Team USA star Sydney McLaughlin decided to try out the 400m flat in 2023, and her choice has paid off in historic fashion at the track and field world championships in Tokyo, Japan. After dominating in 400m hurdles with six world records throughout her career, McLaughlin-Levrone set the second-fastest time ever with a time of 47.78 seconds en route to her first global title in the event.
“You don't run something like that without amazing women pushing you to it,” McLaughlin-Levrone admitted, according to ESPN. The push she was referring to came at the hands of the event's second-place finisher Marileidy Paulino, who also cracked 48 seconds with a time of 47.98.
“I knew it was going to be a battle down the homestretch, and it was just really about focusing on my lane and kind of trying to stay as relaxed as possible,” she said.
With the feat, McLaughlin-Levrone became the first woman in 40 years to register a sub-48-second time. She now trails only Marita Koch, who set the 47.60-second mark for East Germany on October 6, 1985. Before this race, no other runner had come within a half-second of Koch's once-unapproachable record, but McLaughlin-Levrone remained humble about her historic achievement.
“At the end of the day, this wasn't my title to hold onto. It was mine to gain,” she added. “Bobby uses boxing terms all the time. He said, ‘You've got to go out there and take the belt. It's not yours, you've got to earn it.”
The “Bobby” that McLaughlin-Levrone was mentioning was her coach Bobby Kersee, who revealed that he put her through intense training in preparation for the world championships and the 400m flat event.
“I felt that somebody was going to have to run 47-something to win this,” Kersee said to the Associated Press. “[McLaughlin-Levrone] trained for it. She took on the challenge, took on the risk. She's just an amazing athlete that I can have no complaints about.
“I think, now, 47 tells her that she can break 50,” Kersee added. “Knowing her, she's probably going back to the hurdles and try to take what she learned now in the quarter [mile] and try to execute a plan to run 49.99 or better.”
The choice to stay in the 400m flat event or return to hurdles will come later, but for now, the 26-year-old is focused on taking in what this history means for the sport.
“Today was a really great race for track and field, and I'm grateful to put myself in position to bring an exciting event to our sport,” McLaughlin-Levrone said.
