First off, congratulations to Ludlow for moving past the disappointment of the 4th place finish at the trials and running a PR.
Second, I've read two or three articles that end with "her time of 1:57.68 would've won the women's 800 at the Olympic trials".
That's not necessarily the case and several assumptions are being made:
1. Somehow everyone else would've run the same race despite Ludlow now proceeding at a 1:57.68 pace (yeah, everyone would've just let her go, right);
2. She still placed fourth in the Diamond League meet despite going 1:57.68;
3. The conditions at the two meets were the same or very similar and would not have affected the final finishing time;
4. Everyone forgets the three rounds of the 800m at the trials that didn't occur at the Diamond League meet;
5. Somehow the pressure at the Diamond League meet is equivalent to that at the Olympic trials (right!);
I'm sure I could come up with other assumptions behind such a broad statement and it reflects the inexperience and, perhaps, the incompetence of the sportswriter to put such a sweeping statement out there. The reality of the situation is that her 1:57.68 doesn't really even relate to the time she ran at the trials.