Tokyo,: American Sydney McLaughlin broke her own world record in the 400m hurdles in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Fellow American Dalilah Muhammad led for most of the race, but McLaughlin sped ahead at the final hurdle to take gold with a time of 51.46 seconds, Deutsche press agency (dpa) reported.
Muhammad set a personal best time of 51.58, to take silver.
Femke Bol, of the Netherlands, set an area record with a time of 52.03 to take the bronze.
Earlier, German javelin thrower Johannes Vetter saved his best throw for last, qualifying for the finals on his third throw in Tokyo.
Vetter sat in sixth in his group after two throws, with his best falling below qualifying at 82.08m.
His third and final throw saw him crack the mark, throwing 85.64m.
Rio 2016 silver medalist Julius Yego of Kenya, and Rio bronze medalist Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago both failed to make the finals.
Elsewhere on the field, the first of seven events in the women’s heptathlon began, with American Kendell Williams the early leader.
She ran the 100m hurdles in 12.97 seconds, ahead of Burkino Faso’s Marthe Koala and Anouk Vetter of the Netherlands.
Canada’s Damian Warner made his mark in the opening events of the men’s decathlon.
Warner equaled his world decathlon best time in the 100 meters, crossing the line in 10.12 seconds.
Australia’s Ashley Moloney was next fastest with a time of 10.34, while fellow Canadian Pierce Lepage crossed in 10.43.
Warner, the Rio bronze medalist, also set an Olympic decathlon best in the long jump, leaping to 8.24m, beating Germany’s Frank Busemann mark from 1996.
The men will also compete in shot put, high jump and the 400m on Wednesday.
The ten-event discipline also features the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin throw and 1,500m.
Competitors earn points for their performance in each discipline, with the gold medal going to the athlete who accrues the most points.
