With hurdles removed, McLaughlin-Levrone tackles new race and maybe even a 40-year-old record.

TOKYO (AP) — Track and field has its fair share of world records that fall with time, yet some stand almost untouchable, waiting for an athlete bold enough to chase history. One such mark is the women’s 400 meters: Marita Koch’s 47.60 seconds, set on Oct. 6, 1985, in East Germany. As the 40th anniversary of that record approaches, the spotlight now turns to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, a generational talent renowned for shattering barriers each time she races.

A four-time Olympic champion and six-time world record holder in the 400 hurdles, McLaughlin-Levrone is shifting her focus to the 400 flat at this year’s world championships. “People expect records when I compete, which is fair,” she said. “But they take time and a lot of learning.”

Koch’s mark is steeped in controversy. East Germany’s state-run doping program of the 1970s and ’80s casts a shadow, with evidence suggesting Koch used banned steroids between 1981 and 1984. She has always denied wrongdoing, insisting she never tested positive.

Other long-standing records, like Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 100m and 200m times or Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 800m, are also considered nearly untouchable. Yet McLaughlin-Levrone, who redefined the 400 hurdles by dipping under 51 seconds, is viewed as capable of testing those limits. Her hurdles world record of 50.37 would rank competitively even in the flat 400.

This week, she faces fierce competition from Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino and 2019 world champion Salwa Eid Naser, ensuring the race itself could push her toward history. Injuries cut short her 2023 season, but she returned strong for the Paris Olympics, setting another hurdles world record and delivering a blazing 47.71 relay split one of the fastest ever recorded.

Running the 400 without hurdles, McLaughlin-Levrone says, is an entirely different challenge. Still, she embraces it as part of her evolution. Not since Koch’s run has a woman dipped under 48 seconds in the event.

“I think the record can be broken,” McLaughlin-Levrone said. “But first we need to see someone run under 48. Only then can we talk about 47.6.”