Dutch athlete Femke Bol qualified the second quickest from the semi-final field and was seen as McLaughlin-Levrone's biggest rival going into the final but the 24-year-old from the Netherlands was nowhere to be seen as she stumbled to third and had to watch McLaughlin-Levrone cross the finish line from a distance.
This was a shock to many watching on as between the two athletes, Bol and McLaughlin-Levrone hold 17 of the 20 fastest times in the history of the event.
Bol had set a new indoor 400m flat record earlier this year and set a new European record in the 400m hurdles and became only the second woman in the World (after McLaughlin-Levrone) to run under 51 seconds in the 400m hurdles.
Bol had also already demonstrated her quickness earlier on in the games when she brought the Netherlands from fourth to first in the 4x400m mixed relay, giving the Dutch gold.
However, it appeared the second fastest woman on the planet did not have enough left in the tank to contest against McLaughlin-Levrone.
The Race
The 25-year-old American was quick out of the blocks with a reaction time of 0.139 seconds and from there on out it was plain sailing for McLaughlin-Levrone who glided over each hurdle to smash her own world record.
Fellow American Anna Cockrell claimed the silver medal ahead of Bol and set a new personal best of 51.87 seconds but even Cockrell was 1.5 seconds behind the phenomenal McLaughlin-Levrone.
The USA also came close to a podium sweep with hurdler Jasmine Jones finishing 0.14 seconds behind Bol, whilst setting a new personal best of 52.29 seconds.
Record Breaker
McLaughlin-Levrone set the previous world record of 50.65 seconds in June 2023. She also held the previous Olympic record which she set en route to her first gold medal three years ago in Tokyo with a time of 51.46 seconds.
The American hurdler has now broke the world record six times in three years and continues to get quicker, with the record coming down from 51.90 to the new record of 50.37 seconds. She has been tipped to be the first woman to run the 400m hurdles in under 50 seconds.
McLaughlin-Levrone's triumphant defence of her 2020 Tokyo gold comes just one day after he 25th birthday.
The American is building quite the collection of medals with three Olympic golds and three golds and one silver from the World Championships.
Gold Rush
It was a successful night for team USA at the Stade de France as within 15 minutes of McLaughlin-Levrone's success fellow American hurdler Grant Holloway won gold in the 110m hurdles ahead of fellow American Daniel Roberts who snatched silver away from Jamaica's Rasheed Broadbell.
American long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall also tasted success with her jump of 7.10m enough to see off German Malaika Mihambo (6.98m) and fellow American Jasmine Moore (6.96m).
After a victorious night of track and field for the USA, they now lead China in the medal table by one gold medal and 30 total medals.
Twenty-seven of USA's 103 medals at this years Olympics have came in Athletics, with nine of their 30 golds also coming inside the Stade De France.
