only the 47.60 by East Germany’s Marita Koch in 1985 — one of the last remaining vestiges of an Eastern Bloc doping system that was exposed years after it ended.

Third-place finisher Salwa Eid Nasar clocked 48.19, a time that would have won the last two world championships.

When she crossed the line, McLaughlin-Levrone, who moved over from the hurdles to see what she could do in the 400 flat race, looked ov