Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Sets Sights on 400m World Record, Considers Event Double
LOS ANGELES – World-record holder in the 400m hurdles and american-record holder in the open 400m, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, revealed her ambition to pursue the women’s 400m world record of 47.60, following her near-miss at the recent world Championships where she ran a personal best of 47.78.
“I think it’s fair to say that that’s definitely something that’s on my radar,” mclaughlin-Levrone stated in a recent interview with USA TODAY Sports. “I think coming so close at Worlds… I think we knew that sub-48 was there. I think I was a little surprised to see 47.78. You feel so close yet so far away from that world record. But it’s exciting. I think it’s an exciting time for sports. It’s an exciting time for that event. It definitely is a challenge that I hopefully can push myself in for more races to come.”
The athlete also addressed the possibility of competing in both the 400m hurdles and the open 400m at future major championships, including the 2028 Olympics. “There’s been a lot of talk about this double,” she said. ”I can’t rule anything out. I think one of the beauties of just the versatility is that there’s options, and so I think over the next few years, we’ll definitely have to weigh kind of what makes sense for us and what that looks like. I don’t think we’re settled on anything quite yet, so everything’s on the table.”
McLaughlin-Levrone acknowledged the historical lack of recognition for track and field athletes in major awards like AP Female athlete of the Year and the ESPY Awards’ Best Female Athlete, noting she was nominated for an ESPY this year.”I think it’s tough when there’s so much different criteria that goes into all of these different things and how these awards are kind of scored,” she explained. “I don’t know what all the criteria is. I’m just going to keep working hard.” She added with a laugh, “My husband looked at me and was like, ‘You’re a winner in my eyes.’ And I joked. I was like, ‘Maybe I needed one more world record to set it over the top.’ I think track and field is not at the forefront of American sports because of just our profile is a bit smaller. That’s where my hope for the L.A. (Olympics) is to really boost all of our profiles in that sense.”
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