dopedgills15 wrote:
coachy wrote:
It was a struggle to watch and I skipped some. Anyone else watch the 4x4 and think these women don’t really like each other?
i thought the same thing
i bet they hate each other
I definitely think there is tension between Muhammad and McLaughlin, specifically jealousy from Muhammad. It was evident in 2019 during a post race interview by Lewis Johnson at the United States championships at Drake. Muhammad defeated McLaughlin and broke the world record. Johnson was interviewing Sydney immediately after the race when she said she was happy for Muhammad breaking the world record. The camera remained on Sydney but you could hear something from Muhammad standing barely out of camera to Sydney's left. Sydney immediately looked in that direction and sincerely insisted, "I AM happy for you."
Lewis Johnson was either oblivious or had intentionally decided to totally ignore the awkward exchange. Muhammad was still off camera when she obviously made another dismissive remark or gesture. The interview ended at that point but you could hear Sydney say something like," Oh give me a break," again directed toward Muhammad.
I detailed all of that here at the time. IMO, that single exchange is more representative and accurate of the relationship between he two than anything said for public consumption. It has to be. Sydney is genuinely miffed that others on the team have long forged an opinion of her that is not based on anything she has said or done. Very familiar and predictable for anyone who followed Lolo Jones' career. The other American hurdlers spited her for many of the same reasons. It's basically...you don't fit girl. That clique in the sprint hurdles wanted everyone to be street tough not glamorous. Those mean girls are basically gone now. But the lingering degree of bitterness has been transferred to McLaughlin, who didn't anticipate it because it wasn't anything she experienced throughout school.
In 2019 I was very certain that Muhammad would defeat Sydney at world championships, despite 2/1 underdog status. That NBC interview clip revealed Muhammad as full of rage and intensity. Sydney wasn't mean enough yet. The two extra years were just enough. Muhammad comes across as satisfied after the Tokyo final solely because she was thrilled with her personal best time. That aspect enabled smiles and appearance of togetherness. But you could see the regret and emotion coming forward just a day or two later, when she was interviewed on the NBC daytime Olympic coverage and was losing the smile. Muhammad bemoaned the brief "check step" after clearing the final hurdle. She said that once they reached hurdle 9 she had been thinking, "Okay, maybe I've got this."
Sydney winning was the ideal result, IMO. The sport needed her as the young verified superstar. Sydney herself benefits far more than Muhammad would have. But it also guaranteed that Sydney would start sensing plenty of crap from nearby. My only surprise is that it's built so much momentum already, for her to voice like that.