Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone sets World Record in women’s 400m hurdles

The 2024 United States Olympic Track and Field Trials wrapped up in Eugene, Oregon this past weekend. The most notable performance came in the women’s 400 metre hurdles as Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of New Brunswick, New Jersey broke her own world record on Sunday.

What was McLaughlin-Levrone’s time?

McLaughlin had a time of 50.65 seconds. In fact, she broke her previous time of 50.68 seconds which was set at the 2022 International Association of Athletics Federations World Track and Field Championships. Fascinatingly, the 2022 World Championships also took place in Eugene.

Other World Records in Athletics in 2024

McLaughlin-Levrone is the fifth track and field athlete in 2024 to set a World Record in an event that has Olympic status. The other four have been Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania, who had a throw of 74.35 metres in the men’s discus at the Oklahoma Throws Series in Ramona, Oklahoma on April 14; Armand Duplantis of Sweden, who had a men’s pole vault leap of 6.24 metres at the Xiamen Diamond League in China on April 20; Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya, who had a time of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds, in setting the World Record in the women’s marathon in London on April 21; and Beatrice Chebet of Kenya, who had a time of 28 minutes, 54.14 seconds in setting the world record at the 2024 Prefontaine Classic in Eugene on May 25.

Two-time Olympic champion

At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, McLaughlin-Levrone won two gold medals. She placed first in the women’s 400 metre hurdles, and the women’s 4×400 metre relay. In the women’s 400 metre hurdles, she had a time of 51.46 seconds in a 1-2 American finish. Dalilah Muhammad of Jamaica, New York won the silver medal with a time of 51.58 seconds. In the women’s 4×400 metres, McLaughlin-Levrone raced alongside Muhammad, Allyson Felix of Los Angeles, California and Athing Mu of Trenton, New Jersey in the final to a time of 3:16.85.