Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: The race for Marita Koch's 400m world record
The reigning 400m hurdles world record holder will compete in her first one-lap flat race in two years at the Diamond League in Paris on 9 June. Will we see her running more 400m open races in the future?
Athletics
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has never been one to hold back during her runs.
The double Olympic champion truly thrives under pressure.
The track star broke the 400m hurdles world record on four occasions, all of which took place during high-pressure Championship events.
And after becoming the first woman to run under 51 seconds, is one of the greatest female hurdlers ready for a new challenge?
Possibly so. Her first race in the Diamond League Series circuit, where she hasn’t raced since 2019, is not in her speciality event, but the 400m.
On June 9, the 23-year-old will be racing the 400m flat race for the first time in two years. She was originally scheduled to participate in the open 400m at the Los Angeles Grand Prix in May, but she withdrew from the event, citing her coach's decision.
What can we expect of the record-breaking woman this season?
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: Every run counts
McLaughlin-Levrone has always been selective in her racing schedule.
The 23-year-old is very particular about when and where to race.
Every single run offers her a fresh and exciting chance to go even faster and extend her dominance.
She was undefeated in the seven 400m hurdles during her 2021 Olympic season, breaking the world record twice.
Working with new coach Bob Kersee, the track phenom from Dunellen, New Jersey, became the first woman to complete the hurdles event in under 52 seconds.
She qualified for her second Olympics in June 2021, setting a world record time of 51.90.
McLaughlin, who competed at Rio 2016 when she was only 16 and was known as “Syd the Kid”, went even faster at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021, clocking a blistering 51.46.
She was also part of the team that won the 4x400m relay at the Games.
A year later, she dropped another world record of 51.41 at the USATF Championships in Eugene.
The world record holder, who took up running after her parents, had a gradual start to her 2022 season.
Just 13 months after her Olympic triumph, she broke the 51-second mark with another magical run of 50.68, at the 2022 World Championships, which may have inspired her to take on the one-lap challenge.
Her personal best in the 400m flat is just 0.61 seconds off her current 400m hurdles world record.
Will the Diamond League stop in Paris be the start of her increased focus on racing in the 400m?
In an interview with Olympics.com at the end of last season, she suggested that she was still keen on pushing the boundaries even further in the hurdles event by saying, “trying to run 49 in the 400 hurdles would be something people never thought possible,” but did not rule out switching or doubling.
"Honestly, my coach and I are still kind of figuring out what we want to do. This season was amazing with the 400 hurdles, but I still think there's more we're looking for there," McLaughlin-Levrone said.
"I know the open 400m, my PR (personal record) is pretty close to my 400-hurdle time right now. So, there's definitely room for improvement there. We're still figuring out what the best situation is for us and what that will look like in the coming season. So honestly, I can't even really say what the plan is." - Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
“Bobby’s always coming up with new ideas, so it’s hard to pin down one, but there’s talks of doubles, there’s talks of switching, so honestly I have no clue,” McLaughlin offered in another interview with Reuters at the Worlds last year.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone set for another barrier-breaking season
She's obviously keen on lowering her 50.08 mark, which was her winning time from the 2018 Florida Relays.
Her last one-lap race on the Diamond circuit was in Shanghai, where she finished behind Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser.
Two years ago, she ran the 400m qualifying race at the Bryan Clay Invitational in California.
However, the 23-year-old has participated in some 400m runs with the American 4x400m relay teams, winning gold in Tokyo and in Eugene.
The meeting in the French capital will provide the 2022 female World Athlete of the Year with her first proper outdoor test this year.
So far, she has only raced once this season, running the 60m indoor at the World Athletics Tour in Boston-last February.
The fastest woman over the 400m hurdles this year is the astonishing Femke Bol who breezed to a time of 52.43.
The Dutchwoman, who also stood on the 400m hurdles women's podium in Tokyo and Eugene last year, has achieved great success in both the 400m hurdles and the 400m flat.
Earlier in the season, the Olympic 400m hurdles bronze medallist, who has been in great shape and unrivalled since winning her two specility races at the 2022 Euros, broke a 41-year-old women’s indoor 400m record.
With the World Championships in Budapest approaching, McLaughlin-Levrone’s decision to race the 400m in Paris fuels speculation that her pursuit of absolute supremacy in one-lap races has begun.
The hurdles star loves breaking barriers, and lowering Marita Koch’s 47.60 mark set in 1985 - the longest-standing world record in any men's or women's sprint event - is particularly appealing to her.
"I mean, that's one (the 400m world record) that has stood for a very long time," she told Olympics.com.
"And it has amazed everybody, that time in and of itself is baffling. And I think, if the time comes down the road where we do want to run, that would be something to chase.”
A pursuit that also excites her coach.
“Sydney is considered the first real threat to Marita Koch 38-year-old world 400 record” (47’’60), he said to The Orange County Register.
“She can do 50’’ in the 400 m hurdles, so she’s got the speed and stamina, and now she has the necessary aerobic base to run a sub-48’’-time.”
In Charlety, in only her fourth career Diamond League race, she will face off against Olympic 400m silver medallist Marileidy Paulino from the Domenican Republic, who is the 2023 world leader with her time of 48.98 from Los Angeles in May.