Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone dominates another event, the 400 meters

Photo by Howard Lao

By Israel La Rue

The legend of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone continues to grow. The reigning 400-meter hurdles Olympic champion, world champion and world record holder won her first flat 400-meter national title Saturday at Hayward Field at the 2023 Toyota USATF Outdoor National Championships.

Her time, 48.74, was a personal best, a meet record, the fastest time in the world this year and only .04 off Sanya Richards Ross’ U.S. record. She is only the third American woman to break 49 seconds.

“Once I get the front half and the back half together, that's when that happens,” McLaughlin-Levrone said. “And I think today was a good show of that.”

Second and third places went to McLaughlin-Levrone’s teammates on the winning 4x400 relay at last year’s World Athletics Championships. Britton Wilson, the 2022 NCAA 400-meter hurdle champion, placed second in 49.79, and Talitha Diggs, the defending US champion, finished third in a personal best 49.93. 

Diggs said the three medalists have had a long history with each other.

“Syd came to my mother's track camp when she was 9 years old,” Diggs said. “So I've known Syd since I was like really, really young, like 4 or 5. And then Britt, I've obviously known her since high school, so we have a relationship. … We fight together, we run together and now we get to represent Team USA together.”

Diggs’ mother, Joetta Clark Diggs, was a four-time Olympian in the 800.

McLaughlin-Levrone won gold at last year’s world championships with a world record in the 400 hurdles. Her time of 50.68 broke the previous world record of 51.41, which she had set at the Olympic Trials, also at Hayward Field.

She then decided to switch to the flat 400. 

In her first 400 of the season at the Paris Diamond League event on June 9, McLaughlin-Levrone got out to a great start, running 22.66 for the first 200 meters. But she didn’t have enough in the tank to finish strong and finished with a time of 49.71, second place behind Marileidy Paulino. Her race plan switched for the New York Grand Prix, where she started off slow but then kicked in the final 200 to run a personal best at the time of 49.51.

On Saturday, McLaughlin-Levrone locked into the race the moment she stepped onto the track. As she was introduced, she looked down at the track instead of into the camera, talking to herself before stepping into the blocks. 

McLaughlin-Levrone’s start was incredible coming out of lane five – by the time she hit the backstretch, she had already caught up to the outer lanes and had a lead. 

Her top-end speed kicked in on the last curve, giving no one the chance to catch up to her. As she sprinted down the homestretch, McLaughlin-Levrone gritted her teeth and crossed the finish. Then she looked back at the clock to see the time, which was her first sub-49.

“I was just looking for anything better than 49.5, which was my PR at the time,” McLaughlin-Levrone said. “Obviously make the team is the number one goal. Then you go for the win and you go for the time. So in that order that was my goal, and I'm very happy with that time.”

She sat on the track with Wilson and Diggs as she was interviewed post-race by NBC reporter Lewis Johnson, who sat alongside them.

“It was a great race,” Wilson said later in the mixed zone. “I think everyone had a great chance to run fast.”

The three sprinters are primed to break the 4x400 American record of 3:15.51 set by Denean Howard, Diane Dixon, Valerie Brisco and Florence Griffith Joyner at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

“I hope we can get it,” Wilson said. “I think that we have a great chance of breaking it.”

McLaughlin-Levrone is now faced with the decision for the world championships in Budapest. As the defending world champion, she has a bye for the 400-meter hurdles, and now she has qualified for the open 400. She could even attempt the double.

When asked about what her plans were for worlds, McLaughlin-Levrone said, “Great question. I have no idea. No clue.”