Hardly pressed and conserving energy near the finish, the Olympic champion and world-record holder finished in a time of 52.17 seconds at the world championships Wednesday night.

That’s fast for never kicking into overdrive.

It might be another sign that her record of 51.41 — set on this track nearly a month ago — could fall yet again. The final is Friday and includes all three medalists from the Tokyo Games — McLaughlin, silver medalist Dalilah Muhammad and bronze medalist Femke Bol of the Netherlands.

“It was a good day to get faster,” said McLaughlin, who improved on her first-round time by almost two seconds. “I just want to be free, give all I have and leave it all on the track.”

On deck, another epic showdown.

“I still have something left, of course,” Bol said. “I am ready for a good final.”

It was a warm one at Hayward Field with temperatures hovering around 91 degrees Fahrenheit (33 Celsius). To stay cool, many athletes donned ice vests before competing, wore sunglasses while racing and wrapped cold towels around their shoulders when finished.

Sydney Mclaughlin, of the United States, wins in the semifinal of the women’s 400-meter hurdles at the World Athletics Championships on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

“I know that heat can kind of psych people out,” said American 5,000 runner Karissa Schweizer, who finished fifth in her first-round heat to advance. “I just tried to not let it faze me.”

Wednesday also marked both the beginning and end of Caster Semenya’s stay at worlds. She finished 13th and did not advance through her 5,000 qualifying heat. She ran the longer distance because she is banned from her specialty, the 800, due to rules that demand she take hormone-reducing drugs to enter certain races.

The season is over for defending 800 world champion Donavan Brazier, who struggled in his first-round heat and didn’t advance.

Next stop, surgery.

Brazier will undergo a procedure to shave down bone in his heel and in an effort to return to the form in 2019, when he won at worlds in Doha.

“It makes it very hard to go from being the best in the world, to next next week I’ll be on crutches,” Brazier said. “That really sucks. It makes me feel like I’m an injury-prone athlete. I don’t want to be that one-and-done runner.”