In a successful Hayward Field stadium, 400m hurdles queen Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone concluded the American Olympic trials with a new world record in 50 sec 65 on Sunday in Eugene (Oregon). Last event of the program after ten days of competition, the women’s 400m hurdles saw the demonstration of McLaughlin-Levrone, who recalled after a difficult year 2023 that she would indeed be the favorite for her succession to the Paris Olympic Games in a month (July 26 – August 11).
“I knew I could run under 51 seconds, but I was surprised by the time because my splits (between hurdles) weren’t as good as I expected. But I’m really happy to know that my form is good and that I can still work on some things,” she said. McLaughlin-Levrone, who trains in Los Angeles with long-time coach Bob Kersee, had already competed at the Rio Games at 17 before bringing back two gold medals from Tokyo in 2021 (400m hurdles and 4x400m). Absent from the World Championships in Budapest last year due to injury, McLaughlin-Levrone had not run a single 400m hurdles in 2023, despite some convincing 400m in meetings.
This year, after a tuning outing at the end of May and then a series and a half without pushing this week, the 24-year-old American gave her all in the final for her fifth world record in three years, the fourth in the Hayward field setting. She had broken the record for the first time in June 2021 in Eugene for the Olympic trials already, in 51 sec 90, before improving her mark in Tokyo two months later (51″46), then in June 2022 again in Eugene (51″41) and finally in July 2022, still in Oregon, to become world champion (50″68).
At 24, her margin over the competition seems immense, even if the Dutch world champion Femke Bol came close last year (51″45), and promises to give her an intense duel in Paris. “I would love to running in less than 50 seconds one day, I don’t know if that can be for this year,” she said. The time of 50 sec 65 would have allowed McLaughlin-Levrone to place sixth in the 400 final m “dish” of the US selections last week.
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