EUGENE, Ore. — Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone continued her dominance in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, setting (another) world record Sunday at Hayward Field in the final of the U.S. Olympic trials. McLaughlin-Levrone crossed the finish line in 50.65 seconds, then covered her mouth in shock when she saw her time.
McLaughlin-Levrone’s previous world record, also set at Hayward Field, was 50.68, which she achieved at the 2022 World Championships.
“Honestly, praise God, I did not expect this,” McLaughlin-Levrone said on the broadcast after her race. “All things are possible in Christ. I’m just amazed, dumbfounded and in shock.”
Anna Cockrell (52.64) was second and Jasmine Jones (52.77) was third and will join McLaughlin-Levrone in Paris.
Dalilah Muhammad, who won gold in Rio and silver in Tokyo, finished sixth.
McLaughlin-Levrone is the reigning gold medalist in the 400-meter hurdles, and almost every time she lines up on the track, she sets a new world record. She’s not only the favorite in Paris, but she’s expected to win by a wide margin.
But she swears that with every run she shaves off her time, she is genuinely surprised and grateful.
“I knew I was in the 50-point range, and it was just a matter of getting a stride pattern,” she said. “I knew the fitness was there. I was a little shocked that it came with not the best stride pattern… there’s still more we can work on.”
This work and the expected results motivate her.
McLaughlin-Levrone dreams of going sub-50 seconds and, given his track record, it doesn’t seem like a stretch.
“It’s really exciting to think about how to improve the story,” she said. “It’s something I’m always looking at.”
She called the world record “a confidence booster” ahead of arriving in Paris.
Before the final, McLaughlin-Levrone’s coach, the legendary Bobby Kersee, encouraged her to “not be afraid to take risks, trust my fitness when I come home and just do my 10 hurdles.”
“He’s always using boxing phrases,” McLaughlin-Levrone said. “So those were my Joe Frazier’s today, the 10 hurdles, just to make sure I was focused on them. There was no time goal.”
And yes, in this analogy, McLaughlin-Levrone is Muhammad Ali, himself a former Olympian.
McLaughlin-Levrone will likely also be on the 4×400 team; she ran the first leg of the relay at the Tokyo Games, leading the Americans to gold.
USATF expects to announce the relay teams by July 8.
McLaughlin-Levrone has flirted with the idea of running the 400-meter hurdles and the 400, but the current Olympic track schedule is not conducive to that. At times it seems as if McLaughlin-Levrone could win, or at least compete for a medal, in either of the running events. As of Sunday morning, she had the sixth-fastest 200-meter time this season, set in Los Angeles in May.
“I just wanted to focus on one … and do it as well as I could,” she said. “That’s why we chose the 400-meter hurdles. Today was a good testament to that.”
“There is still more to come.”
Contributing: Tyler Dragon
